It’s easier to grow a church if you’re keeping the ones you attract. Really, it’s easier to attract new people if you’re doing the right things to keep them, to nurture the existing members and regulars.  Here’s what I mean.

Advertisers know it takes 6 points of contact for someone to come once, but only a couple to keep buying their product.  With churches, our product is not salvation, it’s community.  You can be saved and never attend church.  Look at your own rolls – the average in my denomination is that only half the members ever show up.  In others, it’s less. But even if they don’t come, there’s a point of connection left in their memory.  They will still sometimes come for a special event, or if a friend that still attends invites them.

For those that still come, or come occasionally, those are the ones that need attention.  More than outreach.  As a pastor friend recently noted about an outreach event,

What if they come?

What if your big marketing event attracts a crowd?  What if your attendance doubles in a day? What will you do to bring them back and keep them them coming?  In the following posts, I’ll address a few key concepts:

 

 

If there’s a hurt, you