CONNECTIONS MINISTRY GUIDE

Key Elements of Connection Success

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CONNECTIONS MINISTRY GUIDE

Nowhere is establishing a connection with another person be it first-time visitors or long-time attendees more important than in todays ministry. Many church members dont feel as though they belong to their congregation. They have been received into membership, writes author and researcher Lyle Schaller in Assimilating New Members, but have never felt they have been accepted into the fellowship circle. Providing genuine connection between your members, guests, and the surrounding community is essential to the growth of your ministry because the connection process allows you to bring people in to the church, prepare them for ministry, and provide them with opportunities to share their gifts within the church family. This ministry guide will demonstrate a successful guest connection from first-time attendee to committed member. Also discussed are the key elements to connection success using technology to your advantage, understanding the importance of follow up, getting new people involved, keeping current members involved, and recognizing that the connection process is not for guests alone. Throughout will be discussed the ways technology email, church Web sites, and even tools that connect to the internet can help you focus on the more personal aspects of connection.

They have been received into membership, but have never felt they have been accepted into the fellowship circle.
Lyle Schaller

Successful Guest Connection

A successful guest connection process is an organized effort conducted on multiple ministry levels to help integrate guests into your church. Below is an example of a successful guest connection: Tina asks Samantha, her co-worker, to attend an outreach event at her church on Thursday afternoon. After their conversation earlier in the week about Samantha being new to the area and her desire to find a home church, Tina thought it would be a great opportunity for Samantha to experience her church in a relaxed, informal setting. Samantha agrees to attend and looks forward to the event. She really enjoys herself and goes online to find out more about Tinas church. She likes the Web site the service times are clearly visible, she identifies with the churchs mission, the small groups and events look fun, and she is able to watch one of the Pastors sermons online. Because she had such a positive experience at the outreach event and likes what shes learned about the church on the Web site, Samantha decides to attend the 11 a.m. worship service the following week. When Samantha arrives for service, she is welcomed by the Connections Ministry Team. Since service is about to start, Samantha decides to wait until afterwards to enter her contact info into the welcome center kiosk. That afternoon from home, the membership administrator puts Samanthas information straight into the database and makes it accessible to the outreach team.

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Meanwhile, he also sends an email to the Pastor letting him know about Samantha attending service that morning. The Pastor makes a point to call her Sunday afternoon to welcome her to the church and invites her to attend a Get to Know You event next week after services. The outreach team leader receives an email through his Connections Google Gadget when he signs into his Google homepage on Sunday night, telling him that Samantha visited the church for worship services. He looks at the database to determine which volunteer is best suited for the job of contacting Samantha and talking to her about small groups and volunteer opportunities. He decides Jill, a past guest herself, is perfect for the job and sends her an email. Jill sees she has a message on her PDA the next day, telling her about Samantha and how to get in contact with her. When she meets with Samantha, Jill spends time with her, learning about all her areas of interests and her family. After her visit, Jill takes a break at a coffee shop and enters all of Samanthas information into the system using her laptop. She also takes a moment to identify a few small groups that might be of interest to Samantha. She sends an email to Samantha with some details about the small groups that are available and assigns the small group leaders in the church to contact Samantha with more information. She decides that one of the small groups sounds interesting and contacts the leader about attending their next meeting. The leader emails her directions to their meeting place and calls to remind her about attending on the day of the meeting. After several months, Samantha feels comfortable enough to volunteer in the church and emails the Volunteer Team leader about several positions that interest her. She receives a message about available positions and details of the skills needed for each position. She inquires about several of the positions and decides that one sounds perfect for her. Her requests and preferences are immediately entered into the database by the membership administrator. After completing the initial requirements to become a volunteer, Samantha is accepted as a Childrens Ministry volunteer. As Samantha transitions from attendee to committed member over the next few months, the church staff and the Connections Team are in constant contact with Samantha to keep her integrated within the church family. She is shown how to access her small group online, is given access to her online contributions information, and is shown how she can update her contact information in the church database. Because of the churchs diligence and follow through in the connections process, Samantha is a fully engaged member of the church in less than a years time.

CONNECTIONS MINISTRY GUIDE

Key Elements to Conncection Success

Without a system in place to help you connect with your guests this process may seem a bit complex, but with planning it can be easy to accomplish. It is important to take the time to create a connection process that fits within your organization. Some key elements that will help contribute to a successful program, like the one above, are: Encourage guests to return through personal invitations and contacts Involve multiple members interactions in your process to establish relationships Utilize technology to facilitate and track these interactions Engage guests in activities and volunteer opportunities as soon as possible

Use Technology to Your Advantage

Contact management software allows you to expand your ministry by providing access to information anytime, from anywhere through the use of any Web-enabled computer, mobile device, or PDA. You can: Assign team members to follow up with specific guests Submit updates to group members records online Keep track of assigned contacts and tasks Track the guests response to follow-up visits or emails Email messages to team members or individuals Create reports and lists View statistics and metrics Edit personal and church calendars Accept, edit, or reject changes made by others in the system Manage volunteer positions and needs Additionally, when staff members and administrators perform a database search, information can be filtered by: Connection Type: Hospital Visits, Guest Follow Up, Personal Counseling, etc. Member Comments and Notes Overdue Tasks Date Plus, enhanced security features ensure that this sensitive information is available only to those people with appropriate viewing rights, which can be customized and changed as the needs of your church change.

CONNECTIONS MINISTRY GUIDE

Web Site
You can also use your church Web site in a variety of ways to keep your members and attendees connected. Through your Web site your congregation will be able to: Register and pay for events online Check out volunteer service opportunities Update contact information Review contribution records View church directories online See rosters of people in small groups and email them

Follow-Up Is Critical
The key to any successful connection process is follow-up. In his book The Growth Spiral, Andy Anderson discusses the importance of timing in the connections process as it relates to a guests willingness to return to church: Sunday Afternoon: 89% Return to Church Monday Evening: 56% Return to Church Wednesday Evening: 42% Return to Church Thursday Evening: 25% Return to Church Saturday Evening: 13% Return to Church The more time that passes between a guests visit to your church and your follow-up, the less likely the guest is to return. Guests contacted within the first 48 hours of their initial visit are much more likely to attend another ministry event, worship service, or small group meeting. The follow-up process doesnt have to be complex. For instance, you assign each of your 5 Connection Teams a list of guests that they are responsible for contacting. Each team can briefly stop by the guests home, drop off church literature, and offer to answer any questions the guest may have. When they leave, they can use their laptop, mobile phone, or PDA to immediately update the guests record before contacting the next person on their list. The team members task can also be marked as complete.

Get New People Involved

By putting ministry programs in place to keep your guests and attendees involved, you increase the likelihood that they will consistently return. According to his book Surprising Insights from the Unchurched, Thom Rainier states that 62 percent of formerly unchurched people remain active in the church because they were invited to become a part of their churchs various ministries.

Join A Ministry
Your contact management software can be used to track the process of getting someone involved in your ministry. As each task for involving a new member in the ministry is completed, the system automatically updates the guests record and marks the task as finished. For example, when a

CONNECTIONS MINISTRY GUIDE

person submits a request to volunteer within the childrens ministry, the contact management software automatically sets up tasks for the leader to complete within a specified time-frame (i.e., 7 days per task). First, a background check must be completed on the applicant. Once the background check is received and approved, the task of sending out a ministry application to the candidate is assigned. After the candidate completes and returns the application, the next task is assigned, which is to provide an approval decision based on the persons application. The final task assigned to the leader would be to contact the volunteer and provide them with more information about what they can do to assist in the childrens ministry. Using this kind of system provides a system of accountability for the leader as well as a framework for getting guests and new attendees involved in your ministry.

New Member Small Groups

Another great way to get new attendees involved is to have them attend an orientation class or a small group specifically designed for new members. These meetings will help them acclimate to the church and feel at home in your ministry by quickly developing relationships with other new attendees. You can also use these classes to inform new members about the expectations of membership within your church. After completing the orientation or new-member small group, attendees can go to the church Web site and search for small groups that interest them. They would be able to search for all available small groups and choose one to visit, based on criteria such as stage-of-life, geographic location or current study topic. They could also find small groups that had child care, if that was their need. In addition, they could request more information and have the leader of the group contact them. More information on small groups can be found in Planning For Big Success With Small Groups.

Keep Regular Attendees Involved

Is everyone in your church invited to participate in the connection process and expected to contribute to reach those goals? People on every level of your ministry must be willing to do their part if your ministry is to succeed. Map out your goals and make sure each individual knows what their part is in reaching the overall goal. This personal commitment to your ministrys vision will empower your congregation to become inviters. Motivating and equipping your members to invite guests to your church is probably the most effective way to bring in new people and grow your ministry. For more information on creating a congregation of inviters download the ACS ministry guide Going Outside the Church Walls.

CONNECTIONS MINISTRY GUIDE

Not For Guests Alone

Guests are not the only people that you need to connect with. Member care is also vitally important to the health and success of your ministry. How does your church connect with people that go through: New Life Events: Birth, Marriage, Death, Divorce Career Transitions: Job Change or Loss Changing Beliefs Poor Attendance and Potential Dropout All of these people may find themselves needing to be re-integrated into the church family as they adjust to their new life situation. Help them stay connected within the church by keeping their information up-to-date with your contact management software.

Move Your Connections Ministry Forward

These solutions will help your ministry overcome the difficulties of the connection process. By applying them, you will find yourself leading motivated members that are committed to the growth of your connections ministry. To get more information about how ACS Technologies can help you take your connections ministry to the next level visit acstechnologies.com/products/accessacs or call us at 800-736-7425.

CONNECTIONS MINISTRY GUIDE

More About ACS Technologies

ACS Technologies is a leading provider of information management solutions for churches, schools, and other faith-based organizations. Founded in 1978, ACS Technologies serves over 50,000 organizations worldwide. From church management software to forms and supplies to professional Web sites and consulting, we offer six product and service suites in order to meet our clients varied needs. Since 1978, ACS Technologies has developed outstanding software products designed specifically for faith-based organizations, focusing on the special needs you address every day. Weve designed our products to work together, integrating them to increase efficiency and reduce redundancies for your benefit. The ACS Technologies mission is simple and focused to empower clients with specially designed software solutions.

Contact information
ACS Technologies 180 Dunbarton Drive Florence, SC 29501 800.736.7425 solutions@acstechnologies.com acstechnologies.com

Works Cited
Anderson, Andy. The Growth Spiral: The Proven Step-By-Step Method for Calculating and Predicting Growth Potential in Your Church. Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993 Rainier, Thom S. Surprising Insights from the Unchurched and Proven Ways to Reach Them. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2001 Schaller, Lyle. Assimilating New Members. Nashville: Broadman Press, 1978

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