Evangelistic Emphasis
In your opinion, what is the one area of evangelism a church should emphasize most?
An effective visitor follow-up ministry should be a high priority in every church. In fact, it should be one of the first outreach ministries a pastor begins. Your visitors are your best prospects. Why? For several reasons:
(1) 90% of all visitors know someone within your church. Most churches have few “walk-ins.”
(2) They are searching for something or they normally would not have come.
(3) They have felt the power of God in your service.
(4) Most important, the Word of God has been planted in their heart by the power of preaching.
(5) Finally, most people that receive the Holy Ghost in our services have come more than one time. Having now come the first time, we can begin working on getting them back the second time. Each visit increases their chances of coming to the altar.
For a church to neglect so great an opportunity as their visitors, and spend time, money, and effort on a less likely prospect, is poor judgment. Every effort should be made to make all visitors feel welcome, wanted, and involved in the service. We should roll out the red carpet so to speak.
There are four basic steps to effective visitor follow-up which even the smallest church can do (even if the pastor has to do it all himself):
(1) A phone call, preferably the day after their visit.
(2) A personal letter from the pastor should arrive a few days later. It should be warm, caring, and not give the impression of being a “form letter.”
(3) A personal visit (most important). A growing church of 100 should be giving out ten or more follow-up assignments each week. The visits should be made by the pastor, his full-time staff, and selected saints within the church.
(4) A church bulletin for one year. All visitors should be placed on your church mailing list and your church bulletin should be mailed to them at least monthly.
(from IBC Perspectives – Volume 2 – Volume 8 – page 6)