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Survive and Thrive with Three Tools That Serve

Instagram sold for $1 billion to Facebook.

What made them worth so much money? The way they serve their users.

And why are they so valuable to their users? The tools they use.

But not just any tools, they use tools that are available to anyone.

At a church, the way we serve those that attend and the tools we use to serve them makes all the difference.

As with Instagram, churches have access to readily available tools that will help them stay competitive and grow. Yes, I used the “c” word (“competitive”). Any church leader that does not think churches are competitive does not understand how God designed humans and why He designed us this way (Matthew 28:19-20).

On a side note, churches that are 200 in size and under (which are most of the churches in America) better learn fast, and hang on because mega-churches armed with the right tools are expanding rapidly and may be coming to your town soon. I call this new phenomenon “The Church Wal-mart Effect.” (I’m writing an article about this and will post in the future). Along the way, I hope to also challenge large expanding churches to not just blast into new communities with no regard to the existing smaller churches already there but to strategically partner with them by sharing their resources of knowledge and tools for the benefit of all. It’s important that expanding churches not forget that we need all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people.

Sorry, I regress. Back to the tools.

Three Tools Every Church Must Have To Survive & Thrive

1. Web site—Your #1 Church Growth Tool.

Your church Web site as an outreach tool either attracts people to your church or repels them. There’s no middle ground in this. Either your Web site works for you or it works against you. Do whatever you have to do to get this right.

Your Web site generates your churches very first impression. This is critical to church growth because that first impression will determine who will visit your church.

Your Web site defines your church to your target community. You can be sure that most of the people in your community, that are seriously looking for a new church home, have visited your Web site. Is that a good thing? Once they do, who do they think you are?

Your Web site is where new people will begin their relationship with your church. Starting relationships with new people in your community is where you will get your best volunteers and financial givers.

*Important side note: If your church does not have a Welcome-Information Video front and center on your church Web site homepage…well, that’s just dumb. Video is currently the most powerful relationship starting tool on earth and IS the language of our day. Learn to speak in the language of the culture you are trying to reach, and you will reach more.

2. Church Identity Package—Your #2 Church Growth Tool.

How people perceive your church before they attend is very important. As the old saying goes “perception is reality” to most people.

Who your outreach target thinks you are makes a big difference as to whether they will come visit your church or not.

New people will not know who you are or what you do if you don’t tell them. The better you tell them (through your church identity package) the more people will want to come visit your church.

3. Visitor Assimilation Plan—Your #3 Church Growth Tool.

People, especially American people, always want to know “What’s next?” Help them know where they are going (what the plan is), and they’ll be more likely to stay.

It’s not enough to just get them to your church. If you want them to stay and become contributing members (shutting the back door), you have to communicate clearly what their next step is, and then guide them down your strategic assimilation path.

Bottom line: Using the right tools results in more people visiting your church, more people coming to Christ, more volunteers getting involved, more income coming into the church to accomplish your mission, and greater spiritual growth of those that attend.