Practical Church Newsletter ⛪️

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Here are 3 ways to make your church more hospitable to new guests on Sundays.

1) Make your connect area obvious

Is there a place you direct new people to drop off their connect card and get more information about the church (if not, there should be!)?

But here’s the thing, just telling new guests to drop their connect card off at the connect table, or to get more information about your church at the connect table, isn’t very helpful if they don’t know where (or what) a connect table is.

My recommendation? Associate it with a color. Whether you paint the wall behind the connect area or have a tablecloth that is a specific color, doing this makes it very obvious where to go.

What sounds easier to find:

A) Drop off your connect card at the connect table

B) Drop off your connect card at the teal table in the lobby (the color we use at New City).

Make it super obvious where to go, and people will be much more inclined to go there.

2) Have clear signage

In your lobby, could someone navigate where to go without having to ask someone? Not because we don’t want people to ask, but so that it feels less intimidating if you are new. It is what I call the airport test.

In an airport, you can ask for help, but there is also signage everywhere so you can get to exactly where you need to go without having to ask anyone.

Bathrooms, kids ministry area(s), connect table, and the auditorium should be able to pass the “airport test” for new guests in your lobby. Make sure those are easy for new guests to navigate without them having to ask someone a question if they don’t want to.

3) Acknowledge new guests every Sunday

In my opinion, this is best done as the first announcement in your announcement slot every week. Even if you don’t think there is a single new person there that week (the congregation doesn’t know everyone like you do, so they have no idea), this rhythm lets your people know their friends will be acknowledged.

Regardless of the size of the church, new people often feel like they are the only new person there. Hearing from the stage someone acknowledges that they know there are people just like them attending today helps them feel like you have them in mind.

Every week, welcome new guests, invite them to fill out a connect card, and encourage them to drop it off at the COLORED (whatever color you go with) connect table in the lobby on the way out.

Last week on the Practical Church podcast I shared 6 tips for smoother service transitions. Not yet subscribed? Do so below so you can get the episodes sent right to you.

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If I could change one thing about my daily routine, what would it be? What is stopping me from changing it?

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P.S. What do you call a priest who becomes a lawyer?

A father-in-law.

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