7. Reward Progress
However you define increased engagement, reward it whenever you see it.
How can you do this?
a. Celebrate it publicly
Sometimes church leaders are great at asking but not at reporting back afterward.
If you ask for volunteers and you get 75 new ones, make a point a point of celebrating it the next weekend. Tell some stories. Shoot some video. Thank people.
Ditto when people give generously, or bring a friend, or when 100 new people join community groups.
Pretend it’s baptism Sunday … and celebrate.
b. Affirm it privately
When you see someone jump in, thank them. Mention it when you talk to them in the foyer.
Thank them in the next email you send them.
Write them a hand written thank you card.
c. Celebrate with your key leaders
Senior leaders can easily fall into the trap of rewarding attendance, not engagement.
To increase engagement, start celebrating how many people signed up rather than how many people showed up.
When you talk about steps and celebrate when people take them, great things happen in your organization.
Staff and key volunteers need to know when they’re winning. Help them see it.
Signing up is better than showing up.
Remember, as a leader, what you celebrate matters.
As Andy Stanley has said so many times, what you celebrate gets repeated.
How Do You Drive Engagement?
Those are my current thoughts on helping churches drive engagement.
If you want more, I wrote a series of posts on attendance vs. engagement that you can access for free below.
I also outlined much of the strategy in my new book, Lasting Impact, designed for discussion you can have with your staff and elder board. You can download a free chapter here or get a deal on bulk orders here.
Here are some blog posts and Leadership Podcast episodes for additional reading, listening and context:
5 Reasons Engagement Will Drive Almost All Future Church Growth
10 Reasons Even Committed Christians Are Attending Church Less Often
CNLP Episode 23: Why People Are Attending Church Less Often—An Interview with Will Mancini.
5 Ways to Embrace Infrequent Church Attenders
10 Predictions About the Future Church and Shifting Attendance Patterns
3 Things That Are Sabotaging the Church’s Future
How do you drive engagement?
