Let me tell you something that gets me fired up — that moment when a first-time visitor's tires hit your church parking lot. Right there, your opportunity begins! My job starts when their tires hit the pavement, and yours does too.

As ministry leaders, we all know that promise in Matthew where Jesus says He'll build His church. Amen to that! But here's the question on my heart: how do we effectively steward the growth God sends our way?

Look, there are no off-seasons in church ministry. But when God sends a wave, we want to have processes in place to ride it as long as we can. And let me be clear — I'm not talking about manufactured momentum. I'm talking about being ready when God moves!

The Problem of Complexity

Think about your church for a minute. I don't know what you have going on at your church, but sometimes the path to full engagement gets quite cloudy for visitors.

Just look at what we've had here at Lancaster Baptist Church over the years:

• Church planners conferences
• Emerging leaders programs
• Bus routes
• Easter productions
• Connection groups
• Ladies Bible studies
• Core classes
• Team camps
• Cactus Kids programs

Just to name a few - the list goes on and on. I could keep you here all day naming programs!

When organizations grow, they tend to become more complex. But here's a truth I want you to grab hold of: Simplicity is the friend of growth. Complexity is the enemy of growth.

For a first-time visitor who's already stepping out of their comfort zone, this maze of programs is overwhelming. Let me revisit with you what it feels like to walk on a church campus for the very first time. They're asking basic questions like "Where do I park?" and "Is there room for me here?" At the same time we're announcing fifteen different ministry opportunities they don't understand!

A Clear Discipleship Path

Let me ask you a few questions that might make you think. 

• Can your church make disciples out of teenagers in your community without a youth program?
• Can your church have a worldwide missions impact without having a missions conference?
• Can your church help couples grow in their love for God and one another without a couple's retreat? 

I think the answer could be yes to all of these!

Don't get nervous — I'm not suggesting we cancel all these programs! But ponder with me: how does a teenager or a young adult or a couple really become a disciple of Jesus Christ?

If we're not careful as church leaders, we get so bombarded by programs that we miss what we're actually there for — to help visitors become fully committed followers of Jesus Christ.

So what is a discipleship path? 

1. It's a ministry strategy that identifies a singular pathway toward full engagement.
2. It encourages people in their journey of following Christ by offering a series of clear next steps.

Assimilation is the Spirit-led process of welcoming people to take steps towards becoming a fully engaged follower of Jesus. 

At Lancaster Baptist Church, we've identified this path to five essential steps:

1. Worship
2. Community
3. Commitment
4. Service
5. Outreach

Rather than bombarding visitors with programs, we focus on moving them through these five stages of spiritual development. It's like IKEA — they're incredibly intentional about taking people through their stores. 

You don't have to think about whether the rug matches the lamps and the couch. They've already done all that thinking for you! Just like IKEA guides you seamlessly from entrance to checkout, we want to guide visitors clearly from first contact to full involvement.

Step 1: Worship

Creating an Exceptional First Experience

We have a welcoming God who loves everybody. He came to seek and to save. He's not willing that any should perish. Shouldn't our churches reflect that welcoming nature? A healthy church is intentional about creating a welcoming environment where visitors immediately sense: there is room for me here. In my mind, I can't separate first impressions from the assimilation process. They go hand in hand.

Let me take you on a little journey to Buc-ee's. Have you ever been to Buc-ee's? I went for the first time back in April 2024 when I was in Texas. What I love about Buc-ee's is their goal: two words — "exceed expectation." That's exactly what we should be doing with our first-time guests!

When visitors arrive, they're already forming impressions that will determine whether they'll return. In fact, within the first 6-7 minutes, most have decided if they'll come back. That's why we say: The sermon starts before people ever enter the worship center.

Actionable Steps to a Welcoming Atmosphere

1. Create a user-friendly website as many start their journey there

Start with your website. Have a friendly, easy-to-navigate site.

2. Enlist and Train godly volunteers who think like guests and arrive early looking for visitors

These aren't just greeters — they're the front-line of your ministry!

3. Provide clear signage from the street to the seat

Do some of the thinking ahead of your visitor. They're pulling onto your campus thinking, "Where do I park?" Have signage that guides them every step of the way.

4. Exceed Expectation: Service is in black and white; hospitality is in color
   • Service gets the job done with efficiency and competency.
   • Hospitality makes a memorable experience and helps people feel connected.

Most people won't remember what you say, but they will remember if they felt welcome and comfortable. The Guest Experience Team should look for simple ways to exceed the visitors expectation  Maybe that is by having a greeting tent by your front entrance with chilled water bottles and donuts OR walking visitors to the right place of worship / children’s classes. Go above and beyond. 

5. Capture visitor information through an intentional process
   • We use connection cards and train our team not to joke around with these cards.
   • This is the lifeblood of your assimilation process.
   • Make sure to not capture this information more than once. If they registered their children with the children’s ministry, don’t stop them in your worship center lobby and ask for the same information again - they already didn’t want to give it to you the first time. 

To view the visitor card we use here at Lancaster Baptist Church, click here. 

6. Plan the last impression as carefully as the first

That walk from the building to the car matters just as much. 

We must remember that God does not have to send us visitors to our church. Periodically, we train our first impressions team that these are not guests — these are God's gifts to us. We must intentionally steward these gifts by creating an atmosphere where individuals feel loved and connected. Allow me to ask, why would God send more visitors if we're not ready to steward what He's already given us? I truly believe that God sees the back end of the preparation, and He'll send the wave your way.

A Basic Overview of the Follow-Up Process 

You've put your best foot forward, you've exceeded expectations, and now you have these connection cards. What's next?

Here's a fundamental truth I want you to capture: Follow-up is not a one time event but an ongoing process. 

A first-time visitor is more of a suspect than a prospect, but if the visitor returns a second time, that's a prospect! We want to leave the door open for follow-up and turn that one-time visit into a connection.

1. Collect the data through connection cards
   • Remember these aren't just data points—these people will go to heaven or they will go to hell. These connection cards are gold - steward intentionally.
   • Even minimal information (just a name and email) is useful, though I would rather have more info such as their number & address - steward what you have been given.
2. Organize the data in a systematic way
   • We use weekly stat sheets to track visitors, salvations, baptisms, etc.
   • Every single week, we're finding out: how did we do? Who all was here OR returning?
   • Maintain a database to follow each person's progress. This could be something as simple as an excel spreadsheet or a sophisticated online database.
   • You need a repeatable system that tracks your visitors over time.
3. Train and equip stewards for follow-up
   • People are already busy enough. Think ahead of your steward!
   • Equip them with small gifts for visits. Don't show up to someone's house with an empty hand. Don't make that awkward!
   • Match visitors with members in similar life stages.

Step 2: Community

In our digitally connected age we are yet an increasingly isolated society. Genuine community is more important than ever. Let me say this clearly: Connectivity does not mean community. We are more connected than ever, but we're also more lonely than ever.

Community can be messy, let me tell you! It's not our common education, race, income levels, politics, nationality, accents, or jobs that bring people together in your church. It's the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Think of the diverse group in Acts 16: an upscale businesswoman, a slave girl with a troubled past, and a tough jailer with his family, all united by Christ. And I hope it's the same way in your church — a lot of different people, different backgrounds, different stories.

Church is a place of belonging. It's about bringing people together, hauling their brokenness and their baggage into our houses and dumping it into the living room, and us as spiritual leaders helping them put it back together.

Building Community

1. Enroll every visitor in a life-stage appropriate class
   • All of you are no doubt connecting-type leaders: "Oh, this person works at Northrop? Come over here and meet John!" "Oh, this person works at Chick-fil-A? Come over here and meet Emily!"
   • Always be thinking about who in your church needs to connect with someone with the same interest .

Someone once said that a person has to make seven friendships in your church before they start feeling connected. 

2. Create environments of acceptance, availability, and accountability

• Acceptance: Everyone needs a place to grow and be loved.
• Availability: "The pastor's not always available for these types of questions, but we are!"
• Accountability: "Hey, where were you last week? We had all-you-can-eat pancakes! You should come this Sunday."

Step 3: Commitment

Your charisma and sermons alone will not keep people. John 15:16 expresses the desire we all share — to have fruit that remains. In Acts 2:42, we read that early believers "continued steadfastly."

It is wise to frequently pull over and actually find out who is coming to your church. I did this study just recently with our children's director, David Kim. I said, "David, I want you to get the attendance for August, and I want you to see every single kid that came to all of your classes." When we compared it to the average weekly attendance, that number almost doubled! His children's ministry isn't what it was on an average Sunday, but for the month, it was quite larger.

Pull over frequently — that's why that database is so important. You need to know who is coming, who's on your list? who is active for your next baptism Sunday?

Fostering Commitment

1. Clear paths to baptism
   • As we're following up with people, we're finding out: "Do you have a church background? Are you saved? Have you been baptized?"
   • Do your people know the process of baptism?
2. Membership classes
   • We call ours "CORE" — bringing people into the core of our church.

Think of these like a map of a resort. When you check in at a hotel, they say, "The pool's over here, the spa's over here, the gym's over here."

It's an opportunity to get to know the pastor, the doctrine, when we began, the future of the church

3. Discipleship opportunities
   • I truly believe that life transformation takes place in classrooms when people get engaged with the Word of God
   • Focus on application, not just information — we're not striving for information, we're striving for application

Step 4: Service

Every saint should be a servant. As people grow through discipleship, they naturally flow into service. Be careful with who you throw into ministry too fast, though. Service oftentimes flows through discipleship.

You know, there are people in your church right now that would love to take something off your plate, and I promise there's something on your plate right now that you would love to get rid of! We all have things we're bogged down with, but you do not have to brew the coffee. Get a volunteer involved with that. You do not have to be the person that restocks these connect cards on Saturday night. 

Engaging Members in Service

1. Connect discipleship to ministry opportunities
   • Lesson 10 of our Continue program deals with spiritual gifts
   • We have a spiritual gifts test that helps place people in the right ministry.
   • We like to say this around here: "Every saint a servant."

For more information about our Continue discipleship program and spiritual gifts test, click here. 

2. Create clear on-ramps to service
   • Make it easy for members to discover where they can serve.
   • Provide training and mentoring for new servants.

Step 5: Outreach

Here is the goal of the discipleship path. It is incredible when a visitor gets saved, grabs hold of worship, community, commitment, service, and now outreach, where they're going soul winning for the first time in maybe a place where they used to struggle with addictions. And now they're going door to door telling people about Jesus. It's pretty awesome!

Implementing Your Assimilation Process

Does every person take these steps in order? No! But the goal is not just to take orderly steps. The goal is to see individuals in love and committed to the Lord Jesus Christ. The discipleship path isn't just a nice idea—it's a ministry strategy that identifies a singular path toward full engagement and encourages people in their journey of following Christ by offering a series of clear next steps.

When we create simple, intentional processes for moving people from their first visit to full engagement, we honor God by being good stewards of the growth He sends our way.

Let me leave you with three practical applications:

1. Simplify Your Process

Oftentimes, we can look at a lesson like this and think of 15 or 20 different things we need to correct or change. But just start somewhere! You might think, "I don't even have maybe four of these things in line." That's okay.

Focus on incremental improvements. One size does not fit all — what we do might not work for you. Remember, processes don't go to heaven. People do! But processes are important to have in place to ensure that every gift from God gets followed up on.

Write out your process. Simplify!

2. Enlist Team Members

I love to hike. The Pacific Crest Trail runs about an hour and a half to the south of us here. It's beautiful. And that trail is 2,650 miles long. How many people work to keep this trail clear? It's actually only a few full-time members, but they enlist 1,591 citizens known as volunteers to help them with the work.

Don't do it all by yourself! Enlist team members!

3. Have Faith in God

Find a few of these processes that will work for you. It takes a while for good ideas to get rooted into your church, but have faith in God.

Do you have a plan for that visitor who will show up to your church this Sunday? If you have faith that God can do that, I promise you, you'll have visitors this coming Sunday or sometime soon.