My solution to improving connection with our guests at church is to lead them to a "Connection Experience" led by a a front man or woman who can win others over, and does not have the drive to "teach doctrine" or conduct a Chatechism of any kind (though this will happen by default if the environment is designed well).

You see, just like it takes more than a good driver to back in a long trailer into a obstacle ridden campsite, it takes someone different than a good Bible teacher to lead people through an experience that connects them well to their new church.

What kind of person does it take?

Have you ever taken a "free" vacation to a time share resort? You go because you feel the need for a break, have the need for a deal, and are willing to pay the price which is sitting through a presentation and a pitch for a few hours-one that could result in your buying-in to the "resort lifestyle". If you are like me, you have been willing to pay that price as long as they a willing to hear a "No" at they end of it. 

Despite our aversion to this experience, this is unintentionally how we treat guests when they want to become part of our church.

In my opinion we are in the midst of a massive cultural and marketing trend-reversal. The trend used to be customization..."Have it Your Way". You could create your own unique version of food, decor, music playlists, or even create your own ending to a fictional novel you are reading. That was all trending as the information overload that came with customization was only swelling--not cresting and then crashing on top of our overwhelmed heads. 

Now the trend is simplification.

Been thinking a lot about connecting people and how to do it over this past week after Easter. You know what I was mostly thinking? I was thinking about how grateful I am that we have been able to form solutions for what I consider to be the top three mistakes that most ministries make when it comes to assimilating new people to our churches. These were mistakes we were making and when we made some courageous steps toward new ways of doing things, we stumbled on to some real solutions that took us to new levels of connection.

He lived in the British Isles in the late fourth century and early fifth century, at a time when the church had already begun its descent into bureaucracy and institutionalism. As a de-churched grandson of a deacon, he led the wild life of a teenager without a personal faith in God at all.

Signing up for things and showing up for things seems rare, even antiquated. I am amazed by how many wedding invitations get no responses or RSVPs these days. Church events get most of their sign ups the day before.

Here is another idea to communicate well with guests that resulted in something we didn't anticipate: people actually signing up and showing up for an event!

This idea is based on our biggest assimilation learning from 2015. This idea...

📈 Almost doubled the amount of connection cards we received from guests.

🐣 Lowered the average age of those who attend our First Step events by 20+ years.

🎉 Began lowering the average age of those who signed up to volunteer by about the same.

🚀 Helped increased the attendance of our 7 week First Step Experience by 38% this Winter.

I am embarrassed to tell you what it is because it is so painfully obvious and we missed it for the first 2.5 years at our new facility.

When we think of fishing, most of us think of all the energy, activity, and equipment necessary to to attract and catch a fish. When we are fishing for men, as Jesus called us to, we tend to pour our focus into parallel activities: attraction, invitation, decisions...everything until they are "hooked".

But when we take a closer look at fishing, we see that a different and more individual kind of attention takes place after a fish is caught.

At the Catalyst conference last year, Charles Duhigg spoke on The Power of Habit: Why we do what we do in life and in business. His message was so powerful that our entire team read the book together and discussed it for 6 months. 

Our takeaway produced an idea that I can't get out of my head, every time I get an email or text.

Most of us want our guests to grow more connected to our church by "liking" its facebook page, following us on twitter, and sharing posts with their friends. Few of us have a way to systematically encourage that. I fell into one that has worked well at Eastside where I serve.

I am coming up for air with some clarity regarding 5 ideas about how we communicate with Guests. These tangible and specific ideas are now time-tested in my assimilation process and could make a big difference in whether guests at your church become meaningfully connected or not. 

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.