How to Retain Visitors

In my experience, the average reformed/presbyterian church does not have a problem attracting visitors. Unless you meet 30 miles outside of town on a dirt road no one ever drives on (and I know those types of churches exist!), then chances are you will occasionally have a visitor in your midst on a Sunday morning. If your church does any sort of advertising or any sort of outreach, those chances increase. But even if you don't, you will get the stray visitor now and again. This post is not meant to give advice on how to attract visitors, but how to make sure that the visitor's first visit is not their last.

Here are some simple steps that I have seen help retain visitors:

1. Pray! Pray that God will send you visitors. Pray that the visitors will feel welcomed. Pray that the Holy Spirit would work in their hearts to apply the preaching of the Word that they will hear at your church. Pray that you and the members of your congregation can effectively minister to the visitors. Pray that they will come back.

2. Get the visitors contact information. Have a guest book and make sure they visitor signs it. Alternatively, have pew cards for visitors to fill out. Do something to get their name, address, phone number and e-mail. The point here is to prepare for follow-up. You will need contact information.

3. Greet your visitors! Some churches make the visitors stand up at the beginning of the service so everyone knows who they are. I think that goes to far, and could potentially embarrass your visitors. But, you must make sure to introduce yourself, shake their hand, ask their name. Elders, this is primarily your responsibility. You must be the ice breakers. If we have visitors on a Sunday morning, and I don't get to talk to them, I feel I have failed in my duty (thankfully, when this happens, I know the other elders will have talked to the visitor). Elders should also be encouraging others in the congregation to improve on this point. For some people, it is very difficult to say hi to someone they don't know. For others it is easy. The more people that greet a visitor, the more welcome they will feel in your church.

4. Be prepared to show hospitality to your new visitors. This one requires some forethought. My wife and I try to plan each week for the scenario of visitors (the key word being "try"--we don't always succeed). We try to plan our Sunday lunch accordingly. We try to leave the house in a state which is appropriate for visitors (kids' toys put away, dishes done, etc.). This can be a difficult thing to do as you are rushing out of the house on a Sunday morning to get to church on time, but it really only requires a bit more effort than usual. I view this preparation as part of my preparing for the Lord's Day: I want to be prepared to show hospitality.

5. Follow-up! This goes back to point 2 (get the visitors' contact information). Now that you have their contact info, send them a card thanking them for visiting your church. Take them a plate of cookies during the week (as a side note, this was done to my family the first time we visited my current church. It pretty much sealed the deal for us and we've been their ever since). Give them a phone call, asking if there is any way you can be of service to them. Whatever you choose to do, make that follow-up contact.

These are only five things that can help you retain visitors, and I'm sure there are many more. Do you have something to add to this list? Leave a comment and let me know!

But You're Just a Ruling Elder!

Has anyone ever told you this? "You're just a Ruling Elder." Perhaps not with those exact words. Perhaps they phrased it more delicately (as a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure they would have). Maybe it wasn't phrased using the second person singular, but the third person plural: "Scholars disagree with that point of view." Of course, "that point of view" is the one you are advocating. Or perhaps it was said in the first person: "I, Dr. Smith, have studied these ancient cultures for so many years, that surely we can't so easily discount my advice." As a matter of fact, perhaps this sort of disdain for Ruling Elders was phrased so elegantly and so subtly that you bought into it. You thought to yourself, "Maybe Dr. Jones/scholars/this guy in front of me with an advanced theology degree knows better than I do." Perhaps this sort of speech was used to counter a point you made or perhaps it was used to prevent you from even speaking at all. A preemptive strike in the debate, if you will.

Ruling Elders, I write to encourage you to see through this sort of speech. And I hope to give some antidote to these kinds of attacks.

First, I want to address these sorts of attacks. I say attacks, because that's what they are. It doesn't sound like one, though, does it? Stating "Dr. Jones has done post-doc work in Ancient Mesopotamian cultures and as a result of years of study has reached conclusion X." does not sound the same as saying "Sit down and shut up, stupid." But in reality that is what is being said. By saying Dr. Jones has years of knowledge that contradicts your point of view, what is being implied is that you do not have years of knowledge, nor a PhD to back up your point of view. You don't know as much as Dr. Jones, therefore your point is invalid, therefore you should not be speaking. Or, to put it another way: "Sit down and shut up, stupid!" Have you encountered this line of reasoning before? I have. And now that I have encountered it, I am all the more able to see it the next time I come into contact with it.

Second, the solution to these attacks. The best solution is Scripture. Our Lord was no respecter of persons (Matt. 22:16), but all too often, we are. We shouldn't be. Jesus also told us not to call any man "teacher" (Matt 23:10), but all too often we call men "doctor" (meaning "teacher") and hold them in high regard and value their words more because of this title. We shouldn't. We should, though, remember that first great church council in Jerusalem, where apostles and elders came together, as equals, to settle matters pertaining to the faith (Acts 15:6). If the early church did not regard the Apostles as more able to settle this matter than the elders, and if the Apostles did not take such a high view of themselves that they sought to belittle the elders, why then do we uphold doctors of theology (or masters of divinity) as better able to instruct us than an "ordinary" Ruling Elder?

The reason is a low view of Scripture. "A low view of Scripture," you may ask yourself, "how do you reach that conclusion?" Here is how: when we honor the view of a man with a PhD or even an MDiv who has read Calvin in the original Latin or translated Turretin himself or held the original Dead Sea Scrolls in his hands, more than the elder who simply quotes Scripture (properly exegeted), we reveal that our view of Scripture is less than that of these artifacts. After all, he held the original Dead Sea Scrolls! You just can't argue with that! I mean, any sucker can quote 1 John, but this man is a scholar. You're just a Ruling Elder! Sit down and shut up, stupid.

This approach to questions of doctrine is evil, subtle, and deceitful. Those are attributes of Satan, not of Christ's undershepherds (1 John 3:8; Gen. 3:1; John 8:44). What this view does is dismiss Scripture in favor of man's opinion. And pay close attention, because although the men who do this may reference or quote Scripture, their final authority will not be Scripture. If their final authority were the Bible, they would be humble, deferring to others and listening to you, Ruling Elder, because you are an Elder in the Church of God, and that is the highest office one can be called to.