As families prepare to send their students back to school, they are also re-establishing the daily rhythms and traditions of “normal” life. For many, this means a return to more consistent church attendance.
This yearly phenomena provides every church an opportunity to re-acquaint people with the life of the church. That means plugging people into ministry, groups, classes, and serving.
While getting more regular attendees usually happens as a natural occurrence, turning that attendance into great church involvement requires a little effort, the right tools, and some strategic planning.
Fortunately, people of all stripes, and parents of students in particular, are accustomed with processes for re-engaging in familiar activities. There are forms to fill out, enrollment to consider, check-in processes to walk through, and information to both gather and submit.
Your church should have a plan to use these familiar rhythms as a way to get people more plugged-in to the ministry of your church.
To encourage greater participation this fall, it will help your church to:
• Greet new and returning guests one-on-one, reestablishing a personal connection
• Encourage people to get involved in ministries by offering all the options
• Employ church leaders to invite people to start attending classes and groups
• Teach parents all about your check-in processes and what’s new in kids church
• Use your ChMS to keep up good communication and reminders
• Have people update their contact information and store it in your database
• Offer online giving as an option and make it easy for people to sign up
• Let them know how important their participation is to the life of a local church
• Provide every opportunity to plug-in that you can, without overwhelming them
• Celebrate wins and highlights from past efforts and show how they can be a part of it
Here’s the big idea. If people are already going through the motions of re-engaging with familiar habits, why not push the envelope to encourage greater involvement with what matters most in their lives?
Don’t just let them come and hope they stick around. Provide clear pathways – from a good first impression to promptings for greater involvement – that let new and returning people make the most of their church experience.
