What is the best way to onboard a volunteer at your church?

a. Carefully

b. After they have proven faithful

c. When they have completed the membership class and been baptized

d. As quickly as possible.

As I write this on New Year's Day 2016, I am reflective over 2 questions that are close to the core of probably any man or woman who has a ministry in any aspect of assimilation:

1. What are the must-have qualities that make a church connectable for people?
2. What characteristics are deal-breakers for me personally when it comes to my being a part of a church?

When I was 14 years old, I came to Eastside Christian Church for the first time. After the message, communion was passed out, the lights were dimmed, and we were invited to meditate on what Jesus had done for us and express our thoughts about it through prayer. I had never "experienced" the message of communion before, and it happened simply because Communion was presented to me....differently.

One of the epiphanies I've had about communion in my adult life is how important it is to be creative with it. 

But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. -Psalm 3:3

I am familiar with this verse and have sung it in church and at camp growing up. I have always thought when it says that God is the "lifter of my head" that it was saying God is the lifter if my mood, or that he lifts me out of discouragement. He certainly does that, but recently I found that King David was probably saying something different.

I believe we can help guests AND members of our churches make better connections with God and each other by sharing Communion together, holding fast to these two realities:

1. Understanding the story of communion is the only pre-condition for participation

2. If the Holy Spirit is drawing a person to receive the Meal as the story is explained, that is a "sign" of their acceptance at the Table.

What if Communion is not a cleansing ritual for Christians but a story-telling experience for all who need the gospel?

This is the question I proposed in my last post. As someone who is passionate about helping people connect to the Body of Christ, I would respond to this question in a controversial way: I believe that communion was never meant to be a time of personal cleansing of sin for a believer, but a chance to vividly understand the good news about Jesus and how that works out in everyone's life.

Now a warning: In this series on the role of Communion in assimilating people into your church, I am about to step on all kinds of tradition, notions, orthodoxy and orthopraxy when it comes to the Lord's Supper, including that of churches who may not take it at all. But since most of the two and a half billion Christians in the world take it in some form, its impact on the seekers and guests coming to your church from various traditions cannot be ignored.

Membership has its privileges. We hear this quite a lot. But, there are many understandings of what membership is, and what it means-especially when it comes to the Church. Like a health club, people can be a member of a church that they have not attended in years simply because they fulfilled the membership requirement to remain on the roster. Read on to explore an understanding that will not only really resonate with your guests, but would resonate with the Apostle's understanding of membership as well.

Any definition of "assimilated" you and I adopt must include this reality: a connected person is one who makes a contribution. They are not just wanted: they are needed. A guest must become a connected, serving member if they are going to stick.

Connection is the most vital aspect of assimilation a guest to your church can experience.

To address this reality, there are 2 questions you will need to begin asking yourself.

Assimilation means a lot of things to a lot of people—but I’ve learned to narrow it down to the bare essentials. We have to start breaking down each part of a guest’s journey and what it means in a specific and measurable way for them and for us.

One of the reasons that guests make a decision to return to your church within the first 7 minutes of their first visit is because they are unconsciously asking the same question all of us instinctively ask ourselves when we find ourselves in a  new environment: "Is there anybody here who's like me?" As Rick Warren says, "You don't attract who you want, you attract who you are".

Learning to leverage "The Affinity Factor" can unlock whole new opportunities to connect guests to your church.

I used to believe that I needed to "sell" church to new people.

I believed that I needed to continually speak of the advantages of being part of a church, the benefits of spiritual community, a connection to their ultimate purpose, and more. Though true, I think focusing so much on these advantages distorted my thinking about our guests.

I know believe almost the opposite...

When I went on my honeymoon to Cancun Mexico, I had an idea that my wife found disturbing. It wouldn't be the last time...

There are many things God uses to get guests to your church Do not confuse them however with WHY they are at your church. 

Visualize faces and names of those new to your church right now and ponder these two facts that are true of every one of them...

It is good to remember that this journey of assimilation is not our own creation or a responsibility of ours to make happen. God owns it. He was working ahead of us, is working alongside us, and waiting for us and those we lead at the summit.

Here is one of the most extraordinary example I have heard at my church of how God does this.

The person who is in charge of any conversation is the person asking the questions.

Now the goal of any conversation with a guest at your church is certainly not to be in charge of it. But I think we become "disconnectors" instead of connectors when we feel that we have to sell our church with many words and lots of talking. 

Connection happens best when we ask people the right questions and let them talk. Here are the two questions we ask every guest.

Nelson Searcy in his book Fusion shares that on average, churches of any size in the U.S. only assimilate 1 out of every 20 people who visit. Ponder this stat as you think about building community in your church family. It means that 19 out of every 20 people that visit our churches will not become a part of it in any meaningful way. How many people would attempt a journey if only 1 out of 20 would arrive at their destination?

When our movement was born, Christ followers experienced the expansion of community differently: I call it "The 2:47 Factor".