Many churches struggle to retain guests from month to month. Dick Hardy joins us to discuss some keys growing churches use to retain visitors. This is a practical conversation revealing methods any church can use to help them grow.

Show Notes:

As a church grows, it must realize what got them there initially will not get them to the next level. This takes us to our first point in how you can help your church grow while retaining guests.

Establish a Clear Vision
The structure must be developed to support the growth. A church must get clarity on who they are and where they are going so they can focus on the right things.

Have a clear vision to present so other leaders can help the church grow.

Get Frequent Feedback
A growing church is a church that is constantly evaluating and adjusting.

Pay attention to what you are doing on Sundays from the perspective of a new guest.

Churches need to survey their guests to learn what the experience was like and surveys and how it can be better. See what people like and what they don’t like.

At times, pastors resist surveys because of flaky responses, but they must persist to get to the few comments that will help the church improve.

Make a Great First Impression
A church must be strategic to be friendly to the new person, not just the regular attendees.

By default, church members are friendly to those they know but must be friendly to those they don’t know as well.

A growing church provides small “wow” moments to the guests that surprise them positively. Set a goal to provide 5 great impressions each week for a new guest.

Have a System in Place
Meeting the pastor after service is a good way to make guests feel welcome.

When a guest meets the pastor, there must be a handoff to someone else who can take the conversation further.

Then, the church must also encourage guests to get into a small group or serve team so they can make a relational connection.

Make it Happen
The pastor has to want to retain guests and make the changes necessary to make it happen.

However, the responsibility does not stop there. There needs to be a culture of prayer to invite and retain guests.

Altogether, when working together and using these methods, you should see a difference in successful church growth.

032- Insights on Retaining Guests with Dick Hardy 41:31 Share

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032- Insights on Retaining Guests with Dick Hardy