So my recipe went like this ...
Welcome
Connect
Heal
Challenge
Empower
Part 2 is connect
I think this is the area that people think is difficult and therefore leave to the expert with the theology degree, rely on the" quality" of the service or blame the new people for not connecting ("well if they had grown up in the church they would understand...").
Certainly the priest / pastor and the service should connect. A well developed positive message should be preached not just at the sermon but also in the songs and prayers. Its also worth thinking about how the people up the front interact with each other and the people in the congregation. If people up the front get cross with each other for liturgical mistakes and then turn around and talk about forgiveness, how does that look to the new person? That positive message invites the new person to think to themselves "I could see myself coming here..."
It's actually worth thinking about how businesses connect with their customers/clients/demographic/target audience. That doesn't mean that we have to adopt a business attitude, just that we can learn from people who make a living off doing this stuff really well - what's that you say? Priests have to live off the collection plate? Oh, and God's grace and mercy. Well I guess that's an advantage... Anyway, getting off track.
I'm going to look at the big three - Maccas, Bunnings and Coles. They all sell stuff, but they all want your loyalty too which is different from an Ebay store or Harvey Norman which just promise you cheap stuff and get you back even though they have no customer service.
Maccas - their key is consistency. You can go to a Maccas anywhere and know what you'll get, and what you get may not be appetising if you think to hard about it, but it will come with a clean, safe toilet, a playground and it will be really convenient. I don't know how many times using drive through has been an option because I've had boys in the car and its much less hassle to stay in the car and so drive through Maccas becomes the choice. If you've ever been to a petrol station toilet or park with a metal toilet then you'll know how important it is to be able to go to the toilet without being worried about what could happen inside or what could be lacking. Every Maccas has a playground of fairly high, if not very high standard and even though KFC and Hungry Jacks also do this, they don't do it as well as Maccas.
Bunnings - they cover everything. You've got to paint, plant or repair something then you could go to a normal hardware store or you could go to Bunnings and you'll find a couple of other things along the way that you didn't think you needed but it was so cheap ... My local Bunnings has a real Child-friendly push with a brand new massive playground, free balloons, lollipops and stamps and I know I could actually just walk in have the kids play and be able to walk out again without having bought anything, but I probably wouldn't because there is always something to buy. They also offer training courses...
Coles - they focus on quality. I don't always buy it, but they are always going on about quality, and they do a pretty good job of promoting themselves *everywhere*. Is Masterchef about cooking or is it about promoting Coles? I'm not quite sure. I think they've given up on trying to win the "cheapest supermaket" prize since Aldi came on the scene, so they focus on really red shiny apples and fruit and veg areas that make it look like you are at the markets in Melbourne, and shelves full of as few cans as possible.
You generally get a friendly, happy, staff member at these places, and Bunnings has even tried to provide some customer service over the last couple of years. You pretty much know what to expect and there are very strategic locations, advertising, and methods for moving you from choosing to purchasing to staying a bit longer. The most important thing about all of the successful businesses is that they know who they are trying to reach and they have a strategy for getting them and, more importantly, keeping them. Sometimes it is very subtle, but you always know when you have walked out of one of these stores that you have been in the store and that the buying of items was more than just looking at the cheapest prices.
So how about church?
Is your church strategic? or is it desperate to get anyone who walks through the doors?
Does your church have some way of encouraging people to stay longer?
Does your church attract a specific demographic (possibly over 70s) or does it cover all demographics?
What is your church doing to attract new people and what is it doing to keep existing members?
Where is the energy of the programs being focused on - getting in new or keeping old? and how effective is it at either?
What strategies are in place to cater for people once they move from one demographic group to the next (ie young singles to newly marrieds. Marrieds to families. Families to retirees.)?
When a new person comes along to your church, do they leave with a sense of being deliberately acknowledged, affirmed and valued, or that there was a standard that they needed to measure up to?
What key strategies do you have for connecting with kids?
What facilities do you have to connect with kids?
How well do you advertise your church's existence? programs? facilities? ministry?
How well do you advertise the Christian message of love and forgiveness through Jesus, as opposed to religiousness and experience?
What are you doing that creates a disconnect for new people to the church?
Do you ask new people to give money?
Do new people have enough information? Too much information?
Is your service consistent so that people know what they will get? (and are the toilets easily accessible or in the really old block that is about 10m away from the church and you need a key?)
Does your service cover everything and everyone? (Do you get the Gospel message plus theological insight plus opportunities for ministry or just intellectual rigor? Does your service engage high church, low church, people who can't read, people who like singing new songs, people who like to sing old songs? Careful with this as you cannot be all things to all people...)
Who is doing the work of connecting to new people? (Is it people at the door, the priest, Fred who has a very outgoing personality, people with name tags on, or just God?)
Do you pray for new people to come to your church?
Do you pray that people will connect when they come to your church?
Do the existing members want any new people to come to church? Why? Why not? What kind of new people?
I think I will do an extra blog later on with my tips for talking to new people. I should just add that churches in general are hopeless at advertising themselves. No-one reads the local free newspaper anymore, and letterbox drops are time-consuming and about 5% effective. Hillsong has the best advertising of any church in Australia, but at times you could interpret their blatant advertising as some sort of selling of the soul (that's probably a little harsh). The best advertising is always word of mouth, followed by strategic visuals and branding in the right places... its not rocket science, and churches shouldn't just say "If we pray for them they will come?" You can't just wait for your Christmas carols or Easter service - it has to be regular and prominent in your community.
My concluding comments on this topic are
1. Be strategic
2. Know who you can cater for and how you can cater for them
3. Change what you do, rather than who you are
4. Make sure that you take advice from God and the Holy Spirit - this is the difference between church and business.
Next blog is on healing, which doesn't mean I think new people should get a miracle healing, but is going to be about brokeness, sinfulness, dealing with the past and restoration/redeeming.
Welcome
Connect
Heal
Challenge
Empower
Part 2 is connect
I think this is the area that people think is difficult and therefore leave to the expert with the theology degree, rely on the" quality" of the service or blame the new people for not connecting ("well if they had grown up in the church they would understand...").
Certainly the priest / pastor and the service should connect. A well developed positive message should be preached not just at the sermon but also in the songs and prayers. Its also worth thinking about how the people up the front interact with each other and the people in the congregation. If people up the front get cross with each other for liturgical mistakes and then turn around and talk about forgiveness, how does that look to the new person? That positive message invites the new person to think to themselves "I could see myself coming here..."
It's actually worth thinking about how businesses connect with their customers/clients/demographic/target audience. That doesn't mean that we have to adopt a business attitude, just that we can learn from people who make a living off doing this stuff really well - what's that you say? Priests have to live off the collection plate? Oh, and God's grace and mercy. Well I guess that's an advantage... Anyway, getting off track.
I'm going to look at the big three - Maccas, Bunnings and Coles. They all sell stuff, but they all want your loyalty too which is different from an Ebay store or Harvey Norman which just promise you cheap stuff and get you back even though they have no customer service.
Maccas - their key is consistency. You can go to a Maccas anywhere and know what you'll get, and what you get may not be appetising if you think to hard about it, but it will come with a clean, safe toilet, a playground and it will be really convenient. I don't know how many times using drive through has been an option because I've had boys in the car and its much less hassle to stay in the car and so drive through Maccas becomes the choice. If you've ever been to a petrol station toilet or park with a metal toilet then you'll know how important it is to be able to go to the toilet without being worried about what could happen inside or what could be lacking. Every Maccas has a playground of fairly high, if not very high standard and even though KFC and Hungry Jacks also do this, they don't do it as well as Maccas.
Bunnings - they cover everything. You've got to paint, plant or repair something then you could go to a normal hardware store or you could go to Bunnings and you'll find a couple of other things along the way that you didn't think you needed but it was so cheap ... My local Bunnings has a real Child-friendly push with a brand new massive playground, free balloons, lollipops and stamps and I know I could actually just walk in have the kids play and be able to walk out again without having bought anything, but I probably wouldn't because there is always something to buy. They also offer training courses...
Coles - they focus on quality. I don't always buy it, but they are always going on about quality, and they do a pretty good job of promoting themselves *everywhere*. Is Masterchef about cooking or is it about promoting Coles? I'm not quite sure. I think they've given up on trying to win the "cheapest supermaket" prize since Aldi came on the scene, so they focus on really red shiny apples and fruit and veg areas that make it look like you are at the markets in Melbourne, and shelves full of as few cans as possible.
You generally get a friendly, happy, staff member at these places, and Bunnings has even tried to provide some customer service over the last couple of years. You pretty much know what to expect and there are very strategic locations, advertising, and methods for moving you from choosing to purchasing to staying a bit longer. The most important thing about all of the successful businesses is that they know who they are trying to reach and they have a strategy for getting them and, more importantly, keeping them. Sometimes it is very subtle, but you always know when you have walked out of one of these stores that you have been in the store and that the buying of items was more than just looking at the cheapest prices.
So how about church?
Is your church strategic? or is it desperate to get anyone who walks through the doors?
Does your church have some way of encouraging people to stay longer?
Does your church attract a specific demographic (possibly over 70s) or does it cover all demographics?
What is your church doing to attract new people and what is it doing to keep existing members?
Where is the energy of the programs being focused on - getting in new or keeping old? and how effective is it at either?
What strategies are in place to cater for people once they move from one demographic group to the next (ie young singles to newly marrieds. Marrieds to families. Families to retirees.)?
When a new person comes along to your church, do they leave with a sense of being deliberately acknowledged, affirmed and valued, or that there was a standard that they needed to measure up to?
What key strategies do you have for connecting with kids?
What facilities do you have to connect with kids?
How well do you advertise your church's existence? programs? facilities? ministry?
How well do you advertise the Christian message of love and forgiveness through Jesus, as opposed to religiousness and experience?
What are you doing that creates a disconnect for new people to the church?
Do you ask new people to give money?
Do new people have enough information? Too much information?
Is your service consistent so that people know what they will get? (and are the toilets easily accessible or in the really old block that is about 10m away from the church and you need a key?)
Does your service cover everything and everyone? (Do you get the Gospel message plus theological insight plus opportunities for ministry or just intellectual rigor? Does your service engage high church, low church, people who can't read, people who like singing new songs, people who like to sing old songs? Careful with this as you cannot be all things to all people...)
Who is doing the work of connecting to new people? (Is it people at the door, the priest, Fred who has a very outgoing personality, people with name tags on, or just God?)
Do you pray for new people to come to your church?
Do you pray that people will connect when they come to your church?
Do the existing members want any new people to come to church? Why? Why not? What kind of new people?
I think I will do an extra blog later on with my tips for talking to new people. I should just add that churches in general are hopeless at advertising themselves. No-one reads the local free newspaper anymore, and letterbox drops are time-consuming and about 5% effective. Hillsong has the best advertising of any church in Australia, but at times you could interpret their blatant advertising as some sort of selling of the soul (that's probably a little harsh). The best advertising is always word of mouth, followed by strategic visuals and branding in the right places... its not rocket science, and churches shouldn't just say "If we pray for them they will come?" You can't just wait for your Christmas carols or Easter service - it has to be regular and prominent in your community.
My concluding comments on this topic are
1. Be strategic
2. Know who you can cater for and how you can cater for them
3. Change what you do, rather than who you are
4. Make sure that you take advice from God and the Holy Spirit - this is the difference between church and business.
Next blog is on healing, which doesn't mean I think new people should get a miracle healing, but is going to be about brokeness, sinfulness, dealing with the past and restoration/redeeming.
No comments:
Post a Comment