But, it takes more than just promoting your service times from stage to draw a crowd from your community. Statistics show that the number one reason someone comes to church is because a friend or family member invited them!
So, in order to give your church the best opportunity to share the Gospel with the greatest number of people this Christmas, your church needs to equip members to invite their friends, neighbors and co-workers.
This is where utilizing some great invite tools is so important. Equipping people with a few simple tools can dramatically change the number of people that attend your Christmas Services this year. Here are 3 reasons you need to plan on making invite tools available:
Most churches would say that “Evangelism” is a core value of their church. However, saying it and acting like it are two different things. One of the simplest ways for your church to highlight evangelism is for your leadership to mention Invite Tools often during key events like Christmas (and Easter) AND make it easy for people to take action.
The fact that your leadership team took time and energy to create Invite Tools for them to use highlights how it important it is to your church. Invite Tools send a message that ‘we as a church are concerned that your friends and family have the best opportunity to hear the Gospel.
Tip: During the weekends leading up to Christmas, have greeters at every entrance to your auditorium handout invite cards to every person as they leave your weekend service. Engage volunteers to put rubber bands around 5-10 cards, so greeters can handout a ‘pack’ of invite cards quickly.
Due to various societal pressures, most people are uncomfortable sharing their faith. Even talking about “Christmas” in our culture can now make for an awkward conversation with friends. That’s why providing Invite Tools are so important – they empower your people to have the conversations they might otherwise be too timid to have.
Putting tools in their hands also sends a message to your members that your leadership team believes the church members CAN and SHOULD share their faith. It helps the church understand that sharing the Gospel isn’t just the job of the pastors on stage every weekend. Rather, Invite Tools empowers and encourages your church members to talk about Christ and / or their church in daily conversations.
Ultimately, you want your church members to think: “my church leaders don’t just talk about evangelism; they help equip and empower ME to go fulfill the Great Commission”. That’s vital, because a key part of your church’s job is help people grow spiritually. Helping them overcome their fear of sharing their faith may be one of the next areas God wants to help them grow in. In that sense, Invite Tools aren’t just marketing tools, they may be Spiritual Formation tools.
While the first two reasons for utilizing Invite Tools are more spiritually oriented, this last one is much more practical. Often Christmas Services are held at special times that may be different than your regular service times. As you know, most people don’t really ‘hear’ announcements the first time. They have to be reminded of information multiple times for it to really sink in.
Invite Tools are a tremendous tool to help you reinforce the gathering times you have around Christmas. Whether you are having additional services for Christmas or Christmas Eve – or if you are having fewer service the week of Christmas – you’ll have to work extra hard during December to communicate those changes.
Providing and talking about Invite Tools often will not highlight evangelism and empower people to invite their friends – but they will also remind THEM of your service times and will give your members the best opportunity to attend your Christmas Services themselves.
While there are a variety of tools you can put in the hands of your people, here are 3 easy to implement options…
Invite Cards
Use something that stands out, such as Round Cards, Square Cards or Fold Over Cards. Keep them simple and it clear. Rather than promoting a new teaching series…just invite people to “Celebrate Christmas” with you. Make sure you mention your Service Times and your website URL.
Yard Signs
Distribute yard signs to your members, and ask them to put them in their front yards to help promote your service times and Christmas URL.
Social Share Images
Create a page on your website with perfectly sized images that can be downloaded by members and posted on their own social channels. Include Facebook Cover Image, Facebook post image, Instagram post image, and a Twitter post image. Make sure the images highlight your service times and URL.
For more ideas and tools to help you plan for Christmas Outreach, download our free Christmas Planning Tool: https://goo.gl/aZJLaT
