While many churches across the country, and across denominational lines, are losing membership there are churches who are gaining new members, welcoming new believers to the faith and seeking more effective ways to provide proper new member training, follow up and ways to retain their membership. Issues facing these churches include:

•    1) How do we disciple busy adults?
•     2) What do new members need to know to effectively grow in their faith?
•     3) What is the fast track for new member orientation?
•    4) How do we create an atmosphere that retains membership after they join or visit?

In this age of church shopping and church hopping it is increasingly important that churches have a clear and functional strategy for attracting, assimilating, discipling and deploying new members (I discuss this in greater detail in my Reframing Spiritual Formation book www.helwys.com.)  Without a strategy in place to retain members they will likely not stay and will enter the world of church shopping and hopping?

What’s working? – Resources/Strategies/Models to learn from

•    Attractional Churches are growing. They are built around ‘come and go’ values.  www.externallyfocusednetwork.com; www.leadnet.org/externallyfocusedresources 

•    “Helping People Follow Christ Without Walking the Aisle” is heresy to some and an entry point for others. Rick Warren recently wrote about this in July/August ’08 of Rev. Magazine. Pg. 26 www.revmagazine.org

•    “The First 45 minutes After Worship” is a super article by Tom Bandy to help leaders survey attenders and members about what would make worship more meaningful for them.  July/August ’08 Rev Magazine www.revmagazine.org

•        www.Revealnow.com is a cutting edge research project conducted by Willowcreek about the impact of church programs on the spiritual formation of attenders and members. Great, but often discouraging and certainly challenging research.  It’s worth your time to visit this site. 

•    “New Member Training for Busy Adults” by Eddie Hammett www.discipleshipteam.org

•    Fusion: Turning First Time Visitors into Fully Engaged Members by Nelson Searcy - http://www.churchleaderinsights.com/fusion/  Practical resource

•    Connecting Newcomers – a web-based resource for leaders and churches - http://www.christianitytoday.com/leaders/resources/connectingnewcomers.html

•    “What about Sunday Night Church? By Eddie Hammett – overview challenges and ideas for those struggling with this programmatic and traditional avenue for discipling members.  www.discipleshipteam.org

•    “Cultivating the Soul: Spiritual Formation Without Saying a Word” by Gordon McDonald  http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2005/003/25.50.html

•    Four Rules for Starting New Ministries by Rick Warren - http://www.rev.org/ArticlePrint.asp?ID=2555

•    “Building Relationships with Non-Traditional Families” interviews with variety of pastors dealing with a the diversity of family ministry related issues http://www.baptiststandard.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8141&Itemid=53

Coaching Questions:
    What is the current state of your ministry to and with new members?
    What is the retention rate of your new members after 6 months?
    What resources here do you need to share with others and implement?
    Who can help?

 Training Without Travel Opportunities in July – October, 2008 :
•    FREE Webinars (for persons in NC Baptist Life - $15/session for those outside NC Baptist life)  and teleclasses –(Space is limited – register early) Topics include:
o    Reaching People Under 40 While Keeping People Over 60
o    Outgrowing an Ingrown Church
o    Moving From Pain to Purpose: A Perspective on Conversion and Post Moderns
o    Dealing with Diversity in Deacon Ministry
o    Building Healthy Relationships Between Pastor and Deacons
Register for these online at http://deaconministry.ncbaptist.org
•    (Consider using a customized webinar with Eddie for your next deacon’s meeting – contact Eddie at EdwardHHammett@mchsi.com if you are interested.)

•    Downloadable Podcasts on leadership topics including: Gift Based Team Ministry; The Triangle of Ministry; Creating Parallel Structures  and more go to www.transformingsolutions.org to download free podcasts.

PDF Version of this newsletter for your leaders

©Eddie Hammett, www.transformingsolutions.org and http://deaconministry.ncbaptist.org

Last month we described and indicated the benefits of creating come and go structures as part of your church or ministry team.  Now I will explore benefits and examples of come and go structures in and through deacon ministry.

Some Guiding Principles for Come and Go Structures

•    We are serving in a transitional age. The age in which we are living is transitional at best. There are church culture leaders with a particular set of values, then there are church leaders and others who were born in a different age and they have different value systems, but as authentic thirst for God.
•    Balance is the issue today.  Learning to create equal amounts of opportunity and programming for church culture people as you do for those from another value system.  Values here has little to do with Biblical values as much as they do with personal preference values.  The reality is we like and respond differently.
•    Creating non-threatening comfortable entry points is essential today if a church is going to minister effectively to a variety of persons.  Intentionally designing as many go structures as we have ‘come structures’ is critical, but a challenge for many church. We like ‘the yall come’ mentality of the church culture.  However the culture of today is more responsive when we ‘go’ and meet on their turf.
•    Come and Go structures are equal in value and need.  Outgrowing an ingrown church is tough at best, but generating ‘come and go structures’ helps make the shift. It’s a both/and situation and many have made it an either/or situation for them or their church.

Benefits of Creating Come and Go Structures

•    Empowerment of the Body of Christ to live and minster out of their passion and calling
•    Caring for those inside and outside the membership and faith community
•    Helps keep church focused on mission rather than maintenance
•    Creates atmosphere of excitement and energy as the new is birthed
•    Engages and penetrates the culture with the message of hope, healing and Christian witness

Examples of Come and Go Structures in Deacon Ministry

1. What if deacons created ministry teams for caring for those who ‘come’ AND ministry teams for those who “GO”? For instance, who ministers to all those who cannot come to church because they are working in medical, emergency, food services?  What would a GO structure look like for them?
2. What is a GO structure for those unwed mothers or single parent families who do not have the resource, energy or opportunity to come to our traditional church services? What if there were weekday opportunities and child care services to give the parent a respite? What would it look like?
3. Links to explore:  
   • Hearts and Hands Ministry of Hickory Grove Church in Charlotte
   • Diversity the Goal of FBC, Jackson, MS
   • Care Ministry Forestville Church, Greenville, SC
   • First Baptist Canton, IL – Dinner Theater 
   • Northshore Baptist church – Movie Night, Faith and Spiritual Formation rally and other great ideas
     

 Training Without Travel Opportunities in June and July August:
•    FREE Webinars for NC Baptists - $15/session for persons outside NC Baptist life  and teleclasses –(Space is limited – register early) Topics include:
o    Reaching People Under 40 While Keeping People Over 60
o    Are you a Spiritual Traveler?
o    Building Effective Deacon Ministry Teams
Register for these online at http://deaconministry.ncbaptist.org
•    Podcasts on leadership topics including: Gift Based Team Ministry; The Triangle of Ministry; Creating Parallel Structures  and more go to www.transformingsolutions.org to download free podcasts.



©Eddie Hammett, www.transformingsolutions.org and www.ncbaptist.org