Intentionality Is Key

How does your retention process start? 

Wilson: There are a lot of different ways people can let us know that they’ve been in our church. They can scan a QR code to share information. We have communication cards people fill out. We have a large online following, and they can hit the “connect” button. Regardless of how we make contact, the next day, a lot of the information is processed and immediately sent to the various age-group leaders to contact people. Everyone who comes to visit receives a letter from me. They also get a phone call from one of the associate pastors or leaders in specific areas who reach out to them, encouraging them to get in a small group or at least visit again.

Newman: During COVID-19, we made sure someone in the church contacted everybody. That meant between 3,000 and 4,000 calls made over the course of six weeks. And I think that’s helped with retention. People knew we cared for them when it was difficult and weren’t meeting in person due to state stipulations. 

Wilson: We’re very intentional about being welcoming and friendly. I tell people on Sunday mornings at the end of the services, “If you’re our guest, I’d like to meet you.” And so I go to the hospitality room and meet people every week. It’s pretty busy—I don’t have long before the next worship service, but it’s one of the important, personal ways we reach out.

Southcrest is in a very visible location now, but when I came in 1988, we were way off the beaten path. We had to work really hard to get people to visit us. So we took newcomers an apple pie. Thirty-some years ago, we also brought a VHS tape with a 10-minute video of our church. Now, we don’t do the VHS tape, and the pies aren’t made from scratch. But within a month of visiting Southcrest, somebody’s still going to deliver an apple pie to you along with some information about our church. And at the Venue, which is our more modern service attracting a younger crowd, they do cookies.

After that, how can people connect at Southcrest? 

Wilson: We’ve always said that the larger we become, the smaller we have to be, which means that we have to get people into smaller groups. If you’re not in a smaller group, you’ll never feel like you’re a part of this congregation. We still do our small groups on Sunday mornings. They function very well, and they’re really open to new people coming in. We’ve had one or two groups try to make it work during the week, but you always run into childcare issues. For younger families, that’s the main deterrent for meeting in homes. We have excellent programs going for children on Sunday mornings so they can meet.

Every person needs a small-group experience and a large-group corporate worship experience. You see this in Acts 2. They were meeting in homes, studying the apostles’ doctrine, but then they were in the temple courts where 3,000 were added to them. That shows they’ve got both. So we try to be intentional about teaching that and reminding people of the importance of inviting new people into our small groups.

How has your TV presence impacted retention?

Wilson: TV has been a tremendous front door for us. We were on television long before COVID-19. And as a result of that, we have had an influx of new people who weren’t going anywhere or whose church never did open back up. And now every week without fail, I meet somebody in the hospitality room who says, “We watched the church for a while on television and then decided to come visit.”

Newman: There’s a couple who moved here from a small town about 45 miles away. They started watching us on TV and then began to visit on Wednesday nights because of job-related difficulties on Sunday mornings. Recently, the young lady’s dad passed away, and we were there to pray with them through that and even went to their house to pray over a meal. And because of that intentionality of loving people, they are now part of our fellowship. They’ve joined a small group, too.

Wilson: We have so many new people each month—we send out 30 to 40 letters a week. I don’t get to meet all of them because we have a lot of different ways to join in and be part of this church. So, I started offering a Zoom call once a month on Sunday night with new people. I’ll usually have six to eight at a time. I tell them they can ask me any question they want. And then I ask them, “Help me see Southcrest through new eyes. What do you see that you really like?” And most all of them will say, “We’ve been made to feel at home.” 

Heather Schnese
Heather Schnese

Heather Schnese is a contributing writer for Outreach magazine.