Integrating newcomers into the life of your congregation

Most people would agree that if you don’t identify, connect and care for newcomers they are likely to either never return, or to stay on the fringe and eventually drift away feeling disconnected, unwelcomed and perhaps disillusioned. Everyone would agree that this is not the outcome the community of Christ wants for those that Jesus brings to our doors. If you are not seeing newcomers welcomed and incorporated into your community you need to rethink your approach to newcomers, and reshape your vision for connecting and integrating them into your church life. Here are some of the common problems you may face.

Failing to understand that connection takes time

Welcoming and connection is a journey, not a destination. As newcomers step into your world they will need to be encouraged, nurtured, directed and sometimes pursued so that they are purposefully moved into the life of your church. It is not enough to tick a box that says your newcomer was greeted at the door. The newcomer needs to keep moving forward into the life of your church, and you need to show them the way.

Failing to determine your church type and mission

What type of church are you? Are you a big church or a little church? Do you have a certain demographic feeding your church, or are you multicultural with many layers? Knowing who you are and whom you reach dramatically affects the success of your newcomer strategies.

Failing to adapt to changes in society and culture

As Bob Dylan once said, “the times they are a-changin’”. Have you reviewed your strategies against current social trends? Have you thought about how the average person in your community thinks and feels when they walk through your doors? A lack of understanding of the society and culture around you may encourage the newcomer to go elsewhere to find their connection. What changes can you make to become a healthy, welcoming and integrating church? Here are some helpful tips.

Know why you do what you do

This may sound simple, but you’d be surprised how many people do not have a clear mission statement. Before you create strategies and systems you need to make sure everyone understands your mission. Knowing why you do what you do will keep you on the right track. This is the EV Church mission statement for welcoming, caring and connecting new people. Our aim is:

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1. To see newcomers personally and mean­ingfully welcomed into our church family.
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2. To make sure that newcomers are established in Christ and strengthened in their faith.
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3. To help newcomers connect into life at EV Church.

Everything we do flows out of a desire to achieve these goals. We welcome with purpose because we’re on a mission to build Christ’s kingdom. Our strategies are only a means to achieving our goals and never an end in themselves. We welcome, connect and incorporate people because we love Jesus.

Know your front door, close your back doors, and beware of revolving doors

The front door is a metaphor for your key entry points into church. What do your front doors look like? When newcomers come to church, what will they see, and how will they be received? You need to be aware of how a person will feel as they come to church for the first time. The reception a newcomer receives will greatly affect their decision to come back. Will they enjoy a warm personal reception, or will they be left feeling confused and indifferent? If their experience entering your church is positive then this will assist you in following them up. To be good at integration you need to think clearly about how it feels for a new person stepping in through your front door. Once you figure out how your front door works, you need to evaluate if you have any back doors or exit points for newcomers. Back doors are reasons or things that encourage the newcomer not to return. Do they leave because they feel unwelcomed or hurt by the lack of care from Christians who should care greatly? Are people not coming back because no-one noticed they were ever there? Do they not return because they have no idea what to do next, or they felt confused by a lack of information and direction? Have an honest look around and assess why people are not staying. Better still, contact those who didn’t return, find out why, and set about closing those ‘back doors’. It is really worthwhile following up people who leave as they are more likely to tell you where you went wrong. A ‘revolving door’ is the outcome you get when you fail to connect people into the life of your church. Lots of people come to have a look, but they don’t settle and they don’t stay. Be careful you are not congratulating yourself on how well your church is welcoming people while those same people are slipping out, never to return again.

Know your customers

In the business world the best companies spend large amounts of money and time evaluating their market place. They want to know all about their customers so they can best sell their products. Do you know who you are welcom­ing? Do you understand your ‘customers’ and do your welcoming and incorporating methods serve them? Connecting people of diverse generations and cultures requires different strategies because one size does not fit all. Your target might be Gen Y, Gen X, baby boomers or grey nomads. You might be welcoming a group that is working class, white-collar professionals, self-employed, or unemployed. People in your area might be predominantly one culture or a mixture of many cultures so, before you determine what newcomer strategy you might implement, you’ll need to determine what age group and culture you are targeting. You need to know your ‘customers’ and understand what they need to help them connect into your church. At EV Church we have five congregations but four of them differ in culture, demographic and age group, so we have developed four similar but different welcoming, follow-up and integration strategies. The question you need to consider is who are you trying to reach, and what do those people need from you? You may have to define your target group using broader terms, and you may require a degree of flexibility in your welcoming systems, but you need to know your ‘customers’ and their needs. Your church’s health and growth depend on it.

If you want to move people, find a travelator

I love the travelators at the airport. You just step on the moving walkway and, before you know it, you have arrived at another destination. Wouldn’t it be great if every newcomer steps on to a travelator at your church and, before they know it, they have moved into the life of your church? There is an assumption that people don’t want to be told what to do, but part of the welcoming process is to give them some idea of what’s ahead. There is definitely a difference between ordering someone and informing them. At our church we use the term ‘pathway’ to help newcomers see what the next steps are ahead for them. If they need to hear and understand the gospel we guide them in that direction, and if they are ready to move into the life of this church we move them that way. Either way we encourage them to step on the ‘pathway’ and get moving. All new people receive a copy of the pathway in a welcome pack along with information and goodies to make them feel special on their first visit. At each event a newcomer attends, we like to put the pathway up and show them where they were, where they are, and where they could go next in church life. People like to know they are going somewhere; you just need to give them the right pathway.

Get your newcomers connected

The minute a newcomer arrives at church you need to get the connection process happening. There are a variety of ways to do this, and you will need to determine what works best for your church and your newcomers, but here are some suggestions:

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• As soon as you can, invite them to an event that will connect them with regulars and other newcomers. Remember that food and connection go hand in hand.
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• If possible, try and connect newcomers with each other. This may seem counter-intuitive, however newcomers can often feel more comfortable with people who are on the same journey as them.
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• Make sure that newcomers are able to find out what your church stands for, with things like newcomer information events, well-presented documentation, or easily accessed websites. Have all three if possible because newcomers expect to be able to learn about the church, and they find and absorb information in different ways.
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• Communicate with your newcomer in a way that makes them feel like they have been noticed. Whether it’s phone calls, letters, emails or SMS, make sure they hear from you within the week after they arrived.
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• Assign someone to care for and mentor them. Use a buddy system to help the newcomer make connections and encourage them to go to the upcoming events. Personalized welcoming and connection trumps strategies and systems every time.
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• Get them into a small group as soon as possible. This will take time, but make sure it is clear that you want them to be part of your small group network. This is where connection is most likely to occur.
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• Teach the welcoming and connection strategies to the whole church. Nothing convinces a newcomer to return more than a genuine welcome from some­one who naturally loves newcomers because it is part of their church’s DNA.

There are many ways to help connection happen, so think through who you are, who your target is, and get going. Find a way to help newcomers move into the heart of your church and remember that welcoming, connection and integration is a journey, not a destination.

Identify, track and monitor newcomers

It’s no good having processes to help a newcomer connect into your church if you can’t know when they arrived, where they are now on their journey, and where they are heading. How can you assess if systems are working if you don’t keep details on where the newcomer is at? If they leave you need to know why. Were they welcomed, given information, invited to gatherings, cared for and followed-up? You need to keep information but it is important to remember that data alone can be impersonal and detached. It is only a device to assist your goals. We are in the business of people, not statistics.

Plan for the future before it arrives

What will your church look like in a year, two years, ten years? Will you still be using the same systems you always had, or will you update and change with all that is changing around you? It is critical to look ahead and plan for the future, and, where possible, start implementing future strategies earlier rather than later. We are presently reviewing our whole welcoming and incorporating systems because we have nearly reached the limit of our abilities to personally identify and welcome each and every newcomer that comes through our doors. We use the term ‘water bottle’ as a way of describing how we currently welcome people; i.e. we find them and take the ‘water bottle’ to them. The water bottle system is very dependant on our ability to find the new people so we are planning to implement a ‘waterhole’ model which is more of an opt-in welcoming system where people choose to be welcomed (i.e. they take themselves to the waterhole). This is a big change for us but we have looked ahead and realised that our current system won’t cope, so we are planning for the future before it arrives.

Are we there yet?

When my children were younger and I was travelling with them on holidays, they would always be chanting from the back seat, “Are we there yet, are we there yet?” At the time it was pretty annoying, but this is exactly the same question you should be asking yourselves, and the answer should always be the same as I told my kids: not yet, not yet. Are your follow-up and integration systems there yet? Is your church community fully built up in Christ yet? The answer will always be ‘no, not yet’, and we need to be developing and updating our welcoming and incorporating systems until we are welcomed into heaven ourselves. I just wonder whether you get a welcome pack in heaven?