Church Growth/Leadership Development

Everyone wants their churches, their ministries to grow--in numbers and in maturity. So what is your church doing to have this growth? Ask yourself these questions:
  1. Do you members understand the need and value of growth?
  2. Is your church willing and ready to grow?
  3. How healthy is your existing church/ministries leadership/membership?
  4. Do your members know how to grow? Have they had the proper training? From where? How are you sustaining the training? 
  5. Do you church/ministry members know how to build a team,  find volunteers and not get discouraged doing it? 
  6. How are you members caring for others in the church?
  7. As a leader/pastor, how and what are you doing to be trained?
  8. What ways to you measure growth? 
  9. What methods are you using to communicate growth?
  10. How do you keep from wearing out and burning out?
  11. What does real church community look like?
  12. Have your church members taken a Spiritual gift test? Do they know their gifts and how to use them within the church?
  13. Have you as a leader/pastor done anything to help members find their place to serve? 
  14. Along the lines of greeting..does your church know that people will decided within the first 5 minutes of whether they will return to your church?  Do they know your website, your church grounds, how they are greeted affects this decision? 

Bring Kris in to do an evaluation of your existing leadership and offer suggestions on the next step, whether it's a leadership training seminar or short/long term consultant training.
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What do people first notice when they come to your church? What would they say they remember most? What leads them to come back? 
 
Who doesn’t want their church to be warm and welcoming to a guest? Everyone wants their churches to grow not only in size but in the personal growth of each member. Perhaps you want to know how to build your church one person at a time. So where do you begin? How do you start? 
 
Initial Evaluation 
In order to know what is needed to start making the necessary changes at your church, you need to evaluate where you are now. See below for the process. You can do some of it on your own…or you can invite Kris Swiatocho to help.  Here’s the general process she (or you) can use:
 
Survey: You can purchase our survey with over 300 questions on every area of your church. Evaluate where your church is on your own and make steps for change. See a sample of the questions here.      

Secret Church Shopping: Bring Kris Swiatocho in to secretly visit and evaluate how warm and friendly your church is. From your website to your signs, to how she is greeted, to the layout of your church, to marketing and follow-up, Kris will provide a detailed report covering every area…including pictures if needed. This report will also include your next steps and recommendation of order.   

Greeter/Usher Training: From the parking lot to the pew and back again, proper and consistent greeting is critical to becoming a warm and welcoming church. Are your current greeters your ushers? Do your greeters represent your churches demographics? Do you have enough greeters and ushers? Do they look at their role as a ministry? Do you know your greeters/ushers can actually build relationship with visitors? Bring Kris in for a one-time or multiple-training event. You can also purchase training materials to do your own training day.  

Article by Thom Rainer on Top 10 Ways Churches Drive Away First-Time Guest.  

Marketing Your Church: How does your website look? Did you know that your website is the first place most folks will go when looking for a new church? What about your church brochure? Your bulletin? Your logo? How does your church come across to those from the outside?  Kris can help with everything from design to implementation of a marketing plan. To see Kris' portfolio, click here.
Top 5 Things That Drive People Away From Church
What happens outside our sanctuaries is just as important as what happen inside. Consistency with image, facilities, parking, marketing, signage, volunteers, etc…is critical. What would first time guest say about your church? Would they feel welcome? Would they feel safe? Would they come back? What would they tell others about you?  Here are the top 5 of numerous things that drive people away from your church.

1.  They don't feel like they belong.
2.  Safety issues regarding their children. 
3.  Lack of proper greeting; not sure who was on staff or not. 
4.  No welcome center/desk, map's or other directional information including a way to get a hold of someone on Sunday morning by phone.
5.   Horrible parking with no signage.
You will benefit from spending time with Kris for your ministry and for you, personally. She is in tune with Single Adults and the leadership in the local church. Appreciate her faithfulness to the call God has on her life.
—Eileen Mitchell, Family Ministry, Ala Baptist State Board of Missions
Each Sunday morning every church in America gets an opportunity to make a “first impression” on the visitors that come through their doors. People either find them to be friendly and warm or they don’t. It’s a one-shot deal that cannot be recaptured, no second chances.

Most of us think we are doing a good job and spend very little time actually evaluating one of the most important things that happens on Sunday mornings.

We were a church that thought we were doing a pretty good job until I asked Kris to come be a “secret shopper” and evaluate what we were doing. She was given the freedom to evaluate everything: our greeters, signs, parking, worship experience, restrooms, etc. She then reported back to us what we were doing well (there was a lot), but also what we needed to improve on (there was a lot more than we could have imagined). Kris met with our church leadership and gave a very honest, yet encouraging, report filled with the unique humor that only she can provide. We were both encouraged and challenged to make the “first impression” a higher priority at our church.

If your church is serious about getting visitors to come back, then I encourage you to invite Kris to be a “secret shopper’ at your church.

--Pastor Freddy Johnson, North Point Church, Columbia, SC

Creative Small Groups/Sunday School Training

Each Sunday morning every church in America gets an opportunity to make a “first impression” on the visitors that come through their doors. People either find them to be friendly and warm or they don’t. It’s a one-shot deal that cannot be recaptured, no second chances.

Most of us think we are doing a good job and spend very little time actually evaluating one of the most important things that happens on Sunday mornings.

We were a church that thought we were doing a pretty good job until I asked Kris to come be a “secret shopper” and evaluate what we were doing. She was given the freedom to evaluate everything: our greeters, signs, parking, worship experience, restrooms, etc. She then reported back to us what we were doing well (there was a lot), but also what we needed to improve on (there was a lot more than we could have imagined). Kris met with our church leadership and gave a very honest, yet encouraging, report filled with the unique humor that only she can provide. We were both encouraged and challenged to make the “first impression” a higher priority at our church.

If your church is serious about getting visitors to come back, then I encourage you to invite Kris to be a “secret shopper’ at your church.

--Pastor Freddy Johnson, North Point Church, Columbia, SCSunday school and small groups can sometimes become generic. People come and go and we aren't sure why. No matter what you do there seems to be a lack of commitment or growth individually. 


So, do you want your classes to grow? Do you want to be the church known for dynamic Sunday school and/or small groups?  Do you want your members to belong? 


Bring Kris in to evaluate your Sunday school program and small groups and help them go the next level.

She will observe:
•Location of the room/meeting place
•Present methods of reaching people, connecting, keeping people
•Present methods of marketing
•Present methods of follow-up
•Purpose/goals of the class; including organization
•Teaching style
•Class environment
•Present leadership of the class/structure such as greeters, care groups, prayer, social, etc.
•Problems/Issues in the class and offer concrete suggestions for improvement and change.   
 
Kris Swiatocho is available for consultation (one-time, short and long-term), training events, seminars and conferences. If there’s something not listed or if you would like some training customized to fit your style, feel free to contact Kris at 919.434.3611 or email at swiatocho@gmail.com.

Check out these great resources:

300 plus questions to ask to see how warm and welcoming your church really is. 
Icebreaker, Skits and Games for your ministries.
Walk the Line Bible study for all adults. 
Leaders That Last 6-week Training curriculum. 
FAQs of Singles Ministry Leadership Book.