More Interesting Statistics from the same period 2:
- Thirty-nine percent of those visiting a church were from other churches within the same religious affiliation.
- Thirty percent were switching religious affiliations.
- Twenty-three percent were making a return to religious life.
- Only nine percent were termed as “unchurched”.
With some just passing through town or visiting relatives, we will not retain all of the visitors who walk through our doors each week, but imagine that we could retain all the visitors from our area. If we have one new visitor each week of the year, that means we have the chance of leading 52 visitors to the Lord in a single year. If a new family of three visits our services each week, that number translates to 156 people who could be reached, theoretically speaking. Imagine the growth the church could experience when your handshake and genuine interest in a family is offered! And the retention statistics do not change from small to medium to mega-churches.
What about inviting someone to visit our services? Consider the following:
- Most prefer to visit on Sunday morning.
- One study reports that 96 percent are at least somewhat likely to attend if invited 3. Other studies report this number as 63 percent.
- Very few of the unchurched have been invited.
- Twenty-one percent of members will invite someone to church in a year.
- Only two percent will invite an unchurched person.
If only half of the unchurched that said they might attend if they were invited came, and we invited them, we could see 80 million brought into the church. That’s a huge number to wrap our minds around, but you get the idea. Friends, the fields are indeed ripe for the harvest. Indeed, we have been told by Christ Himself, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” (Matthew 9:37). He also asks, “Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest” (John 4:35).
Obviously, the principle of the talents, described in Matthew 25:14-30, must come into play here – a parable that describes three servants either multiplying or burying their talents. We often consider this on an individual basis, saying such things as, “I’m not good at approaching visitors,” or “I’m not comfortable when talking to strangers.” Some of our brothers and sisters seem to have a natural charisma that makes this easier for them, while the rest of us have to work at it. But consider that, while you are in the building, faced with the opportunity to welcome a visitor, you are not alone. Who’s to say you can’t “team up” with someone else, walk right up to that visitor, and welcome him or her with a Christian greeting? In such a case the talents of the congregation can be multiplied greatly.
Statistics show that a visitor’s decision whether or not he or she will return is unconsciously made within seven minutes of pulling into the parking lot. This is before they even hear the sermon! Greeting our visitors before the service is critical in retaining them.
Some churches pay between $3,000 and $11,000 to hire outside firms who specialize in visitor retention. These consultants conduct a three-day to a six-month coaching program for the members, training folks to be friendly and role-playing ways to invite people outside the church to attend. Is that necessary? Now that we are conscious of the statistics presented above, are you sufficiently encouraged to reach out a little more to those who visit in our midst? Why not make the deliberate effort to multiply your personal talents in this area in the next month?
2 “Welcoming New People and Helping Them Feel They Belong”, The Rainer Report, October 2002.
3 ibid.