Near and Far Faith

The critical piece that is often missing behind follow up (if it does exist at all) is the heart behind it. Or at least making the heart behind it communicable. As people created in God's image we desire to be known. So following up after someone visits is important to let them know that they are not just a number a church is using to bolster its confidence... and I believe that people can sense when that is the case. People can also sense when follow up is obligatory. Thus the heart behind it should be to communicate intimate felt value to that visitor. We should, as others also created by an intimate God, be deeply concerned and caring for all others and that should be felt in any follow up.

So as church leaders we should make sure to cast adequate vision for follow up before we invest the time to design a follow up process.

As church lookers, this is not a closed-handed issue, but it will give you insight into a church's heart so be sensitive to the heart behind the follow up call or email.

One more note on this and that is the welcome factor of a body. Follow up begins the moment a new visitor walks in the door, but be careful to keep things balanced. Some may want to share their life story with you while others may not want to be bothered at all if this is their first foray or last ditch effort with God and church. Either way we should feel noticed and welcomed in that notice when we visit a church. I have found that a good guideline is to at least remember someone's name the following week or later on that day. It shows them that value them enough to remember who they are.

Also as church leaders we should be careful who we put in the roles that will be doing the majority of the follow up. While the responsibility lies with all of us, there are some of us very gifted at a balanced and welcoming persona and others of us that are... well... un-gifted at that. Work hard to help people discover their gifts but never force people into a need-role that may be completely contradictory to their giftings. Doing this means designing a process by which believers that know what their gifts are can take quality time to walk along side of those who may not know yet and help them awaken to their gifts. I am continually surprised at how many supposed "mature Christians" either have no idea what their gifts are or are working head-long in ministries contradictory to what they are... which most others around them can easily see.

So this piece is quite simple but it was the first thing we were confronted with and frankly something that as a church leader I never spent too much time really evaluating. Is your church findable... literally? Often we can see an extremely different perspective if we just put ourselves in the shoes of someone who has never been to church and is in some way motivated to start. Where to they start? Well as far as I can see, there are 3 possibilities:

First is by word of mouth - asking people you know if there is a church that may fit your family. This is really the best way as it puts you in a position of conversations which can open up all sorts of awesome kingdom opportunities. The problem is that if you move into a new community you probably don't have many people that you know or trust to point you in the direction - this is where we are right now. So if you can talk to people about it, start there. As a church leader, this can make you keenly aware of your church's reputation in the community. It can be scary but will give you a great honest picture of who you are, not just who you think you are.

Second is the phone book. I know it seems old school, but what the phone book is unique for is clustering a list of churches, usually by denomination and affiliation, and doing it for YOUR COMMUNITY. And everyone usually gets one for free dropped on their doorstep. There is something much more relaxing about being able to browse and contemplate options on paper too so as a church don't underestimate the value that you pay for a decent phone book add. The church that Cher and I last attended (not worked for) we found in the phone book. So this is (as are all of these) something that we have put into practice.

Third and most obvious is the internet. This is great if you know how to search - Google, for example, can give you "local results" which will show you what's near you. The big, huge question here is is your church findable on the internet? Does it come up when people search? And if it does, is your website designed to display who you really are to those looking? Again, I think we as church leaders we more often think like church people here as opposed to people not yet attending. Here are a few good pointers that we've noticed: first impression is everything, so what does the front page of your site look like? Is it easy to find the church itself through the site? If it takes you more than 2 clicks to find pertinent info like directions and times, it's not designed with church lookers in mind. Also, are there pictures? I was surprised how many sites I visited recently that had no pictures of their congregation, only stock photos of "families". Pictures give me as the looker a glimpse at who you are. We must consider technology too. Flash looks great but won't work on most smart phones. I tried to go to a site recently for a church and it was all flash... so I couldn't see any of it on my phone or Cher's iPad. Think about a mobile site too. A mobile site is a separate site that smarts phones are redirected to which is more easily usable with your phone. Think about it - you're driving around and see a church and want to check it out before you forget. Can you do that adequately from your phone? Check out an example of a church's mobile site here.

A mobile site is great and something I never thought about until recently, but all these things don't just take time and thorough investigation, but money too. But as churches we most invest where it counts and if people can't get to you, nothing else really matters.

More than any of this - above it all - is prayer. Often we take God out of Google. Can't God use the technology of the day and the encounters with coworkers to guide us to the right church home and family? Before you start manipulating your findability as a church or putting these things into practice to find one as a family, pray that the Spirit would lead and then seek those leadings and opportunities.

One of the most important things to evaluate in a church, especially in a first impression, is also the hardest - the general health of the church. We'll define a healthy church as one able to deal with conflict, having a clear purpose and vision in action, having a purposeful and clear multi-level leadership structure, and a serving and mutually-submissive heart. I know that that is overly simplistic, and as we go I may add to it. Furthermore, these are big broad ideas that take time and careful involvement to evaluate, meaning you cannot often make a clear call on the health of a church on first glance. But if you know what to look for, you can get some indications that will help answer some questions.

What does the pastor say? What do the people say that are up front? Who you put up front are the people that you trust. So what do they project? Do they seem condescending? Bumbling and uninformed? Over-educated? Out of touch with current culture? We cannot hide our true heart. What the people say and convey from the front speak volumes about the heart and health of a church. But then again, so do all the people in leadership, not just the ones up front. What is the attitude of ALL the people that you needed to touch base with? Ushers? Children's workers? Greaters?

Also, and this may seem too simple, but look at the welcome center (or whatever they choose to call it). This can often be a great indicator of a church's heart and health. Does it say "We do a few things that we are very passionate about and do them well" or does it say "We want to do everything! So we do everything mediocre". The welcome center/table/kiosk can tell you a lot about a church's focus.

One more. Diversity. The body of Christ is diverse, and so is a healthy church. Not just race, but personality and socioeconomic status as well. A church that looks just like the pastor means that the leadership only gathers people to them that they are comfortable with. This is not healthy. Also, is the leadership diverse or is it a one man show. Cher an I once visited a church where the pastor led worship, took the offering, preached, and did the announcements, and it was a church of a few hundred. A diverse leadership shows that a church is showing people how to serve - empowering and equipping them for service. A one man show says "none of you are as good as I am".

Add the feelings that you get from these things together and then evaluate. It's easy to let one bad experience ruin your view of an entire church, but remember that church is full of people like you, so always evaluate as Christ looks at you - full of love and grace.

This has been on my heart and mind for the last few weeks, that as we've moved into this new season of "sabbatical", we've also moved into a new season for our family of searching for a church. This brought me personally, and us as a family, to a very different perspective then we have ever had. See, as a professional pastor (meaning that's how I've put food on the table) I have never really been able to see church from the other side - finding and evaluating a church for us to just attend and serve at. So I thought since all these ideas were new to me, they may be new to you as pastors and church leaders as well, and also give those of you who may be searching a little more concrete criteria to evaluate by. But first a few disclaimers and acknowledgments:

First, I know I'm not some great church planting guru or mega church pastor. What compels me to share these evaluations ideas is simply that in the last ten years as a pastor, 1) I've never been in this position and thus have never really had these opportunities and 2), if that is true for me, it may be true for many others, church leaders in particular. And honestly, the more churches I visit and evaluate from our family's perspective, the more this is apparent: church leaders mostly think like church leaders and not like church attenders.

Secondly, I want to acknowledge that I am bringing to the table a set of passions for the body of Christ - views on how I believe and how God has shaped what I believe to be true modes of operation for a healthy church. Meaning this: I believe, due to my lifetime in church and my ten years in professional ministry, that church services must do all that they can welcome and cater to the person who is far from God. I believe that as we reach out to those who are far from God (evangelism) we will grow and help others grow in our relationship of God (discipleship). I believe that both must happen simultaneously, not independently. I know that this can be a great point of contention, but this is MY perspective, not THE perspective. I don't think terms like "seeker sensitive", while vital in it's time, are applicable to today's growing and healthy church, because, who is not seeking? We all are.

Know that this is a family perspective and not a pastor's one. My entire family helps us to evaluate these things. And also know that these are our evaluations, not judgments. Anything can be changed and fixed. If you see things that God lights up, make a note and look for opportunities to adjust.

Finally, while I may comment on some things, good or bad, that I've seen in churches, I won't ever mention them by name. The point is to help you find a church and make your church findable, not to slander other churches. The body is great. These are just my thoughts as God leads us.