Growing Your Number in Weekly Worship
Three weeks ago in my Loose Canon column, I asserted that maintaining the status quo for our churches into the next generation or two will require one of a few changes:
- Younger members of the church will have to increase giving to match older members, or
- More members will be needed, or
- Cut backs will be required, perhaps drastic actions on staffing and building costs.
Two weeks ago, I took on the third and seemingly least attractive option. Last week, I considered increased giving and finally this week, I will consider increasing attendance.
Options for Increasing Attendance
Many churches will need to increase attendance in the coming two generations to maintain the status quo in terms of staff and buildings. This will be true unless giving goes up or costs are cut. I write this not to add stress to churches in towns where population is stagnant or declining, but to simply be honest about the changes which seem to be on the horizon. If numeric growth seems very unlikely, you may want to concentrate on the other two areas listed above. For most of our congregations, however, there is little to prevent significant growth in percentage in your Average Sunday Attendance. Here are several ways to connect more people to your congregation:
Personal Invitation
Those who attend your church now making a personal invitation to friends and co-workers are the best way for you to connect with new people. 
But this is most true for those who are new to your church. Newcomers know a whole new group of people to invite who may not yet have heard of your church. Teaching in newcomer classes on the importance of invitation and talking through ways to do this, combine this together with teaching the five-minute rule (that those who attend the church should give the first five minutes after church to meeting new people, before turning to talk to those they already know). Doing this raises the awareness with those new to your congregation and in so doing extends the reach of your church. In support of this, creating an attractive brochure to share, or printed invitations to Christmas and Easter services make the invite even easier.
Printed Invitations
Sending out invitations to those with changes of address is a great way to reach those most likely to be looking for a new church. There are mailing services found online that will sell changes of address information. Real Estate agents shoudl have access to this information for free. Sending out a card with an invitation to join you for worship is a way to make a direct connection with those who may be shopping for a church.
St. Michael and All Angels in Savannah has the children working on doorhangers to invite those who live close to the church to their Easter services including an Easter egg hunt on Easter. These hand-made invitations on doors of those in the neighborhood are a great way to get the word out about a church.
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But no matter what you do to invite people to your church, it is hospitality and newcomer incorporation which connect people to your congregation. Get the invitation right and this wrong and your church will not grow. Skip all of the above and get this right and you can still grow. Put it all together and you set the stage for numeric growth in attendance. I have found that when we do all we can to prepare to welcome new people, the Holy Spirit speaks to hearts and minds and new people start showing up. For in the end, all we are discussing is not about the church alone, but about the church as a means of connecting people more closely to God through the local church, and this is not something we do alone, but an activity in which we join with what God is already doing in the lives of the people we want to reach.
Celebrating the Gift of Hospitality
This means that we will need to identify people with a real gift for hospitality. I know I get more credit for growing King of Peace than I deserve. It was the genuine welcome provided by people like Gil White, Carol Ludwigson, and many others with a real God-given knack for welcoming, that did more than I could ever have accomplished to connect folks to the church. 
I met with the congregation of St. Barnabas in Valdosta and asked for stories of people coming to the church and in the process uncovered the role Lavan Robinson had played in wlecoming every person who connected with the church. In your congregation, you have people who are good at this already. They need to be encouraged and the work they do in looking out for and speaking to visitors needs to be elevated and set as a model to others. This will not be a gift shared by all in your church, so make sure those who are good at greeting know their abilities are valued and encourage them in this vocation.
Incorporating Visitors
Once newcomers have arrived, have those who greet them encourage signing in the guestbook. This will get a physical address and an email address and phone number. It is a best practice for each visitor to get a letter from the Vicar or Rector within a few days of the visit. One other contact is also a best practice. For some congregations, this means “mugging” the newcomer by having a couple of people on a hospitality committee drop by with a coffee mug in a bag with a brochure and the most recent newsletter. Other congregations take fresh baked bread. Still others rely on a phone call. Whatever you choose to do, make sure it is a low impact contact. Whether dropping something by or making a call, it should only be a brief visit in which it is clear that something is being dropped off with no expectation. We want to balance being in contact, with seeming to attack.
Newcomers who come back a couple of times should be encouraged toward a newcomers’ class or meeting. Whatever your church uses to do this, it should be made clear how someone can get more involved in your church in a way meaningful to them.
The Good News
If you want to maintain the status quo in your church in terms of buildings and staffing, it will likely require more giving by future generations than they now give, or you will need more people all supporting the church at a lower level. But this is not raise as a matter for worry. Worry about giving and giving will decrease. Worry about attendance and that too will lessen. Instead, try lifting up the virtue of taking on these practices because that is how Christians are to behave and leave the results to God.
The Good News is that every congregation should already be doing all it knows how to do to reach out to others and invite them in. This is what we are to do, not for the sake of growing a churchor even maintaining the status quo. We are to invite and welcome for the sake of the Gospel. There will be few, if any, people in your community looking for an Episcopal Church. But everywhere you go, everyone you meet needs, deeply needs, a relationship with God as found in Jesus Christ. For some in your community, that will only happen with integrity when they find their way to come and worship with your congregation. Making the invitation, being hospitable to those who come and incorporating them into the Body of Christ is simply living into who we are to be as followers of Christ.
The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Canon for Congregational Ministries
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