Welcome back!

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. 

Today’s newsletter is an exercise that you can do at any time in your church and it will always provide important insights for you.

Old Eyes

More than likely, you and most of the folks at your church have been there for a while.

You’re not brand new to the church.

But I imagine you desire to reach new people to the church.

One of the things that you probably don’t realize is that your church is doing things (unintentionally) that makes it difficult for guests and newer people to connect with your church.

You don’t see these things because you have old eyes.

• You’ve been around so long you don’t notice the paint in the kid’s classrooms is in bad shape.
• You’ve been around so long you don’t need signage to tell you where to go.
• You’ve been around so long you don’t need an explanation of why you do certain elements in your worship service.

But new people notice these things. We often undermine ourselves and our efforts because we don’t see things others see.

Seeing Through New Eyes

A great exercise for you and a team of leaders is examining every area of your church through the eyes of a guest.

Look at every ministry (kids, students, groups, etc.). Look at every process and system (getting new people connected, membership, serving, etc.). Look at the facility (signage, cleanliness, welcoming, etc.).

When you start looking at your church from a new set of eyes, you’ll be amazed at what things you begin to see.

Point of Wisdom

Regularly take a look at everything your doing at church through the lenses of a guest. This will help you to see things that you’ve grown accustomed to or ignore. It will help you strengthen your systems and make your church more welcoming for new people.

Areas to Examine

Take time to do an inventory of multiple areas of your church and ask how it would be viewed through a new person’s eyes.

• Pulling into the property. Is there clear signage about where to park and enter the building?
• Signage inside the building. Is it easy to find where to take my kids?
• Cleanliness of the church. Does it look like we take care of the building? Does it look safe in our classrooms?
• Do we explain what we do certain things in service? Why do we recite the Apostle’s Creed each week? Why do we stand before the reading of Scripture? Why do we take communion each Sunday?
• How do we tell people to take next steps? Is it clear what we want a new person to do? Is there a class? Is there a card to fill out? Where do I put it?

Intentionality is Key

The reason this process is so effective is it forces you to be more intentional in the things you’re doing.

If you find areas to improve by looking at everything through these new eyes, it will increase your ability to reach and keep new people who come to your church.

Churches easily fall into the bad habit of becoming an insiders gathering that never add people to the family. The way we battle against that is by constantly looking at what we do through the eyes of the guest.

Thanks for reading! I hope this will be helpful for your church.

Pastor Cohorts, Coaching, and Consulting

Whenever you’re ready to take a next step in growing as a pastor, there are different ways to work with me. 

1. Pastor Cohorts. This is a group cohort that meets once per month for 6 months and we talk about everything from vision, preaching, processes and systems, giving, and more.

2. Pastor Coaching. If you desire 1-on-1 coaching, this is a more tailored look at the particular things you want to work on as a pastor, and a deeper dive into your particular church and needs.

3. Pastor/Church Consulting. We have a team that can do a deep-dive with your church to help revitalize and turn it around. This consulting helps identify key issues your church is facing, develops vision for the church, and designs a plan for execution.

If you are interested in any of these opportunities, please email me at erik@tjclive.com