Memorize the next sentence and make it your mantra: Everything speaks to a first-time guest…. Everything. From the moment a guest sets foot on your property, he tunes in to receive the message your church is sending. You have an obligation to strive for excellence. You don’t have to be perfect, you just have to do the very best you can with … Read More
How to Make a Great First Impression This Sunday Before the First Song is Even Sung
The pre-service is your first opportunity to interact with everyone who sets foot on your church’s property – from first-time guests to long-time members – but its purpose and influence is particularly important for first-timers. Think of it this way: Your pre-service mission, if you choose to accept it, is to do everything you can to take your guest’s guard down (and even … Read More
No Second Chances- Making a Great Impression on First-Time Guests
You won’t get a second chance. Seven minutes is all the time you have to make a positive first impression on the first-time guests who walk through your doors. In the first seven minutes of their experience with your church, your guests will decide whether or not they’re going to come back. That’s before a single worship song is sung and before a … Read More
What Gets Rewarded, Gets Repeated (Part 1) – First and Second Time Guest Gifts
What you celebrate in your church matters… it matters when it comes to evangelism, discipleship and life charge. Today, I want to challenge you to celebrate the right things and see a greater blessing in those areas of your church. There is an old leadership principle that says, “That which gets rewarded gets repeated,” and I think that’s true. In … Read More
Learn the Key to “Closing the Back Door” With My New Webinar! – Still a few spots for Today or Tomorrow…
We’ve all heard (or said) this line: “We would be growing if we could just close the back door.” Well, the first key to “closing the back door” is eliminating the mistakes you’re making now in assimilating new people! After coaching over 1,200 Senior Pastors – of all types, church sizes, denominations, worship styles and geographic locations – I’ve identified … Read More
How to Keep More Guests and Model Generosity
Since writing the book Fusion I get a lot of questions about assimilation and how to get more first time guests to return to your church and ultimately become members. One question I get frequently involves the handwritten note and gift that I recommend you send to every first time guest. There’s nothing like a handwritten note to really show people … Read More
How to Know What Guests at Your Church Are Experiencing (Assimilation)
Some of the best feedback I get from alumni of my Coaching Networks is how much it helps them to have the accountability and direction in their reading during their time in the network. One of the books that we read recently in my Senior Pastor Tele-Coaching Network was a business book all about welcoming guests, and it had some … Read More
What Motivates Guests at Your Church?
One of the best parts of leading Coaching Networks is that I get to learn from what the other Pastors in the network are learning. Recently I received a thought-provoking email from Mike Sorcinelli, a member of my Senior Pastor Tele-Coaching Network and Lead Pastor of New Day Church in Springfield, Massachusetts. He had just finished reading one of the … Read More
The Power of a First Impression – Part 3 of 4 (Assimilation and Easter)
Today I’m continuing a series of posts about the importance of the first few minutes of a newcomer’s experience at your church (click here for Part 1 and Part 2). In fact, a First-Time Guest knows whether or not they’ll return to your church in the first seven minutes of their initial experience at your church. That’s before they hear … Read More
The Power of a First Impression – Part 2 of 4 (Assimilation and Easter)
Last week I started a new series of posts about the importance of the first few minutes of a newcomer’s experience at your church (click here for Part 1). In fact, a First-Time Guest knows whether or not they’ll return to your church in the first seven minutes of their initial experience at your church. That’s why the Pre-Service time … Read More