Culture & Attitude
19.11.08
Why People Don't Go To Your Church
Chezz - 09 October 2008
You’ve got a great church. You’ve sent out flyers and brochures, networked with your local community workers and secured a great web presence. No one’s coming. What’s wrong? There are many reasons why people may not be flocking to your church. Here are a few ideas why:
1. Inconvenience
In todays age of fast food and high-speed Internet connections, people want instant everything to fit around their schedule.
Do you offer multiple options? Multiple services?
If you have a web site, is it easy to navigate? Do the pages load quickly? Studies indicate web visitors will move on if they don’t find what they are looking for in the first 20 seconds. Similarly, is your website and are your service times easy to find?
Do you provide adequate ways people can communicate with you? Can people reach a ministry leader when they need to? Do you provide enough information about what is important to your church – a vision statement or core values?
Are your services hosted in a convenient location for people?
2. People Don’t Think They Need or Want What You’re Presenting.
Many people feel like they don’t need or want the whole ‘God thing’ in their life. Your mission as a leader is to present the benefits and convince them otherwise. Rather than focusing on your church’s great worship or contemporary building, show people the benefits: – Jesus is a great friend- you’ll never be alone, the Bible will enable you to succeed in life. Makeover someone’s garden and explain why you do it, that you’ve had a change of heart. Oh, and don’t forget eternal life!
If people understand the benefits of knowing Jesus, they might just take a second look at Him. Wouldn’t that be awesome?
3. People Don’t Understand What You’re Presenting
Not everyone understands God or the Bible and many have no idea who Jesus is other than the kid they wheel out for the nativity at Christmas!
I wonder how many people have never tried the following because they don’t understand what they are:
Sat Nav. Facebook. Apple Mac. Apple TV. Twitter. SkyPlus. Iphone 3G. ISA. Gift Aid.
Maybe if we tried a little harder to communicate what it is we’re so passionate about and eliminated the Christian jargon, others may be more open to listening to what we’ve got to say.
4. People Don’t Trust You
Does your community trust you? Do they feel they know you well enough to approach you or interact with you?
Consider these questions:
Do you follow through on promises?
Are you viewed as a respected faith group or a cult?
If you have a web presence, does your site list a physical address or a P.O. box? (Physical addresses generate more trust.)
Are you active (and therefore visible) in the community?
Are your finances in order and available to see?
Building trust is an important ingredient for any successful organisation. If you’re unsure whether you’re trusted, ask the local community straight out and see what they say – if you dare!
5. Perceived Poor Services and Ministries
When it comes to building a local church (as with most of life), perception is reality. If someone believes your kids ministry is not organised particularly well or unsafe, it might as well be. Turn that perception around! Your challenge is to demonstrate your church ministries and community work so people can see it with his/her own eyes. Provide open days, brochures and even videos online – just a few ideas.
6. Poor Leadership
People are attracted to good leadership.
What leadership traits do you and your team possess ?
Do you have a track record of making wise choices?
Do you hold any influence amongst the local community?
Are you approachable and in touch with the real world?
I guarantee that if you rise in leadership, people will want to be around you. In my experience and from what I’ve seen, people are firstly attracted to the leader, not the church. Powerful thought isn’t it.
7. Failing to Ask
Don’t assume that just because you’ve covered all the bases that people will come. Remember to get your congregation to keep asking people!
Finally – take some risks, be creative, challenge your thinking and throw yourself into it knowing we’re all learning along the way.
Chezz is the Executive Pastor of Xcel Church. He and his wife, Louise, have four children Olivia, Max, Zak and Jackson.