Did you know that visitors determine the friendliness of the church within the first 10 minutes after the service ends? Did you know that, on average, people will drop out of a church if they only make 2 friends there? And that they tend to stay if they make 7 friends? If we don’t reach out to our Sunday morning visitors to try to really get to know them, they won’t come back. And they may give up seeking God as well.
We want to follow in Jesus’ self-sacrificing footsteps and lay aside our own friendship needs for the sake of others’ friendship needs. We want to intentionally pursue the disconnected and introduce them to our friends. And we want to become a church that goes beyond Sunday-morning relationships to where it is common to invite others to Sunday lunch, weekday coffee, or into our small group. In other words, we want to help provide a warm and inviting atmosphere so that others will be drawn to a fully-devoted relationship with Jesus Christ.
Some practical ideas:
*Pray – Pray for the lost to be saved and for God to use our church in that process. Pray for direction as to who to reach out to each Sunday.
*Reach out to the unknown – Make an effort to find at least one person at church you don’t know each week and talk with them. Be sincere and be willing to be honest about yourself as well.
*”Hi, my name is…” – That is a great way to break the ice. You could follow it up with “I’m sorry, have we met before?”
*Remember their name – Listen for their name and repeat it to yourself to help you remember it. Perhaps even write it down in a journal or on your bulletin.
*Ask them questions – People feel most comfortable talking about themselves. Take a genuine interest in them and their needs. None of us enjoy feeling like someone’s project – we want to be genuinely valued.
*Follow up with them – If you truly care about them, you will want to follow up with them. You may want to ask them to lunch that Sunday. Make sure to look them up the next Sunday (by name) and see how their week went. You may want to call them or invite them to your small group or a different event.
Regular Volunteer Needs:
*Intentionally reaching out to new people on Sunday mornings
*Serving as a greeter or an usher
*Being on the welcome team
*Bringing donuts or preparing coffee
To volunteer on one of these teams, please contact the church office
