For the last few weeks we’ve talked about 4 surveys that indicate the worship style and model of your church aren’t what get people to come to your church, or keep people to stay in your church. You can read the first post here and more about the survey here. The closest worship got to the top on any survey was right in the middle on why people attend church and this is only stated as “to worship God” so it doesn’t seem indicative of style. The other interesting thing is that Worship hits the very bottom of the list for reasons un-churched people will either come or stick around. Another odd point is that while Pastor/Preaching is 90% of why someone un-churched would show up, it’s 38% of why they would stay. It seems the biggest thing to get and keep people come down to two questions.
- Who is your main leader?(Is the pastor whose preaching someone people will want to follow?)
- How are you doing things so that people can follow them? (Do you have clear-cut next steps of involvement to those who aren’t familiar with your church?)
Thinking through this, I have even seen this work in our own church. There was a person who showed up waaayyy too early on a Sunday (like 2 hours early) while we were setting up. So it had the potential to be a bit awkward. Instead, I got them to help me while I asked them questions about themselves. Then they went with the friend who invited them to set up the kids area. Then when they were done, I asked this person if they wanted to help great. They totally did all of it. The great part….they kept coming back. The thing is, if you serve you feel like you’re a part of a family. [Tweet That] If you feel like you’re a part, you’ll keep coming back. We call this “opening the front door and closing the back door”.
You see, you eat at a restaurant differently than you eat at your house. At a restaurant, you are served, with your family you wash dishes and take out the trash. With your family, you serve. You systems for getting people involved are a HUGE deal. Especially if, as a pastor, you believe Ephesians 4:11-12. Your goal isn’t to do ministry, but to empower everyone else to do ministry. [Tweet That]
Begin asking yourself “Am I a leader who others want to follow and who makes it easy for others to follow?” and with the answers to those questions begin to ask “How can I grow in these areas?” According to another verse in the same book, Ephesians 2:10 says that God has in His plans for you to be someone who leads well and is easy to follow. You were created to make a difference, growth is part of that. So if you’re growing, be encouraged that you are changing the world.
Leave a comment below and tell me what you think. Does this make sense? Do you agree or disagree with the conclusions I’ve drawn from the studies mentioned?