Yes, Al Goracke shot his most recent “60 Second DS” spot with a picture of me in the background, next to Ron Burgundy. I will let you interpret that as you will.
Here it is–take a look, it’s just a minute.
[youtube link=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Cy1Dfk8mIU” width=”590″ height=”315″]Pastor Al asks three questions I want to interact with:
- How do I get them to come?
- How do I get them to come back?
- How do I get them to stay?
Here’s my take:
Many of our churches are good at two out of three of these questions, but they fail at a third. This failure becomes their bane and area for growth. (Yes, some churches are bad at all three of these, but of course they are not churches long for this world and will die out.)
Thorny Churches
Let me explain my analysis: A church might be great at the first two, but not at the third. So their back door is wide open, and while people may come for 6 months or a year, they don’t stay. This is a church where newcomers take root–but over time they don’t deeply grow in their faith, and are looking for more, or they encounter some of the darker sides of the church, and become disenchanted. This church spreads seeds on thorny ground, where the roots go deep, but the environment eventually cuts off the growing life from the newcomer: thorny churches
Stoned Churches
Next, consider a church has 1 and 3 down, but not two, meaning they have long time members who never leave, and first time visitors for events all the time. However, they have few return visitors. This sometimes comes from a church that is great at advertising, has great events, or a great location, but is not really that welcoming, or doesn’t have clear pathways of assimilation. You could say that this church spreads seed on rocky ground, were the roots begin but don’t go deep enough to sustain: stoned churches.
Pavement Churches
Finally, a church might be great at 2 and 3, meaning once someone comes to the church they definitely come back and love it, and people stay for a long time. However, this church doesn’t have that many visitors–their “front door” isn’t open enough. You might say that these churches spread seed on the path–where roots never even start to grow: pavement churches.
My Church?
My church has historically been good at #3. It’s a “sticky church.” And in recent years we’ve grown the most in #1, as our reputation grew in the community, our preaching became more yearned for, and as our people began to reach out in the community. However, we found that #2 has been our bane. We’ve worked hard this past year, in particular through the efforts of Mark Shepherd as our Connections Pastor (who has now left to plant a church in Colorado). But we are still not connecting enough people to “come back and stick.” Newcomers find a very deep pool here, and they dive in and either sink or swim, I’ve found.
Your Church?
How about you and your church? Which two are you better at–and which one is your church working on? Or is your church just amazing at all three? I’m guessing yours is a Thorny Church, a Stoned Church, or a Pavement Church. What’s your take?
For Al Goracke, Ron Burgundy & Me, I’m signing off. Give me your take on these questions below.
My first thought was “more people, less paperwork.” This is part of the clear pathways for assimilation. I believe our church is very welcoming but we’ve failed at follow up, at least follow up that is personal and not bureaucratic. We may like the worship, the teaching, and even the mission of the church but its the relationships and people that keep us coming back.
Pastor Al is right in that we need to be intentional. Intentionally connecting and building relationships is something everyone in the church can and should be a part of doing. But this is especially true for church staff and lay leaders. What connected me and kept me coming back the most was when leaders reached out, invited me to join them, and began building a relationship with me. Pastor Joel Liechty was this person for me and with him we are now intentionally developing young adult leaders who in turn will do the same. Connect, Include, Belong, and together with God, Transform.
Amen, Rob… good words here.
At Kingswood Church I think they are good at all three.First of all when you are new they make you feel welcome and everyone is really friendly. Because of number one they make you want to stay.Their is so much encouragement to learn more in the Bible Studies on Tuesdays.There is something there that just g
makes you want to grow closer to God.The main thing that I think makes people come and not want to leave is this.Pastor Al is real and he is honest.He will tell you where he has been and that he isn’t ashamed to share that.He also reminds us that we as humans fail sometimes but by the grace of God we are forgiven.Also because Jesus died on the cross for all of us.Everyone really cares here.They are also fun to be with.It makes you excited to tell others about your church and to show them and tell them how wonderful it is.I don’t feel like people judge you or look down on you.I just want to try harder to show how good in can be to belong to a church like mine and be a Christian.THe more time that goes by the more I want to be involved and be with all these people to make our church better.Last of all Pastor Al and his wife Pam are wonderful role models for all of us and I have so much admiration and respect for both of them.Pastor Cindy is also an amazing woman and a wonderful leader.She always has such a warmth about her and a beautiful smile.I’m not college educated or anything like that however the inner workings of our church are wonderful and because of all this I believe our church will continue to grow.Sorry this a little lengthy but I see our glass as half full rather than half empty.