Customer Reviews

Beyond the First Visit: The Complete Guide to Connecting Guests to Your Church

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm on staff at our church in the area of First Impressions, and the subtitle of this book ("Connecting Guests to Your Church") is a major part of what I do. When I first saw this book, I knew that I needed to read it.

Quite frankly, I was disappointed on several fronts. First and foremost, this book felt like it was written for the church of the 1980s. I was taken aback by the almost complete failure to mention internet strategies. When it was discussed at the end of Chapter 5, it was almost as if the reader was supposed to be only vaguely aware that the "World Wide Web" even exists.

I was also frustrated by the rather hokey feel of many of McIntosh's suggestions. The DWYPYWD principle (Do what you promised you would do)? Come on, that's a ridiculous and utterly useless acronym. The rule of three-thirty-three? The MOT (Moment of Truth)? I just think that this stuff is silly.

I was disappointed by one underlying message throughout the book, that the purpose of making good connections with guests is to convince them to attend your church rather than another church. But this totally misses the point of caring about guests. We don't need to be very concerned about the folks who are going to end up at a church somewhere. Our energies should be directed to the folks who are going to choose between attending our church and never attending church again. Those are the folks for whom first impressions and guesterizing strategies should be focused.

Finally, I could not see how Chapter 13 fit into this book. In the midst of all of his connection strategies, McIntosh spends this chapter providing a brief summary of the emergent church movement. Maybe this primer would be helpful for older pastors who have missed the entire emergent thing (and have only recently discovered the World Wide Web and really enjoy acronyms like DWYPYWD), but it seemed completely out of place in this book.

Having been rather critical and even somewhat sarcastic so far in my review, "Beyond the First Visit" was not a complete loss. The strength of this book is that it is relatively comprehensive. McIntosh speaks into a host of topics and goes to great lengths to explain why each of these seemingly insignificant details is actually quite important. His attention to the little things is commendable and should help the reader be aware of the myriad of things that churches need to consider as folks outside the church investigate what we do every week when we come together for corporate worship.

Ultimately, I'm glad that I read this book. There is much good content that can help church leaders to think through the impression that they leave with guests. However, it was far from what it could have been. If you're looking to think about these things in a totally new and refreshing way, I'd recommend Mark Waltz's "First Impressions" instead.

The cover promises to offer the reader a complete guide to church hospitality, and is written by well know church growth scholar Gary McIntosh.

If you have NEVER picked up a book on welcoming visitors, this can be a helpful introduction.

This book does have some strengths in looking at the visitor flow of your church.

Attracting Visitors -- Getting them to come.
Welcoming Visitors -- The art of Hospitality, dealing with first impressions and service.

But there are better books on the market Such as FusionFusion: Turning First-Time Guests into Fully-Engaged Members of Your Church

How do YOU welcome a visitor

McIntosth begins with reminder of how important it is for churches to welcome the visitors that come.

He asks: How do you react differently between a guest and a visitor?

A guest is invited, expected, and thus you make sure the house is clean and in order.

A visitor shows up unexpectedly, uninvited, and typically when you're doing laundry or dressed in your painting clothes.

McIntosh encourages the church to think through how it welcomes guests, to review what it thinks about guests, and to encourage churches to see themselves through the eyes of a guest.

In the 2nd chapter, he reminds of how to be a great host. Welcoming guests doesn't happen accidentally, but on purpose with some careful planning and attention to the process (which is where a consultant can help you).

He cites research from the 80s that churches need to keep 25 to 30 percent of their first time visitors to grow rapidly, while churches that only keep 5 to 8 percent will decline.

Assuming those numbers are still current, let's settle on a average of 16%. How many visitors does your church need to grow?

What is the first impression of your parking lot, your building.

Signage? Upkeep of the Building?

First impressions -- Do visitors have a positive interaction with the people in the church?

Disappointments
Though McIntosh offers some excellent advice, most of it is clearly dated, and most of the supporting research is from the early 1990s. Most all the footnotes cite citations before the year 1995, the majority of which stretch all the way back to the 70s. I kept feeling like I was reading late 1980s church growth stuff all over again.

Our society may have changed, but this book doesn't have any current research to make sure those conclusions are still valid.

I've read widely on assimilating visitors, and if you have as well, you'll find this book disappointing.

It has a throw away chapter about the emergent church that feels like an attempt at being current and not really relevant to the book. A few times I had to perservere through rabbit trails that had very little to do with welcoming visitors (for example, a whole chapter on launching new ministries).

He has several, practical steps for making your church more hospitable. From the 10 foot rule, to the 5 minute rule, to such advice as "Recruit for attitude, Train for people for skills," it was worth the purchase.

The title of McIntosh's compelling book shoud be an eye-catcher for anyone concerned about how their church looks to visitors--or guests, as the author puts it. He offers thoughtful, practical ideas about church people in churchs of all sizes. This book is a compelling read and a great starting point for discussions.

This book really makes you think about what you and/or are not doing at your church. We go through "church" without really thinking about guests/visitors. We often treat people like visitors - thanks for coming, come again if you want, but you're not really part of the "family". We should treat them like guests - we want them and want them to come back and most importantly, we want them to become part of the family.

The book makes you look at your church with new lenses.

Great - practical book. Helps you see your church from a "guest's" (not visitor) point of view. Practical questions to ask for all teams within the church from worship to nursery to building and grounds. Easy to implement in your own setting, not a cookie cutter approach to church. Very helpful

This is an excellent, practical, and insightful book on how growing a church to the next level can be done. The author has writen it from the biblical, psychological and sociological perspectives which therefore makes it a wholistic and comprehensive treatise on how to boost the attendance of a declined or declining church. Read it and put it into a action. The growth of your church will surprise you.

The book, Beyond the First Visit was good reading and with such clarity. It is good for us as a young congregation to prepare ourselves not only in a spirit-filled way, but professionally as well. We desire to be a people of excellence, and these guidelines has established a solid method whereby we can put into practice. We are excited to see the result of what God is going to do on our behalf.

I have given a copy of this book to Lay Leaders in the church to read and review. They have been impacted by it and we have begun a program in the church modeled after the book and fashioned for our particular small congregation. A Lay Leader in charge has developed a training program for committed team members of the "Welcome Wagon." As a pastor I am excited because the book puts practical steps within reach that will help us keep guests who come to church, especially from our mailings. Our congregation is mostly blue collar and is under 100 in attendance but this has potential for all shapes and sizes as it impacts the sociological perspectives of Laypeople regarding their church. It is like having a consultant talk to you for the price of a book. Blessings!

As I am preparing to launch a new church is has been a valuable tool in my organizing efforts.