Low Key Inreach Campaign to Boost Attendance

All Pastors and Staff members, as well as committed lay people understand the slumps that often come at different times of the church year.  In different parts of the country, that time for an attendance slump may be different, usually based on the local and regional schedules of the schools, colleges, or industries.  Most places find a slump during the summer months when children are out of school and families tend to take vacations, or during the holiday months when children are out of school and there are family activities planned and possibly out of town activities. 

It is so easy for people to simply get out of the habit of church attendance.  Even Christian people sometimes find it easy to find a reason to just stay home.  In spite of all the scriptural reasons for believers and church members to be in the fellowship with other believers, many will find a “good reason” to skip church.  After 3 or 4 weeks, it is not just “skipping” church, it is high risk for losing them altogether, especially if they have not been contacted by someone they feel is a significant church leader.

Here is an outline for a low keyed, low budget inreach campaign that can help you boost attendance after one of those natural slumps, and help to bring the straying lambs back into the fold where they will be safe and fed.  Inreach is a term that is used to refer to reaching out to church members or regular church attenders.  Outreach is used to refer to reaching out to the unchurched or unsaved in the community.

First, set a date on the calendar about 4 or 5 weeks out and invite someone local to sing, give a testimony, or preach and plan a pot luck or cookout with it.  Begin advertising it through your regular channels of promotion, your bulletin, newsletters, email, etc.  It is a good idea to begin a new Sermon Series in conjunction with that Sunday that you can also promote and that people will find interesting when they attend and be motivated to return for the rest of it. 

Next, begin your “postcard campaign.”  Everyone likes to receive personal mail.  Postcards are fun.  Purchase fun, age appropriate postcards for all of your department workers to mail out.  It might be helpful to let the church leaders in each department choose the postcards they will be sending.  You could give them a Lifeway catalog and let them choose what to order.  Sometimes I like to just go to Walgreen’s or Walmart and find postcards with local color such as a desert scene, or desert animals, or the state emblem, state flower, state bird, etc.  Those will catch someone’s eye when they arrive.  Count back from the date you set for the special date, or “inreach Sunday,” and ask all of your department workers to get involved.  Each department, children, youth, adult, senior adult, etc. should plan something special on that day.  It does not have to be big, just different.  It could be something as small as a promotional video, a new study, an update, or face painting. 

Week One:  Ask all of the Preschool and Children’s Workers to write a personal postcard, which the church has provided, to everyone on their rolls.  This includes visitors and sometime attenders.  After all, your goal for irregular attenders is to help them to become regular attenders.  Use Sunday School and Extended Session rosters and ask the workers to get personally involved.  Make each note personal from the leader who works directly with these children.  Say how much you enjoy having them in your class and that you are thinking of them, and mention the date for the special “inreach Sunday.”  Ideally, no leader should have to write more than 10 postcards.  The more church workers that are enlisted, the fewer cards each will have to write and the more participation you will have throughout the campaign and on the special day.  Have them mailed before Wednesday.

Week Two:  Ask all of the Youth Workers to write a personal postcard, which the church has provided, to everyone on their rolls. Again, this involves members, occasional attenders, and visitors.   Use the same procedure in enlisting your youth leaders.  As before, each note should be a personal note and also mention the date for the “inreach Sunday.”  It is important to let the youth workers add their own special touch.  They tend to know the pulse of the youth better than most.  But the postcards are still key.  They must be mailed before Wednesday.  It is also important to get many of the youth leaders involved, not just the youth staff.  Part of what makes this campaign work is the involvement with the lay leaders in planning something special and writing the cards.  Let your leaders know that they have a personal stake in the success of the event.

Week Three:  Ask all of the Adult Workers to write a personal postcard to everyone on their rolls.  This is the Sunday School, Men’s Ministry, Women’s Ministry, and any other adult ministries of your church.  Sometimes, people who attend one of these ministries may not have their name on a Sunday School or small group roll.  Use the same procedure as before.  Remember the key is involvement and have about a 1 to 10 ratio or smaller. 

Week Four:  Send a Postcard announcing the special inreach Sunday. (Do not call it inreach Sunday, if you name it, call it something different like “Round up Sunday” or perhaps something that has to do with the events of the day or the new sermon series)  Mail this from the office on Monday.  On this week, ask each department to make a personal phone call to each person on their list that that sent a post card to.  Talk for a few minutes if they are home and then remind them about the special day, or invite them.  This should be no more than a 1 to 10 ratio. 

By week four, there will be a momentum effect.  Every person in the church will have received at least one individual, personal postcard.  Everyone will have heard about the special day through several different mediums.  Most families will have received more than one personal post card from someone they know in the church that also knows them by name. 

Week Five:  Enjoy a great day for your church family.  The benefits are that your church organization has been re-engaged and involved after a natural time of inactivity.  Many absentees will begin to show up after the initial contact.  So, hopefully, your attendance will begin to get back on track before your special Sunday, your atmosphere and attitudes will begin to brighten since people are busier.  The entire church family has been working together toward one goal and can celebrate together.  Members who might have been in danger of dropping out have been re-connected with your church family in a personal way.  People who have been marginal in their attendance will begin to be more regular.  Some relationships will form and become stronger because of the personal contacts. 

One of the beauties of this type of campaign is that it is low-keyed.  In other words, there has not been a lot of hype from the pulpit about it except to talk about the special inreach Sunday.  The organization has been working diligently behind the scenes.  The cost is very low.  You may or may not have to pay a special speaker.  You will have to pay for postcards and postage for every person on your church roll that God has led to your church.  You will have some expenses for a church wide dinner, but if it is pot luck, then that is a small expense.  The increase in attendance throughout the campain and afterwards should easily pay for these expenses and much more.

Let me know how you use this campaign in your church and how effective it was for you.  Also let me know any suggestions or special twists you may have added to it.  Just write a comment in the comment box or send me an email.