Copyright 2014 by Geoff Surratt

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher, except where noted in the text and in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is manufactured in the United States.

Please dont read this book!

Who wrote this book?

My name is Geoff Surratt and this book is based on my blog Inner Revolution

(www.geoffsurratt.com). I have been in church all of my life and have served on staff

at churches from 100 to over 20,000 weekly attenders. My work as a consultant also

gives me the chance to visit churches all over the country and around the world.

This book is based on my experiences and conversations with hundreds of church

leaders. My goal in writing is to challenge you to make your church more effective in

fulfilling its Kingdom mission.

Why cant I read this book?

This book isnt designed to be read from beginning to end. Each chapter was

adapted from a blog post, and stands alone. The best way to read this book is one

chapter at a time. At the end of the chapter ask yourself three questions:

1. Do I agree with what the author (me) said?

2. Does what the author said apply to my church?

3. Should my church spend time working through this topic?

If the answer to number one is No read the next chapter and ask the same

questions again. If the answer to numbers two and three are Yes then grab some

time with leaders at your church and work on the discussion questions at the end of

the chapter. Dont read another chapter until youve wrestled that topic to the

ground.

What if I dont like the book?

If you decide the book is pointless please contact me (geoffsur@gmail.com) and Ill

give you double your money back. If sarcasm eludes or offends you please contact

me now for your money back. It will save you the time of reading the rest of the

book.

With those caveats lets dive in and see if I can help your church be more effective.

Five Resolutions for your church

I love New Years. Its an annual opportunity to hit the restart button, to explore who

we could be, to dream about a better future. I know the statistics about how few

resolutions we actually keep, but I don't care; leaves die every winter, but spring

still brings hope. So every year around this time I make a new list.

What if you made New Year's Resolutions for your church. What could you change

this year that would make a significant impact for the Kingdom and the future health

of your church? I've put together a list of five (based on five of the most popular

New Year's Resolutions) to get you started.

Lose weight

Your church is probably carrying a little extra weight; programs and ministries that

really don't make a difference and just take up time and space. There are a few

volunteers that hang on year after year, but the group is really a drag on resources

that could be better invested elsewhere; its time to cut back.

Weight loss is always challenging. It takes discipline and determination, but it is

worth the sacrifice. How much healthier will your church be if you endure the short-

term pain of trimming dead weight for the long-term gain of freed up resources?

Learn something new

How long has it been since your church has truly learned something new? Maybe its

a completely new process of assimilation, a new order of service or a completely

new model of youth ministry. This is the chance to shake things up, try something

completely out of the box.

Most churches seldom try anything truly new for fear of upsetting the saints. Trying

new things always disturbs the comfortable, but new life requires new thinking.

This is the year to launch a brand new initiative and see what happens. If you're not

learning you are dying.

Get out of debt

This is really boring but incredibly powerful. What if you focused 2014 on paying

down a huge chunk of debt? Think of the increased ministry opportunities for the

money no longer committed to debt service. New buildings, campuses and staff are

more sexy, but reduced debt opens up the future exponentially. If you really want to

invest in the next generation you'll pay off your generation's debt.

Quit Smoking

When Peter decided he knew better than Jesus how the future should play out Jesus

left no room for doubt in his rebuke, "Get behind me Satan." Peter's intent might be

good, but the outcome of his attitude would be devastating. Jesus was willing to

sacrifice Peter's feelings for the health of the mission.

Who are the toxic people in your church? The staff member, volunteer or elder who

leaves a trail of destruction everywhere they go? How will the culture of your

church improve if you stop them from dropping another verbal bomb or

perpetuating another rumor? There's nothing harder than quitting smoking, and

nothing better for your health.

Travel to new places

Is time to open a new campus or plant a new church? All living things reproduce, but

95% of churches never start a new faith community. If more churches don't wake up

to the need for new congregations Christianity will continue to fade in America.

There are at least 100 ways your church can travel to a new place this year. If you

think you're too small, too poor or too old to start something new let me know. I

know we can find an amazing adventure for your church. Don't just sit there in

2014, go somewhere new.

There are five ideas to get the juices flowing. What will be different a year from now

because of the changes you make in your church today?

Discussion Questions

1. Which of the five resolutions has the biggest potential impact at your church?

2. Brainstorm a list of at least five programs or ministries that could be cut

without changing the core mission of your church.

3. What area of the church most needs a new approach? How will you begin the

process of building the new approach?

4. What toxic areas or personalities need to be addressed? Who will lead the

charge in addressing them?

5. Is it time for your church to launch a campus or plant a church? What steps

will you take to make that happen?

Five Ways to Leverage Big Days

Christmas Eve and Easter are normally the biggest services of the year, second only

to Easter. Unfortunately it can look like Black Friday at Wal-Mart; lots of people

unaware of what they really need, served by lots of people unaware of how to help

them. We celebrate the crowds that show up; often unaware if anything significant

actually happened.

So how can we leverage the impact of Big Days? Here are five suggestions to make

the most of this incredible opportunity:

1. Resist the urge to wow

This one is counter-intuitive. To attract a crowd we want to hire an amazing band

bring in a trapeze artist, and reenact the incarnation live on stage (more on that

later). The challenge is when we put on an amazing show on we are creating

expectations we can't meet next weekend. We invite people to come back to

experience something completely different. No light show, no live animals, no

trapeze; just a band, a singer and a preacher.

Holidays are special occasions, so we certainly want to do the best we can. When we

have new friends over we make sure the house is clean, we put out the best china,

and we serve a great meal. But we don't put on a circus.

2. Tell the story

We get tired of telling the Christmas or Easter story year after year after year. We

try to find a new angle, a different perspective, dress it up and make it new. The

thing to avoid is emphasizing style to the point of obscuring the story. The story is

powerful and we can trust that power. (More on that in a minute)

Don't underestimate people's desire to hear the story. The Nutcracker never

changes, but plays to sold out audiences year after year. Its a Wonderful Life is still

one of the most watched movies every year. When a Charlie Brown Christmas comes

on TV most of us will stop and watch even though we've seen it a hundred times.

The story of God in a manger and a messiah on a cross has more staying power than

all of these combined.

3. Don't shock the audience

During a family Christmas Eve service at Seacoast Church a talented actor (and

future church planter) re-enacted the entire Christmas story by himself. What we

didn't realize ahead of time (he left it out of dress rehearsal) is his portrayal

included pantomiming the actual birth of Jesus. (Later referred to as "live birth on

stage") This did not sit well with the hundreds of families in the audience. They

came for a Christmas Eve service; they left explaining the facts of life to their 2nd

graders. Oops.

People invite their neighbor, their boss and their grandmother to Christmas Eve and

Easter. They are praying like crazy that something that said or sung will tug at the

heartstrings of their guest, but when we choose that moment to do something

shocking and edgy we can undo everything our people have been praying for.

Incorporating AC/DC into Christmas Eve makes a great Facebook post, but it's

probably not worth the collateral damage.

4. Invite them in (rather than back)

Imagine meeting a neighbor for the first time when they ring your doorbell. You chat

for a few minutes and realize you have a great deal in common. As they leave your

porch at the end of the conversation you call after them, "Hey, why don't you come

back in a couple of weeks and we'll talk on my porch again."

That's what we do when all we invite first time guests to is another service. We are

in effect saying, "You aren't really welcome into the house, but you can stand in the

yard."

How can you invite guests into the life of the church? What is the equivalent at your

church to sitting down to a great meal together? How can you say to the guest, "Me

and some friends are going to hang out, I'd love to have you join us.

5. Trust the Holy Spirit

Jesus said, "If I am lifted up I will draw all men to me." Do we really believe that

promise? Do we believe that the Gospel illuminated by the Holy Spirit through us

really changes lives?

What if on the next big holiday you expect spectacular life change when you share

the simple story, invite new friends to join you on the journey and trust the Holy

Spirit to do what he does best.

Discussion Questions

1. How does your church measure the effectiveness of big days like Christmas

and Easter?

2. What has worked really well in the past based on the measurements in

question 1?

3. What has not worked well at all in leveraging big days?

4. What changes will you make to your approach for the next big day?

Your churchs secret code

Can you imagine what it would be like to walk into your church for the very first

time? Not as a veteran church attender or someone steeped in American

Christianity, but as a complete rookie to the church experience.

As you walk into the lobby you see signs like "Worship Center" and "Connect, Grow,

Serve" but you have no idea what they mean. You follow the crowd into what

appears to be the "Worship Center", and when the music starts you stand when

everyone else does. The band is singing songs you've never heard before, but you

notice a few people around you singing along. You mumble through words on the

screen to try to fit in. Other than the National Anthem at a ballgame the last time you

were involved in group singing was 7th grade choir. That's an experience you never

thought you'd have to repeat.

Finally the band finishes and everyone sits down. The stage lights focus on what

appears to be a large bathtub. A girl about 10 or 11 years old climbs into the bathtub

while an older guy addresses the crowd saying something about "baptism" and

"profession of faith". The older guy then grabs the young girls and shoves her under

water! The most shocking part is people applaud when he pulls her out. You're

pretty sure he'd be arrested anywhere else for treating a child like that, but

everyone here seems to like it. This is one of the strangest things you've ever seen.

Next up is snack time. They pass around trays with tiny crackers and the smallest

shot glasses you've ever seen. You're pretty hungry so you grab a handful of

crackers and a couple of plastic cups of wine. From the disapproving stares you

realize you've broken a major rule of etiquette, but you have no idea what you've

done wrong. Then you notice everyone else only took one shot and one cracker.

Embarrassed you wolf down your crackers and wine (which turns out to be grape

juice) and toss the empties in the little velvet trash bag they pass down the aisle.

This is turning out to be the strangest morning of your life.

After snack a man walks on stage and talks for 30-45 minutes. Some of it is

interesting, but he keeps referring to people like Peter and Paul as though you

should know who they are. Toward the end of his speech he says that people need to

"give their heart to Jesus". After the dunking and weird snack you just hope this

won't involve some kind of public surgery. You're relieved to realize giving your

heart is just a metaphor.

The man finishes with a little prayer. He tells everyone to come back next week to

hear part 1 of a new series on the "book of James". You assume James must be a

friend of Peter and Paul because apparently they also wrote books. You chuckle to

yourself thinking about the speaker referring to The Old Man and the Sea as the

"book of Hemingway". The speaker encourages everyone to stop by the "Connect

Table" on the way out and sign up for a "small group". You think to yourself, "A small

group of what?" but you have no desire to find out. After this morning's experience

of mass glee club, dunking little girls, eating tiny snacks and talking about authors

you've never heard of you know there are better ways to kill an hour on Sunday

morning.

I'm not suggesting we change everything we do in church, but I think we should

think about how what we do in church looks to the uninitiated. How can we make

church more accessible without losing the rich tradition? What is it like not to

know?

Discussion Questions

1. How accessible is a typical service at your church to someone who has no

church background? How do you know? How can you find out?

2. Do you explain elements like worship, communion and baptism in a way a

newcomer can easily understand what is going on? What do you need to

change?

3. How can newcomers get explanations for the things they dont understand?

Do newcomers utilize this channel on a regular basis?

4. How can your church stay in touch with the experience of the first time

experience for guests?

Killing Sunday School

Everybody ought to go to Sunday School

Sunday School, Sunday School

The mamas and papas and the boys and the girls

Everybody ought to go to Sunday School

I grew up going to Sunday School and I hated it. We met in tiny classrooms in the

church basement. The teacher stood in the front of the classroom and read out of

something called a quarterly while we fidgeted, yawned, passed notes and punched

our buddy when the teacher wasn't looking. I imagine the only ones who hated

Sunday School more than me were the teachers. Eleven of them quit before my mom

finally became my teacher. Every year after that my mom and I would move to the

next grade until I got to high school. Good times, good times.

One of the first things I did when I became a Senior Pastor was quit Sunday School. I

didn't have the guts to drop it all together, but I quit going. It was a huge relief, but

maybe not the best leadership decision. I didn't care, I hated Sunday School. Over

the past 20 years we have seen a big decline in Sunday School, especially among

newer congregations. I don't remember the last time I came across a church plant

with traditional Sunday School. If the trend continues Sunday School will soon be

completely dead.

Here's the funny thing, as much as I hated Sunday School I'm not sure we should kill

it. (Shouldn't the next generation suffer as much as we did?) Actually I'm not

mourning Sunday School, but rather some of the values that a well-run Sunday

School supported. Here are four core values many churches lost when they axed (or

never started) Sunday School:

Basic Bible knowledge

From Kindergarten on we had the basic Bible stories drilled into us. (Well, the

sanitized Bible stories. I'll never forget the first time I read what happened AFTER

Noah got off the Ark. Mrs Wood didn't have flannel graph depicting drunken incest.)

As much as I hated Sunday School by the time I graduated I had a pretty good

understanding of the basic scope and sequence of the Bible.

Connection with peers

My best friends growing up were the kids I went to Sunday School with. Part of it

was affinity, part of it was age proximity and part of it was surviving an hour every

Sunday together. Even though I hated Sunday School I actually liked going because

my friends were there. I felt accepted and connected.

Relationship with an adult who (ideally) loves kids

Once in a while we had a Sunday School teacher who taught because she really loved

kids. I remember one teacher who hosted an Easter Egg hunt just for our class at a

park near her house. That made a big impact on me. I also had another teacher who

came faithfully every week to our midweek class (our version of Boy Scouts) even

though I was often the only one who showed up. (I was the pastor's kid, I had no

choice). He wasn't a talented teacher or leader, but he cared about me. I didn't have

the maturity to recognize it at the time, but Jim Dabore taught me how to love like

Jesus.

Spiritual heritage

My Sunday School class is where I learned my spiritual heritage. We talked about

the heroes of our tribe, missionaries who made the ultimate sacrifice for the Gospel.

We learned the tenets of our faith and the nuances of doctrine that set us apart.

Much of it was legalistic and some downright whacky, but I understood who we

were and what we believed. The core that I learned in those classes is still what I

cling to today. It is a basic part of who I am.

My concern is in killing Sunday School we throw the baby out with the bath water.

(I'm not sure that analogy really works any more. Normally we just drain the bath

water rather than throw it out, and I think the average parent can distinguish small

humans from the liquid form of water. Nonetheless you get my point.) No matter

how awesome our children's environments, how talented our teachers or how fun

our games I'm not sure we've replaced the core of what Sunday School provided.

Even bad Sunday School.

So am I suggesting we bring Sunday School back? Heaven forbid! I just think we

need incredible intentionality around the elements we've lost. My fear is that we are

raising a generation of children who love the entertainment we provide on Sunday,

but have little understanding of the Bible, no close church friends, little connection

to Christian adults (other than their parents) and a lack of knowledge about their

spiritual heritage. In other words we have unchurched children growing up in the

church.

Many churches have replaced Sunday School with fun and engaging children's

environments that kids love. The music, storytelling and games are done with

excellence. Often there is a small group component and a take home paper for

parents. After several years of this new paradigm many leaders, myself included, are

concerned that the fun, flashy programs aren't producing biblically literate,

spiritually grounded Christ followers. We're entertaining the kids, but are we

discipling them?

There is a growing "back to the basics" movement among churches saying, "Its time

to pull out the Sunday School curriculum and sword drills and teach children what

they need to know. Does anyone know where we stored the flannel graph?" The

challenge with this approach is that it never worked well in the past and it won't

work well in the future. We memorized the books of the Bible and the sanitized

Bible stories, but we hated church. Most of my peers from Sunday School days are

no longer in church, and they won't be back soon.

I think there's a better way to achieve the goals of Sunday School without

resurrecting the beast. The reality is we are losing generations of children; we can't

afford to mess this up again. Let me offer several steps to building an effective next

generation strategy to teach children without driving them away.

Make Deuteronomy 6 the template

Deuteronomy 6:6 9 (NIV) These commandments that I give you today are to be

upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at

home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on

the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

While the law is full directions for what should happen at the temple, Moses clearly

says the home should be the source of biblical knowledge and spiritual heritage for

children. The church cannot supplant parents in that role. Sunday School tried to

take something that didn't belong to the church. We have to figure how to give this

fundamental responsibility back to parents.

Make the Senior Pastor the children's ministry champion

Since the vast majority of people who become Christ followers do so before they

reach high school, what could be more important than children's ministry in the

church? If Jesus said we must become as little children to enter the Kingdom of

Heaven, what could be more important than children's ministry in the church?

These aren't rhetorical questions, is there anything more important in the life of a

church than equipping parents to lead their children to Christ? If it's that important

then the Senior Pastor should champion the cause on a regular, public basis. Not

begging for volunteers, but casting vision and waving the flag for ministry to kids.

Make parents and children's small group leaders the heroes

Who does your church honor as heroes? Who gets the applause? Whose story is told

from the platform? As pastors we are often guilty of devaluing the role of parents or

children's ministry volunteers when they are on the front lines of leading people to

Christ. How can we depict parenting little Christ followers as a heroic endeavor?

How can we make a children's small group leader the most desired position in the

church?

Make resourcing parents to disciple their children a priority

Parents feel inadequate to teach their children about Jesus. Dad can teach Billy to

shoot a jump shot or throw a curve, but doesn't have a clue how to explain

Ecclesiastes. The church has to help him, not by drilling in more Bible knowledge

through adult classes, but by lowering the bar. Parents can learn right alongside

their kids.

Parents need encouragement and resources that help them learn and teach at the

same time. They need simple ways to incorporate biblical education into every day

life. "...when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up..."

They need to understand that "training up a child" is a natural part of parenting and

they are more than adequate for the job.

Make every interaction with children intentional

Every service, every day of VBS, every children's activity should answer three

questions:

How will this experience resource parents to disciple their children?

How will this experience help kids connect with other kids and with

Christian role models?

How will this experience inspire kids to follow Christ?

How will this experience equip and connect children whose parents

are not Christ followers?

Notice what is different; the church isn't taking the responsibility to teach children

the basics of faith away from the family. The church is partnering with families to

lead children to follow Christ.

I loved watching a show called Beakman's World with my kids when they were

growing up. It centered on a crazy scientist (Beakman) and a man in rat suit doing

science experiments based on viewers letters. (A forerunner of Myth Busters) Often

at the end of the show my kids and I would try to replicate the experiments. We

didn't realize it, but we were learning science together. Rather then resurrecting

Sunday School how can your church create Beakman's World moments for the

families in your church?

Discussion Questions

1. How effective is your church at providing the things an effective Sunday

School provides? How do you measure your effectiveness?

2. How engaged is your Senior Pastor in the effectiveness of ministry to

children at your church? How can their engagement be increased?

Leveraged?

3. How does your parents resource parents? How can you do a better job of

resourcing parents?

4. How effective are your small groups for children? How can you increase the

impact?

Improving Terrible Church Signs

I recently visited a church with the most confusing signage I've seen. Children's

classrooms had small signs labeled Duck, Goose, Frog, etc. On the wall by the door of

each classroom was another sign designating the range of birthdays for children in

the room. (i.e. 1/2010-6/2012). The animal signs were difficult to read and

meaningless (I have no idea if a 3-year-old is a Duck, a Goose or a Frog. If there were

a class labeled Demon, however, I would know where to drop off little Skyler.) The

signs by the doors weren't much better. They were too low to read if the hall was

crowded, and it is really hard to remember a child's birthdate when she is

screaming and kicking you in the groin. One staff member said he has five kids and

the thought of remembering their birthdates on demand is a recurring nightmare.

In reality this church is more the rule than the exception. Churches are notoriously

bad with signage; signs are often difficult to read, confusing and scarce. In an effort

to help, here are five rules for better signs.

1. Signs are for first time guests

After attending your church two or three times people know where everything is.

Look at your signs look through the eyes of someone who has never been on your

campus, never spoken to anyone at your church and never been in a church like

yours before. Imagine how you'd feel walking into a mosque for the first time. What

signs would help you the most?

2. Signs must answer four basic questions men ask

Men do not want to go your Information Desk, Welcome Center or Hospitality

Booth; they want to figure it out for themselves. Your signs are there to help them.

Here are the four questions men walking into your church for the first time want

answered:

Where am I supposed to go?

Where are my kids supposed to go?

Where is the bathroom?

Is there coffee?

Your missions wall, ministry booths and kiosks full of flyers do not answer these

four questions, big, obvious signs should.

3. Signs must be easy to see

Signs at eye level or below become invisible (and worthless) when there is a crowd.

Signs that are too high are also of little value. On a trip to Barcelona, Spain I was

incredibly frustrated trying to find my hotel. I had an address and a basic map, but I

couldn't find any street signs. Finally, after a long period of walking in circles trying

to learn Spanish, I realized the street signs were attached to the buildings about 25

feet off the ground. If I were sitting in a double-decker bus they were at the perfect

level, from the sidewalk they were invisible.

4. Signs must be easy to read

Another church has a children's ministry sign in the main lobby (which is big

enough to land a 747 in) that is 15 feet off the ground, three miles from the front

door and in a 14 point font. You could attend the church for months before realizing

the sign is even there. I can't imagine a first time guest ever finding it.

The goal of sign placement, design and font size is readability. All of the signs at a

large church in Seattle are huge black and white banners with one or two words.

(RESTROOMS, ADULT AUDITORIUM, CHILDREN'S AUDITORIUM). That's probably

overkill unless your signs are for first time guests who don't want to ask directions.

Which they are.

5. Signs must never use insider lingo

This is where churches make the biggest mistake. They come up with cool, cute or

trendy names for things that obscure what the thing actually is. I'm extremely guilty

of this using names like Treasure Cove, Harbor Town and Nitro instead of Babies,

Elementary, and Jr High. It's fine to have fun names, just don't make them the main

thing on directional signs. (Adding age categories in a tiny font at the bottom doesn't

help)

Beyond the catchy names are the churchy labels, what exactly is a Worship Center

or a Sanctuary? We might as well go back to the names Narthex and Crypt. Everyone

knows what an auditorium is and everyone knows that is where they're probably

supposed to go. Call it what it is so first time guests can find it.

Discussion Questions

1. Take a field trip through your building as though you are a first time guest.

How do your signs stack up against the authors guidelines?

2. Ask first time guests to give you feedback on your signs.

3. How will you act on the information you gathered in questions one and two?

Three Reasons Visitors Dont Come Back

All pastors know the feeling. A new couple visits on a Sunday morning. Maybe they

just moved to the area and they are looking for a church, or a friend invited them, or

they decided to give church a try. They seem really sharp, exactly the demographic

you are trying to reach. You have a great conversation in the lobby. They promise to

be back next week, but theyre not. They never come back.

Another family comes three weeks in a row. Each weekend you see them in the

lobby after church and it seems like they are really connecting. They miss the fourth

week, but theyre back on the fifth. And then they never come back.

What happened? Why didnt these families connect? Why do so many people flow

through your church without sticking? Youve read the books, been to the

conferences and tried everything you can think of, but the back door of your church

is always wide open. What is going on?

While I havent been to your church, or if I have lets pretend I havent, I have visited

scores of church across the country and I know why many people dont stick.

Sometimes the music is really bad or the preaching is really boring or the childrens

ministry is really awful, but there are other, less obvious, reasons most people dont

return:

1. Your church is a Members Only club

I can hear your reaction from here, Not us! We work very hard to be inclusive. We

go out of our way to welcome visitors; we even invite them to a monthly reception

to show them how welcome they are. Swing and a miss on this one, cheesy boy. (I

don't know why you are calling me "cheesy boy", but I could use a nice slab of sharp

cheddar about now)

Actually the more you think youre not a members only club the more likely you are.

Guests are just that, guests. They are welcome to watch and even participate, but

they are not a part of the club. Walking into the church is like walking around in a

foreign country. Your announcements are laced with insider language about

ministries and programs that everyone, wink-wink-nod-nod, already knows about.

Sermons are filled with inside jokes and references to individuals that an outsider

knows nothing about. You even have special shirts and name badges to clearly

delineate who belongs and who does not.

The effort required to learn your language, understand your references and get to

know your members is just too challenging for the new attender, so they dont come

back. You dont mean to be a members only club, you just are.

2. Your church doesnt care about details

The first time attender shows up a few minutes after the website said your services

start because they want to sneak in the back, but when they arrive the band wasnt

even on stage. The auditorium is almost empty when they sit down, which makes it

easy for the pastor to find them. He explains the congregation is notoriously late, but

the service will start in a few minutes.

During service the guest notices that the words are wrong on some of the slides, and

there are several typos in the bulletin. On they way out to the car they notice the pile

of junk on a table in the corner, seemingly the same pile of junk that was there when

they visited last Christmas. In the parking lot the overgrown flower beds seems to

emphasize the message, We do the least we can.

The new attender cant help but wonder why the church leaders care so little about

details. Maybe thats the way they treat people as well? Its not really worth the

effort to find out.

3. Your church is already full

There may be room in the parking lot and the auditorium, but everything else is full.

Your small groups are closed, but you have new ones starting the fall if the new

attender wants to come back in a few weeks. Your ministry teams are full unless the

new attender wants to wipe babies butts, in that case theres an opening today. Your

leaders slate of relationships is full; theyll meet with the new attender, but they

reached their quota of friends a few months ago. Theres a place to park and a place

to sit, but theres really no place to belong.

This is confusing and a little embarrassing for the new attender. At least when hotels

are full they put out a no vacancy sign; your church talks like they have plenty of

room even though every available slot, or at least desirable slot, is full. Maybe theyd

be better off sticking with meetup.com to find new connections, theres always room

there.

Discussion Questions

1. Does your church have a members only feel? What kind of insider language

do you use in your announcements? Your sermons? Your printed

communications?

2. Consider having a secret shopper give you feedback based on the three areas

the author addresses in this chapter. How will you act on this feedback?

3. What details are currently overlooked at your church? How will you address

those details?

4. How easy is it for a new attender to connect and form new relationships at

your church? How can you intentionally help new attenders connect with

others in your faith community?