Fusion: Six tips for turning guests into members of your church

By Shannon Baker, BCM/D National Correspondent

NEW YORK CITY—Nelson Searcy, lead pastor of The Journey Church in New York City, and Jennifer Dykes Henson, co-authors of Fusion, offer six lessons about assimilating first-time guests into being fully engaged members of your church:

Your first time guests are a gift from God.

“Nobody who comes through the doors of your church ever comes haphazardly,” shares Henson. “God has a reason that that person came to you and when he brings that person to you, he has a plan for that person in your church.”

Increasing the retention of your first-time guests will radically impact your church’s growth.

“That’s simply logical. If you keep twice as many guests over the next year as you kept last year, then your church is going to grow,” Searcy explains. “Just by working on this one area, you can dramatically impact the growth of your church.”

The assimilation system works whether you are a contemporary church, like The Journey, or whether you are a traditional church, he says.

“If you’ve never really sat down and thought through your assimilation process, you’re probably not maximizing the growth of your church,” he speculates, noting that each week, The Journey sends out handwritten notes and prays for their first-time guests.

You have seven minutes to make a first impression.

“When a new person walks into your church, they are coming in on autopilot,” Henson shares, describing what happens for the first seven minutes for the visitor at your church. “They are taking signals from everything that they see, that speaks to their subconscious about whether or not they are comfortable in this environment and whether or not they want to be a part of this environment again.”

She notes that most people make a decision about coming back before a single worship song is sung or before the preacher ever says a word.

“The key is to make them welcome, at home and comfortable before the service ever begins,” she says.

Searcy says the first things that people notice about your church are the parking lot and the bathrooms. Women typically notice the children’s ministry areas.

“It’s cliché, but it’s true: ‘You never get a second chance to make a first impression,’” he reminds.

In their book, the authors discuss the four different areas in the pre-service (how to get people from the street to the seat): greeting your guests, directing your guests, treating them, seating them and making sure you’ve covered all the bases you can to get them comfortable and ready to hear the Word of God. 

You need a system for follow-up or else a guest will fall through the cracks.

“I feel like the antithesis of a system is operating haphazardly,” Henson shares. “If you are being haphazard, then you’re just not following through the way God wants you to... because when God sends you a guest, he is not sending that guest haphazardly.”

Searcy suggests that churches develop some sort of flowchart to depict how first-time guests are assimilated. Once the first time impression is made, what happens with that guest? Do they fill out a guest card? Does that guest card get entered? Do you follow up with them? Do you call them? Do you email them? Do you send out a gift? What do you do?

That’s what Fusion is really all about, shares Searcy, explaining that the book provides readers with a proven system that can be applied to their churches.

“Whether you adhere to that system or not, you just need to make sure you have a system in place,” recommends Henson, adding that the follow-up should be fast, friendly, and functional.

“When your follow-up is these three things, it will resonate with the people who are coming in,” she says.

You have to define the end result.

“The next step is really a question,” Searcy explains. “What does a fully assimilated person in your church look like? Will they become a member of the church? A member of one of your small groups?”

Knowing the end result helps you know what kind of system to build, he adds.

“Clarity is really the key,” Searcy shares. “When God sends you a first-time guest, are you clear about what their next step is?” He suggests telling guests that you want them to come, to get into a small group, to go to a pastor’s reception or to a membership class.

“Whatever it is for you, just lay it out very clearly,” he advises. “Make it crystal clear and then tell people constantly what their next step is.”

You must prepare for first-time guests before God sends them.

Pointing to the principle of spiritual readiness, Henson and Searcy point to how Billy Graham crusade organizers know the number of people who will come forward to make decisions for Christ before the event even begins. It directly correlates with the number of counselors that are in place to receive these people as they come forward.

“It makes perfect sense, because God will never give you more than you are prepared to receive,” Henson says. “He will not outpace our level of readiness.”

“According to your faith will it be done unto you,” Searcy adds. “There’s something about your preparation and God’s blessing. You can’t trick God, but you can cooperate with him.”

To learn more about assimilation and other church leadership issues or to purchase Fusion, visit online at www.churchleaderinsights.com.