Tag: Monday

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A Guest Thank You Card

For our church, every first and second time guests get a handwritten thank you card from the person who brought the message that weekend. Yes, handwritten. WE do not send form letters or post cards — we actually sit down with a pen and write! We include in the card a $5 Starbucks gift card (sans the sleeve) and an Invite Card with the service times on it.

A typed form letter used to be the hallmark of good guest communication. Now, it just looks like one more piece of form junk mail. Do not waste the opportunity to make a big impression! Who writes thank you cards by hand beyond the obligatory wedding gift thank yous? That’s right — no one.

That is an exclusive club you can be in for the price of card and a stamp! I cannot tell you how many people come back the next week and rave about how astonished they were to get a hand written card in the mail! Most pastors never find the time to do this, but this is such a basic and simple way to increase your ability to get visitors to come back! Why? Because they know that you do not consider them anonymous and you acknowledged their effort to roll out of bed and try something new. That’s why you should hand write first and second time guest thank you cards at all costs!

Write your guests on Monday. Get that card in the mail as fast as you can! The faster you get it to your guest, the sooner they will think about returning! Really! It works that way! Monday is also a much better day to recall who you met and which cards came from people you didn’t get a chance to chat with.

First Time Guests

I write nearly the same kind of message on every first time guest’s card:

Mark and Margret,

Thank you for joining us for worship on Sunday! I hope you felt at home with us, because we think church should feel like family. Please consider coming back again soon!

Pastor Ron

If I recall meeting them I will include, “It was great to meet you!” If the guest wrote down that someone I know invited them, I will say, “Thanks for letting Kevin drag you along with him to church this weekend.” If I do not recall meeting the person on the card, I will write, “Please come again and hunt me down after the service so I can put a face with your name.” (Almost a direct quote from Fusion, by Nelson Searcy.) It works!

Take a look through your stack. Many times roommates will come to church together and fill out separate Connection Cards. I switch up the language a bit so I don’t send the exact handwritten card to the same address! Also, look for people you don’t know in your stack. Sometimes guests will not tick the box identifying them as first or second time guests. Sometimes it is because they have been coming a few weeks and you have just recently earned the trust to receive their Connection Card. Either way, if it is a first time Connection Card they should get a note from you. If you get a Connection Card from someone and you are uncertain if it is a first time card or not, check the name against your database.

Second Time Guest

If the Connection Card comes from someone who also gave me a first time guest card, then the handwritten note says:

Mark and Margret,

You came back! Thank you for trusting us again with your weekend worship. Please keep it up! Perhaps you will find a church to call home in us.

Pastor Ron

If the Connection Card marked “second time guest” is the first time they trusted me enough to leave the Connection Card, then I combine the two sentiments.

At East Ave Church, we have a Kids Zone check-in system. We use the one with our database. When new parents check in their kids, they often give us information that they wouldn’t leave on the Connection Card. When that happens, our Children’s Director writes the family with much the same idea.

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What to Do with a Connection Card

After the Sunday service, what happens to the Connection Cards? Most of your Connection Cards will be dropped in an offering plate. Some will be handed directly to you and some may even be left on a pew. Your usher team (or whomever is responsible for securing the offering) needs to know just how important those cards are to you! If not, they may be locked away in a safe or stashed some place secure! Let your team know where you will look for those cards on Monday morning!

When you get your hands on this week’s Connection Cards, they should be sorted and reshuffled and resorted a few more times times.

 First and Second Time Guests

Those people that self-identify on a Connection Card as being first or second time guests should get the first priority. These cards may or may not have a complete set of information, but you can use whatever is given to you. If you were given a physical address, you should send a handwritten card in an envelop along with a small token of appreciation for the card. I send out a $5 Starbucks card. These should go in Monday’s post.

If the card contains a phone number call it. If the call is answered or it goes to voicemail, the conversation starter is the same: “Hey, I am Ron — the pastor from East Ave Church. I wanted to personally thank you for attending with us this weekend and for trusting us with your Connection Card. If you have any questions about the church or even the Christian faith, I would love the chance to answer them. And, by the way, this is a good number to reach me.”

If the card contains an email address, you should write on Monday morning. Your email will say much of the same stuff.

Thank you for being our guest on Sunday! We are always honored when someone trusts us with their Sunday morning. I hope you will come join us again soon.

By the way, if you have yet to visit us online, you can find more information about the church at our website, www.EastAveChurch.org. You can see how active we are at our facebook page, www.facebook.com/eastavechurch.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Pastor Ron

I Raised My Hand Checkbox

If someone checks the “I Raised My Hand” box (or a box indicating that they have made a decision to follow Jesus on Sunday) it is imperative that you meet with them right away!

Never let a decision for Jesus linger. These opportunities don’t come up often. Meet them for coffee and learn their story. Find out who he or she is and where he or she is coming from. Then, you can invite this person to make the next step — whatever that may be! The next step you offer will change depending on what is shared.

Prayer Requests

When people use your Connection Cards to give you prayer requests, acknowledge the request in some way. That can be in a phone call, text message or email. It really doesn’t matter. What matters is that they know they were heard and that you care.

If you have a prayer team set up, you should compile all the requests into an email and send it out.

Of course, you should also pray for the requests as well!

Sign Ups

If they are solicited signups through check boxes or written statements, the people should be informed you got the information — again by email text of phone call. It is not enough to stick them on a list.

Everything Else

The last time you sift through the cards look for anything that doesn’t fit in any other category. Make sure everything written on the card gets dealt with early in the week if you can!

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Work Mondays

I know. All pastors are supposed to take Monday off, especially if you are the only full-time paid staff. Your weekends are exhausting. It takes a lot of energy to lead a small army of volunteers to get the campus ready for Sunday: prepare the printed material, write a sermon and coordinate the music, coordinate tech crew, schedule greeters and ushers, hospitality and children’s classroom teachers. You need a day off.

Work Mondays anyway.

All morning on Sunday, people are handing you bits of information, introducing you to guests, opening a window into what is going on in their lives and neighborhoods. A pastor’s job is to act on all of this information. A key leader was missing because his mother fell over the weekend. One of your regular attenders is in the hospital. The toilet handle in the second stall of the women’s room is singing. You’re out of 9 volt batteries.

There are three big reasons for working Mondays:

Memory: You can’t remember everything you will need to do if you walk into the office 48 hours later after a sabbath day of rest. Your brain should dump and take the day off as well! No matter how much you write down, you won’t recall it all. And you will feel like an idiot asking an usher to drive down to the Piggly Wiggly for the most expensive two pack of 9 volt batteries on the planet. The best way to retain as much of your week’s agenda is to get to it right away.

Shipping: Some stuff only comes through the post, so getting that stuff ordered early in the week is imperative — especially since anything you need guaranteed to be here in two days will always take three. If what you ordered also needs to be installed, the earlier in the week you get it the more likely it will be in place and ready for service next Sunday. Sometimes what you order the first time doesn’t work, won’t fit or is already broke. Starting early in the week will give you a chance to order twice if you need it!

Communication: Your new guests need to be contacted as early as possible. Thank you cards for your volunteers that went beyond their regular duties can be a huge boost, especially written on Monday! Those that missed church because they are sick should get a reach out from you. Perhaps they need some hot meals delivered to the family? All of the usefulness of a church body shouldn’t wait until Tuesday.

It may sound a bit aggressive to get an early jump on the week. It is. Your church doesn’t need you to be passive. “Passive leader” is an oxymoron. So, get out there and get a good jump on the week!

Take Tuesday off.