I want to follow up my post from last week with another good idea for making new people feel welcome in your group. When Cheryl and I attended the SUNY Oswego BASIC group as students they used to give out welcome packets to new students and when we visited this semester they had updated it and it reminded me of how great this can be.
In the picture above you can see the folder they put together (left) and a professionally designed and printed brochure about BASIC that they include in the packet (right). The brochure was designed by a student in the group who is majoring in graphic design and looks quite good. It includes a little information about what BASIC is, trusted churches in the area, name and contact info of church advisors and student officers, a section on beliefs and goals (essentially a brief statement of faith), and information about what events occur regularly each semester. Also included in the folder are a pen, a couple invite cards to hand out to friends, a form to get their general contact information, and a form asking questions like how long they have been saved and in what ways they would like to be involved in BASIC presently or in the future.
This is a great way to get someone connected, to start moving someone toward thinking about leadership, and to follow up after the meeting. I should say as well that if you don’t have a good follow up system in place for new people you should develop that also. Some groups even have one leader dedicated to organizing follow up. Usually it’s as simple as taking someone’s contact info and calling, emailing, or using Facebook to let them know you’re glad they came to your group and to ask if there is anything they need. It can also be good to ask if they would like to get together some time in order to get to know people in the group more (obviously guys contact guys and girls contact girls).
Remember, all of this is worth the effort if it means someone gets connected and stays in your ministry instead of only visiting once. If you don’t have a system in place for follow up, then it means you have a great system for making sure people only come once and never come back. It’s not about numbers, but it is about reaching as many people for the Kingdom as we can!
So, what do you think? Would this work for your group? Do you have ideas for other items to put in a welcome packet? Feel free to comment below.