At our church this week we got to watch our children participate in a Nativity play. It was organized and directed by some truly top notch volunteers for whom I am so grateful. As I was watching, it occurred to me that within this artistic telling of how people welcomed Jesus into the world, there are helpful insights for how we welcome newcomers into church life. I am going to share a few ideas and would be glad to hear yours, too.
A Role for People in Every Stage of Maturity
Have you ever considered the pathways to involvement for newcomers to your church? Are these clearly communicated and obvious? Are they structured in a way that is accessible and inclusive?
In a Nativity play, we use not only highly skilled volunteers or performers, but we include roles for everyone down to infants. (Often including a baby Jesus performance from someone’s newborn!) My son, who is currently three, played a sheep along with a few of his friends. Slightly older kids had roles with a handful of lines. Some older kids who had demonstrated an interest and willingness to learn harder lines and had more robust parts were given key roles like Mary or Joseph or Herod. Appropriate roles are thoughtfully assigned to appropriate people in a way that lets everyone be involved.
In church life, we have established members whom we trust to take on key roles and more prominent, visible parts of what we do. But even a completely new person needs some way to get started.
A few years ago I heard my friend Dr. David Srygley make a presentation about integrating new people to your congregation and he used a ladder as a conceptual model. His premise is that for every ministry at your church, you should have at least three categories of involvement for volunteers.
If a person at your church ever raises their hand and expresses a desire to get involved, you must do your best to say ‘Yes!’ But not all people have the same levels of skill or maturity, and much like a good Nativity play, you want to be sure there are appropriate, intentional ways of involving people. There are at least three categories of people you should consider as you craft various possibilities of involvement.
- Seekers and New Christians. If a non-Christian has been visiting your church and they say, “I like your youth ministry program. How can I get more involved?” You absolutely do want to have some way that they can help. They may not be ready to be the go-to person for a ministry or the main teacher of a group, but there are many ways to volunteer in most ministries beyond just the lead roles. Could they help with event coordination? Could they host a gathering? Could they help with registration or games at an event?
- Committed Christians. There are other people who are not yet ready, perhaps, to lead a ministry, but who have made a commitment to Christ, and who have demonstrated good character, worthy of being trusted with greater responsibilities. What does a next level volunteer look like? In a youth context, perhaps someone you’d let teach a class for a quarter or speak at an event. Maybe someone you’d use to be a breakout group leader.
- Seasoned Christian Leaders. Some people have demonstrated the commitment to Christ and to church, as well as the gifts necessary for leading others. These are the people you can trust with high levels of authority, decision making, confidentiality, etc. These are likely the ones you have leading a specific ministry, overseeing volunteers of their own.
A Nativity play provides appropriate spaces so that all can have an appropriate opportunity to help. We should make this typical of all aspects of church life.
A Role for People of Varied Skills
Consider all the people involved in the production of a play.
- Actors on the stage
- Narrators off the stage
- Directors
- Assistants making sure people get where they need to be
- Audio-Visual specialists
- Set and prop creators
- Costume designers and planners
- Script writers
- Musical coordinators
It’s a good embodiment of the Romans 12/I Corinthians 12 passages about how the Church is a body and all parts are important. It’s worth considering the various aptitudes of your members and beings sure there are spaces where they can utilize their gifts appropriately for the building up of the Body or for the welcoming of outsiders, all to the glory of God.
Appropriate People Hear The News
Consider the Nativity Story itself. Think of all the people involved, from Mary and Joseph and their angelic encounters to the Shepherds stuck working the late shift and their experience in the fields to the wise men from the East to Herod himself. The good news of Jesus’ birth spread quickly. People reacted to the news in different ways. Some celebrated. Others brought gifts. Herod, of course, tried to kill him. But just the same, the communication wasn’t lacking.
What are the ways in which you communicate with new people? These days, your digital presence is your front porch, and the primary basis of people’s first impression of your church. Is it easy to learn important information?
Who are the key people at your church that lead? What do they lead? How do you reach them?
What are the primary ministries of your church? What are your core beliefs?
Where should visitors go when they show up? What do you offer for children? How do they know their children will be secure?
Whatever it is that you want new people to do, the pathways to these actions should be as clear as possible, and anything that impedes or hinders them, you should refine or remove.
What are the typical things that visitors at your church inquire about? How could you address them more proactively and obviously?
All Centers Around Telling the Story
What is the point of Church if not to tell the story of Jesus? In new and creative ways, for new and changing cultures, again and again, it is the life, teachings, wondrous signs, death, and resurrection of Jesus that will continue to change people. For each of us who is a Christian, we are who we are because Jesus and his followers have impacted us meaningfully.
We show up from week to week for worship, we participate in smaller group settings, we volunteer our time and resources all in service of reminding ourselves of this life-changing, soul-saving message, and in passing it on to the next generation of those with ears to hear it.
It’s easy for Christians to shift into a consumerist mindset and to treat church as if it’s primarily a place to seek out getting our needs met. But the church only exists for the sake of the mission. It isn’t the Church who has a mission, but God’s mission who has a church. The question isn’t, “How much of the time am I getting what I want?” The question is, “How am I doing my part to help us share the story?”
Whether your role is typing, speaking, calling, texting, building, designing, cooking, running a sound board, or whatever else it might be, it takes all of us. And our love and unity in action is a sign of our authenticity.
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