First Impressions & The Back Door

In the church world there are two terms that no leader wants to hear. They are: A.) "people exiting out the back door of the church" & B.) "fell through or falling through the cracks". Basically these thoughts are dreadful to hear because it means the 'church' has done a bad job of not catching people who are walking through the front doors and are missing getting them to get involved in most cases. Most people respond best to a personal invite or a face to face conversation.

When GUESTS arrive on campus they will only take 3 minutes to decide their 1st impressions. People who exit out the back door are those who have stuck around for a while trying to connect(and in some cases maybe not trying) and then leave because they feel no connection keeping them here. People exit out the back door for various reasons. There are a few ways to shut the back door and there are books that have ways to help avoid them. I think it is pretty simple though: The best way to shut the back door is for people to connect in relationship with those they may not know. I'm not talking about strangers walking in and trying to connect, I'm saying people who call the church their home should be the one's reaching out connecting. The back door will be shut when people reach out and make people feel welcome, whether they know them or not. In the context of small groups it may come from a leader who follows up with an e-mail or personal phone call to someone who may be interested in joining a group. I've had some people say, I never heard from a small group. I interpret this two ways: I screwed up, or the small group leader I sent them too never made contact.

Either way, it is bad news. For those that are guests, it may be just the way somebody connects with them as they walk through the door. I know this, some people exit out the back for all the wrong reasons and some because frankly-they have no desire to connect. But when I hear someone has exited it is a sad state of mind. So, that being said, what are you doing to help prevent the back door from being left open and people exiting? Are you being friendly? Starting conversations with people you may not know? Inviting people to connect in small groups circles. Let's work on stopping people from falling through the cracks. It is the best thing we can do as a family.