As I was driving away, I was blown away by the experience. The service was great and the message was challenging, but it was the welcome I received that really made the entire experience. If I had been new to Charlotte and looking for a church home, there’s no doubt that my reception and welcome at Elevation would have kept me coming back.
But Wait…There’s More…
A Real-Life Telephone Call.
On Monday night, I was back home in Chicago and got a phone call from a number I didn’t recognize. By default, I don’t answer calls from numbers I don’t know. About a minute later, I got a voicemail notification. I listened, and it was a real-life person calling me from Elevation Church to thank me for being there the night before. He noticed I was visiting from out of town and wanted to let me know if I was just visiting that he hoped I had a great time and if I was relocating or coming back to Charlotte that he hoped I’d come back and visit again. He also offered that if I needed anything or needed prayer that I could call the church. WOW! In our automated age, the simple act of a personalized phone call is HUGE. I visited a church a while ago that routinely calls me every Thursday night with a pre-recorded message from the pastor letting me know what’s going on at the church that weekend. I don’t know how to unsubscribe from that. But this personalized call was unreal. Long gone are the days of the pastor or elders going to visit first-time guests at their homes, but this is definitely a 21st century spin on that.
A Helpful E-mail.
Then, the following morning I got an e-mail with the subject line, “Thanks for joining us! But wait, there’s more!” The e-mail was beautifully designed and included a video message from the campus pastor of the campus we visited and included links for information about their small groups and children’s ministry. There were also links to take a survey to get feedback from your experience and a link to spread the word and invite your friends.
