Does it seem wrong and self-centered to you when people talk about attendance numbers at church? Do you feel like a hypocrite if you think to yourself that you’d like to see your church grow numerically? Is your perspective one that says, “As long as our people are maturing and growing in God, that is enough.”?
If your answer to any of those question is “yes”, then it’s quite possible that creating a ‘Guest Friendly’ environment at your church also seems like a waste of your time and energy. I would like to tackle a more philosophical aspect of church growth by, again, asking the question, “Why?” As leaders we need to have a firm and clear understanding why we do everything we do at our churches. This includes the topic I’m addressing this month – “Guest Friendly Churches”. Why does your church need to foster a ‘Guest Friendly‘ environment? Why is it important to have a guest friendly website? Why should you spend the extra money and time to invest in good advertising and guest follow up?
Why? Good question. Here’s the simple answer:
Because you have something (actually Someone) to give to others that can change their lives.
That’s it. Question answered. You didn’t think it would be that simple, did you. It is.
The reason why we should desire to see new faces in our church, numbers increasing in the pews, and more and more guests attending and staying every week is because we believe in the mission of our church. We believe God is doing something special; that He is transforming lives. The thought of people driving by our church every Sunday who are missing out on the freedom, purpose, and life that we experience in Christ should be plenty motivation for us to find ways to draw them in. We shouldn’t want to keep for ourselves the knowledge that people are discovering God, getting set free from addictions, being reconciled in their relationships with their children or spouses, and perhaps experiencing the power of God in some unique way every week.
That’s exciting and it’s motivating. It’s also the primary motivation for ‘why’ people in your church will invite their family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors to church. However, this assumes a couple of things about the Sunday morning experience at your church:
- People are experiencing transformation at your church. Obviously, if you don’t have something (or Someone) valuable to offer your community then it’s not only anticlimactic for them to come, it’s demotivating for them to want to seek God. The fact is that most of your first time guests are seeking God in some meaningful way – whether they are already believers or not. If they took the time to visit your church then the unspoken hope is that they will find Him there.
- The Sunday morning experience is ‘Guest Friendly’.A while back I was placed in charge of watching two of our young children while my wife was away all day running errands. Sadly, I didn’t do a very good job of cleaning up after them. After about three hours the house was totally trashed. Later that afternoon I was talking to a good friend on the phone and the thought occurred to me, “Should I invite him to pop over to continue our discussion?” One look around the house was all I needed to answer that question. I had no desire to invite a guest into my home when it was such a big mess. The same will be true for your congregation. Many won’t invite others to church simply because they don’t believe the church experience is really ready for guests. It’s not ‘Guest Friendly‘.