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Turning Attendees into Members
Dan Dumas
 Pastor of Assimilation and Conferences
I
NTRODUCTION
 
Assimilation is a
total package
to implement a biblical philosophy of ministry.Assimilation is a
comprehensive
 
 process
to integrate people into the body of Christ.Assimilation is an
intentional approach
to create a church of participating members.As we seek to evaluate how we do ministry at Grace Community Church it is our strategyto bring together 
innovation teams
for each particular ministry project. These teams meetfor the express purpose of innovation, creativity, and thinking outside the box. We havefound these teams to be incredibly helpful in examining and implementing change atGrace Community Church.
T
HE
G
OAL
 
The Mission Statement of Grace Community Church:
To glorify God and extend His kingdom by living and proclaiming His truth in the world.
The Assimilation Statement of Grace Community Church:
 Every member of Grace Community Church actively serving in the body of Christ byliving out the one-anothers, exercising their spiritual giftedness, and seeking to makedisciples.
The last thing that we want is for individuals or families to be “added to the church” andthen fade into inactivity. Our goal is not to acquire more members but to “add to thechurch” a
 participating membership
. Our goal is to move regular attendees and pew potatoes to fully integrated committed members of our local body of believers.
T
HE
C
OURTYARD
 
At Grace Community Church we are striving for excellence in every aspect of ministryon the campus. We realize that the Gospel may offend unbelievers, but we don’t wantthem to be offended by our presentation or lack of excellence.
 
 2 
Knowing that the sheer size of this church can be overwhelming to a newcomer, it has been our commitment over the years to go the extra mile in ministering to each of our first-time guests. And there are a lot of them.Whether from across the street or across the country, each Sunday we have over onehundred first-time guests at Grace Community Church. For forty-five years the Lord has been faithful to bring thousands of visitors to our church campus—many who now call it“home.”Making first-time guests feel at home is the goal of our Host Ministry (Sunday-morninggreeters) and Visitors’ Reception (located in the Fireside Room). Over the years, theseministries have flourished and experienced the blessing of God. Ask anyone involved inthem about the incredible opportunities that God has given them to minister to otherssimply because they extended a hand or took time to meet someone new. Together thesetwo ministries have directed, encouraged, cared for, and witnessed to thousands of curious first-time guests.Building on this foundation of making our first impression a lasting impression, we’vemade some exciting changes to our ministry to first-time guests.First, we’ve combined the Host Ministry and Visitors’ Reception and renamed it
TheCourtyard 
. The name represents a second change: the location for welcoming first-time guests. Look for our green umbrellas on the patio between the Worship Center andThe Master’s Seminary. Positioning ourselves on the patio makes it easier for our visitorsto find and more centrally located in terms of the worship service and classrooms.A third change is the time. We realize not every visitor can stay until after the secondmorning service to be properly greeted. To remedy this, The Courtyard is “open” from8:00
A
.
M
. to 12:30
P
.
M
.At any time on Sunday morning, our hospitality team will be available to welcome first-time guests. This welcome includes light refreshments, a warm smile, knowledgeablevolunteers to answer questions or walk visitors to where they need to go, and a gift bag— containing a cassette tape from our pastor and key information about our church andministries.A fourth change we’ve made to greeting first-time guests involves the congregation. With bags in hand, our visitors are now easier to identify. As our congregation makes their wayacross the campus each Lord’s Day, we encourage them to keep their eyes open for theGrace Community Church gift bags. When they see one, we teach them to take amoment to say “hello” to the person holding it; it can make the difference betweenfeeling lost in a crowd or one of the family.The Courtyard is a tangible way to represent our Savior’s kindness to strangers. We longto set the table for the banquet of God’s Word, knowing that He can—and does—use our genuine love and concern for others to bring them to salvation and to glorify His name.
 
 3
 F
IRST
-
TIME
G
UESTS
 
This process works in tandem with our visitor contact each Lord’s Day. During anyworship service or on the patio at The Courtyard, every visitor receives a GraceCommunity Church welcome booklet. Attached to that booklet is a perforated guestregistration card that we ask each visitor to fill out and return.Two boxes on the card in particular provide an opportunity for a guest to be ministered to by our Outreach Ministries department. One is a box an individual can check if he isinterested in becoming a Christian. The other, he can check for a personal contact bysomeone from Grace Community Church.Visitor Outreach receives guest cards on Monday morning. If a guest indicates interest in becoming a Christian, a Response Team who lives in their local area ministers to thatindividual. The Response Team contacts the guest within one week of their initial visit.Response Teams are comprised of two people, either husband and wife or two men.These individuals are spiritually mature members of Grace Community Church, whohave been recommended by our pastors or elders ensuring our visitors are called uponwith wisdom and discretion.If an individual checks the “I would like a personal contact” box. The ministrycoordinator will call them within one week. The coordinator calls to minister on the phone and make an assessment of the particular need of the guest. If the need warrants,the person will be assigned to a Response Team.At Grace Community Church we feel compelled by God to follow-up personally with aninterested guest. To ignore this opportunity would be nothing short of a tragedy.
M
OVING
A
TTENDEES TO
M
EMBERS
 
I. Make membership a biblical priority.
 
In a day when commitment is a rare commodity, it should come as no surprise thatchurch membership is such a
low priority
to so many believers. Sadly, it is notuncommon for Christians to hop around from church to church, never submittingthemselves to the care of elders and never committing themselves to a group of fellow believers.This kind of “spiritual hitchhiking” often flows from a consumer mentality in which anindividual stays put only until something better comes along. Loyalty and commitmentare sacrificed on the altar of novelty and excitement.
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