Closing the Back Door: It’s

Not about Numbers, It’s about PeopleEric Tuininga, Sales Manager at The City

Eric Tuininga

+ MA Communication Bethel University, St. Paul, MN

+ Sales Manager at The City by Zondervan

+ 6 years on staff with Young Life

+ 3 years on staff with Calvary Baptist Church

+ Favorite quote: “Kids don’t care how much you know

until they know how much you care.” –Jim Rayburn,

Founder of Young Life

+ Twitter: @2ninga

Special Thanks To:

•The Austin Stone- Austin, TX

•Seacoast- Charleston, SC

•Salem Chapel- Winston-Salem, NC

•Community Church- Guthrie, OK

•Westside Church- Vancouver, BC

•Celebration Center- North Bend, OR

•and many others

onthecity.org

It’s not about numbers…

…It’s about people

onthecity.org

Close the back door…

…by opening the front door

onthecity.org

Assimilation:-assimilated, assimilating

1. To take into the mind and

thoroughly comprehend

2. To absorb into the culture or

mores of a group

3. Giving people the best

opportunity to get connected.-Ryan Yep, The Austin Stone

onthecity.org

Check out Maurilio Amorim of the A-Group’s blog at

http://ht.ly.4CbPe

onthecity.org

Begin with the end in mind.

•What’s the point of your assimilation process?

•How do you know when it’s over?

onthecity.org

Major Steps

1. On-boarding (capture information)

2. Assign to an individual to follow-up

3. Reach Out

4. Invite

5. Inform

6. Involve

onthecity.org

On-boardingUse many methods for connecting:

•Greeters

•Ushers

•Welcome Center

•Connect Desk

•Connect Cards

•The City Kiosk

•Children’s Ministry

•Other Technology (Facebook,

Twitter, website, wufoo)

onthecity.org

On-boarding

The members of the church are also

part of the connection process.

onthecity.org

On-boarding

Have a plan for the information.

•Who gets it?

•Where does it get stored?

•Who has access to it later?

onthecity.org

onthecity.org

Assign to an individual for

follow-up

What are the characteristics of this person?

•Passionate about the church

•Outgoing/warm

•Reliable

onthecity.org

Assign to an individual for

follow-up

Equip them to follow up:

•Tools

•Training

•Clear understanding of expectations

Reach Out

•Phone call

•Email

•Message on The City

•Personal visit

•Cookie Brigade

onthecity.org

Reach Out

This is personal.

It is about getting to know the

individual, not trying to add

another person to the

membership roll.

onthecity.org

InviteWhat would a new person be

interested in?

•Informational Session

•Concert/Event

•Small Group

•Service Group

onthecity.org

Inform

•What are the next steps with the church?

•Are informational sessions available?

•How do they connect to service

opportunities?

•How do they connect to small groups?

•What might they be interested in based

on what you learned about them?

onthecity.org

Inform

Informational Sessions- membership is a

huge hurdle for some, make it easy.

Clear Next Steps-

Salem Chapel: 1. The City 2. Small Group

3. Service Group

Seacoast: 1. The City 2. Newcomers

welcome reception (high information, low

commitment)

onthecity.org

Inform

How can individuals discover on their

own?

•The City

•Website

•Facebook

•YouTube

onthecity.org

Involve

It’s all about community

onthecity.org

Involve

It’s all about community

•Small Groups

•Service Groups

onthecity.org

How does The City help

with assimilation?

onthecity.org

Brought to you by

Closing the Back Door: It’s Not about Numbers, It’s about People

with Eric Tuininga

Visit us at onthecity.org