Here are 82 ideas written on Post-It notes during SsAM’s brainstorming sessions at the “Invite, Welcome, Connect” conference on Saturday, October 20, 2018. Twenty-three members of the Episcopal Church of Saints Andrew and Matthew participated, throwing out ideas, their imaginations sometimes going wild!
How can we Christians best invite others to join us, welcome them when they arrive, and connect to them when they return? As you can see, we spent most of our time on the first question, how to better invite people to SsAM.
INVITE IDEAS
- Business card or postcard on website to print at home
- Brochures at local hotels
- Prayer Walk around neighborhood
- Community organ concerts
- Use Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn
- Moo Cards
- Business cards with service times given to all members to hand out
- Reach out to mid-town residences
- Be more than a venue
- What is our brand?
- Good Friday walk
- Car magnet
- Friendly community
- Laundry night
- Coffee hour Facebook video
- Sarbucks meetings
- “Soul of the City” tag line
- Formation class about Episcopal Church and our traditions
- Facebook Sunday service
- Smart phone app with SsAM brand
- Community meetings at SsAM for local civic association
- Liaison to city government
- Combine forces with Trinity/Old Swede’s and Emmanuel Highlands. Find leadership and keep in contact.
- Welcome committee, ambassadors, pair extroverts and introverts
- Communicate what we are already doing with intentionality using unified media teams
- Welcome postcards with SsAM brand
- Embed videos in website
- Videos of how parishioners first came to SsAM and why they have stayed
- Take coffee to our new neighbors
- Mess church
- Review mission to City of Wilmington, healing service, 5-mile radius, “beat the bounds”, procession, parade, blessing, make more of Good Friday
- City Hall meetings
- Need to know what organizations and leadership positions our members already are already involved in
- Service on the Riverfront
- Frig magnet with photo of church, website, address, phone: “Draw you to our church”
- T-shirts with QR code on back
- Advertisement Coffee mugs, fabric shopping bags, car magnets
- Facebook Live welcome video
- Car decal with just QR code
- Potluck dinners with discussions: Saints, Sinners & Skeptics
- Specified people assigned to welcome visitors
- Rolls of nametags; nametags in pews
- Manual or booklet that shows what ministries the church is involved in such as Planned Parenthood, Christina Cultural Arts Center, Network
Delaware - “Walking The Word” slogan
- Spanish-speaking church
- Who We Are posters with Pacem in Terris, Delaware Futures, Racial Justice Coalition, Delaware Middle East
- People with welcome cards at all events
- Encourage members to go to city council meetings
- Ask Me! buttons for ushers and others
- Do You Know? meetings with congregation
- Community financial workshops
- Postcards with photos of pipe organ, windows, congregation, Carnival Sunday
- Merton Musings, Study of Paul
- Welcome pins for ushers and/or greeters “Ask Me!”
WELCOME AND CONNECT IDEAS
- We like to see Fr. David out in front of the church, vested and welcoming.
- Have members of the New Member Ministry (or anyone from our church) visit other churches to see what kind of welcome ministry (or lack of
welcome) they experience and find out what it felt like and what would have helped. - Get Welcome Packets prepared like those for All Souls.
- Have a retreat for all ministries.
- Let each group present at announcements.
- Assign members of the vestry to call new members as well.
- Process map (flow diagram).
- Handwritten note from rector to visitors.
- Communication.
- Develop Welcome Team and staff connection to connect.
- Process Map for Best Welcome Practices.
- Sign-up Genius for coffee and healthy food.
- Parking Lot Greeter.
- Welcome Team: say “Hi”, take to coffee, visit/call/text
- Process Map (flow map).
- Groom your replacement.
- What does the Welcome Team do?
- Greeters need to be on same page.
- A church is a community, not a building.
- “Ask Me!” shirts / nametags.
- Who is on the Welcome Team?
- Guest parking.
- Kids bags for the young children.
- Ministry contact information.
- Retreat for the ministries with the vestry.
- Leadership development.
- Transparency and flow between ministries.
- Vestry represents all at SsAM.
Other Invite-Welcome-Connect Posts
Click here to see all the posts on this website about Invite-Welcome-Connect.
