Most pastors breathe a sigh of relief the day after Easter. There\u2019s been a lot of work and preparation to go into getting ready for this biggest day of the year, and now it\u2019s behind you. Yet as pastors, Tim Parsons tells us in an article for Pastors.com this is really just the beginning:<\/p>\n
\u201cChurch growth doesn\u2019t happen on a single Sunday. Imagine for a moment what would happen to your church if every visitor that showed up on Easter Sunday came back the very next Sunday and became a regular part of your church. Wouldn\u2019t that be great?<\/p>\n
“What I know is that it won\u2019t happen by only having an excellent Sunday morning service. It only happens through a follow-up process that has these four keys:<\/p>\n
“Don\u2019t wait. <\/strong>All visitors should be contacted within 48 hours of their visit. If you wait, their experience will not be fresh anymore. Waiting to communicate with them will increase the likelihood that they\u2019ve gotten back into the routine of life and moved on from their visit to your church. Plus, communicating with them soon after their visit shows that you noticed they were there and you care about them. Also, communicating early allows for a system that includes multiple contact points in the weeks and months after a person visits your church, but that\u2019s a post for another day.<\/p>\n “Make it personal.<\/strong> Even if you\u2019re using an automated email or a form letter, be sure that it\u2019s personal. Use their name. Invite them to contact you directly. And use a conversational tone rather than a formal one. Be sure that you\u2019re using inclusive terms and avoiding exclusive words (for example using \u201cthe church\u201d rather than \u201cour church\u201d). Another idea is to add a picture to your email signature or to the letter so they can see who\u2019s communicating with them.<\/p>\n “Point them to something.<\/strong> What is their next step? Give them ways to get involved in the life of your church. Invite them to an event that is just for new people. Tell them about your membership class or how to jump into a small group. Be sure to include a link or URL so they can easily RSVP for a group or an event. Visitors that have little or no experience with church can find it confusing to know what they should do next\u2014and it\u2019s our job to answer those questions before they\u2019re even asked. Including this in your follow-up communication will help you get there.<\/p>\n “Close the communication by asking them to do something specific. <\/strong>If it\u2019s a letter or an email (or even a text message!), ask them to take a short 5-question survey about your church and their experience. If it\u2019s a phone call, ask them to find you next Sunday and say hello. Also, you could ask them to let you know how you can pray for them this week.\u201d (Read the full article here.)<\/p>\n Most pastors breathe a sigh of relief the day after Easter. There\u2019s been a lot of work and preparation to go into getting ready for this biggest day of the year, and now it\u2019s behind you. Yet as pastors, Tim Parsons tells us in an article for Pastors.com this is really just the beginning: \u201cChurch … Continue reading “4 Steps to Take After Easter”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33456\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}