November 6, 2011

ROLL CALL!! - Your church could win an EXTRAVAGANT WELCOME MAT

After you have rolled out the red carpet, it is time for Roll Call!

We want to hear about the extravagant welcome you've showed your guests. Encourage visitors to your church to visit the God is sitll speaking, Facebook page and post the name of the church they visited and share their experience. The UCC church with the most mentions (posts) will receive an Extravagant Welcome Mat featured in the "Uniquely UCC" video message (a $225 value)!

Don't forget to have them "Like" us too! Visitors can also send their 'shout out' via an email to Stillspeaking.

Facebook posts and emails will be counted until Monday, November 14, 2011 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time. Winner will be announced Wednesday, November 16, 2011 and the winning church office contacted.

Ideas to get you started:

• Announce to visitors as you welcome them during announcements.
• Give them a card to take home with the information.
• Include information in your church bulletin.
• Follow up with visitors via email and include links to facebook page and email.

You can also share posts that appear on your church's Facebook page, simply utilize the share button and share the post on the God is still speaking, Facebook page.

Hospitality has its rewards!!

If you invite them, they will come!

It’s a simple concept that works. How often does a friend tell you that he or she has been waiting for an invitation to your home? In your mind, this person may not need an invitation. You have been to your friend’s home often enough. But that person feels the need for an invitation to yours.

Your friends may know what church you attend, and may have heard exciting things about what your church is doing, but they still need you to extend an invitation.

Research suggests that three out of four people attend a church for the first time because they were invited. However, less than two percent of church members will ever invite someone to church. That means there is an abundance of people simply waiting for an invitation . . . from you.

You may have a really unique and inviting church, but it’s a “best kept secret.” Use the opportunity of Each One Bring One Sunday to showcase the mission of the church and to build relationships.

Churches grow when members extend personal invitations to others. The United Church of Christ has 1.1 million members. If only 10 percent brings a friend to church Nov. 6, 110,000 additional persons will visit a UCC congregation that day –– and some will find a church home that day!

Steps for a Successful Friend Raising Sunday:

• PRAY for those you want to invite to church. Have members write down names of potential guests and commit to pray for them daily (friends, neighbors, distant relatives, first-time acquaintances, business associates –– even the barista at your favorite coffee shop)
• PREPARE “invitations” for members to give out. Give them the tools to invite their friends.
• PLAN a system for hospitality and welcome. Do you have one? Is it effective? Now is the time to update and review what you are currently doing.
• TEACH every member of your congregation how to welcome visitors to your church, not just your ushers and greeters.
• BUILD upon your social network. Think outside the box and use social media to invite people to church. Does your church have a Facebook page? That can be a tool of invitation as well!
• CREATE an event and invite people to it. This year, Each One Bring One Sunday falls during the middle of Mission: 1 –– what better opportunity to invite others and show how your congregation is involved in local, national and international justice work? How about a Mission: 1 collection for a local food pantry during or after church? Ask each person to bring a non-perishable, healthy food item or donate $1 on Nov. 6. During worship, invite everyone to place items at the altar as part of worship, and incorporate a blessing service into worship. Announce where the gifts will be distributed.
• FOLLOW-UP with each and every visitor!

More importantly, make it personal. Friends bring friends to places they trust and get excited about.

Who are you inviting to church?

Check out Mission:1 for additional information and worship resources.