Guest Follow Up

You had a guest in your Sunday School class. Now what? Much depends on what happened in class. Did you create a positive first impression? What did you do to plan for follow up? Consider these first impression and follow up ideas:

First Impression Ideas

You created a first impression. Was it a good one? Instead of leaving the impression to chance, plan for a good one. Consider these ideas:

1. enlist greeters who arrive early to welcome members and guests
2. have the greeter or secretary ask guests to complete a registration form
3. start and end class on time
4. introduce the guest(s) to the class and involve them in the class without embarrassing (don’t ask them do public speaking)
5. thank the guest(s) at the end of class and ask if they have any questions about the class or church
6. ask if you can add the guest(s) to the class care list (for care, prayer, and invitations to fellowship/projects)
7. walk guests to find their children, restrooms, and worship
8. sit with and introduce them to those around them in worship

Guest Follow Up Ideas

More guests are likely to return if they had good first impressions. But some will never return unless we follow up. There are scores of ideas for follow up. Consider the following:

1. make contact within 72 hours to increase return likelihood
2. when making contact, thank guests for being in class, ask if they have questions, invite them to a class fellowship/project, ask for prayer requests, and pray together
3. the most fruitful contacts are often face-to-face and phone where a conversation can happen (but don’t dismiss the impact of text, especially among younger generations)
4. mail a handwritten card or letter of thanks and information about an upcoming class fellowship/project
5. a couple of different kinds of contacts within days following the guest visit can produce the best results (just avoid overwhelming with too many contacts)
6. you can take a gift but the best gift is often your presence along with caring conversation and prayer

To fail to follow up on a guest communicates the lack of care. As a result, many guests fail to return. It is difficult to make disciples of those who never return. Follow up. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash