4 “I’s” of Guest Retention

The life blood of church growth is guest retention. We love it when people invite their friends to church. But if it ends there, have we really retained the guest?

If having a person just show up to our main service and then come back occasionally is all we need to do to state that we’ve retained him, well that’s pretty easy.

I believe there’s something more to retention than just having a person sit in a row once and a while. He needs to get involved in the life of the church. So, this led me to thinking about what guest retention is and how people can play a part in it.

I came up with the 4 “I’s” of guest retention as a simple recipe for people to follow to help their friends become a part of the life of their church.

Here’s a quick overview of them… – It all starts here. A person must invite their friend first in order for him to be our guest. We encourage people      to invite their friends to our main service. This service has the most guest friendly starting time and will most likely be    the most appealing.

 1. Invite – It all starts here. A person must invite their friend first in order for him to be our guest. We encourage people      to invite their friends to our main service. This service has the most guest friendly starting time and will most likely be    the most appealing.

2. Introduce – Once their friend is at church, we encourage people to introduce her to others. Research shows that a guest needs around 7 connections within the first 6 months to a year in order to stick with a church. So, if you’ve invited your friend, it’s your responsibility to introduce him to the people who make up your church family.

3. Involve – The next thing that will help your friend stick is to get her involved in something. Hopefully if your an active member of your church you’re doing some type of ministry. Ask your friend to join you in what you do. Involve him in the ministry in which you serve. Now if you’re involved in a ministry that works with children, you’ll need to follow the procedures in place the are there to protect children.

4. Invest – This one is probably the toughest one of all. A lot of people believe that once you get them to church, it’s up to the Pastors to help this person grow spiritually. That’s only partially true, YOU need to play a part in your friend’s spiritual growth. She is YOUR friend. Start a devotion with your friend. Attend a growth class with him. Pray for your friend. Help her by offering to keep her accountable.

I know these are simple steps, yet I feel they can offer a profound impact in the growth of a church if its people implement them. I hope they help and together let’s see the church grow in historic ways!

What other ways you can help your guest get plugged into your church?