The Church Guest Follow-Up Checklist: What to Do

Most Christians don't actually believe people matter.

We say they do. And we'll get very passionate if someone argues against that premise.

But what I've observed is that when Christians say, “people matter,” what we often mean is people who are connected to us matter.

We collect information from people and then do absolutely nothing with it while hoping they'll do something with the information we gave them.

Generally, we don't prioritize following up.

I also want you to understand something: this is something I've had to grow in myself.

When I was the lead pastor of a small church, I honestly very rarely followed up with new people.

Why?

Because I was dealing with flooding in the church basement, climbing onto the church's steel roof during a thunderstorm trying to figure out where water was getting in around the HVAC unit and leaking into the men's washroom, trying to get ahead on a sermon so I could actually enjoy vacation, or dealing with the seemingly endless list of things that needed to happen when I was basically doing everything myself.

Sound familiar?

The issue wasn't that I didn't care.

The issue was that caring about something and having a system that makes sure it actually gets done are not the same thing. And apparently, that's not just my experience.

Faith Perceptions studied 1,341 first-time church guests between October 2015 and September 2016. Of those guests, 504 voluntarily gave the church their contact information.

Only 119—24%—heard anything from the church within the following 30 days.

Their conclusion was pretty direct:

“The worst kind of church follow-up is no follow-up at all.”

That's a problem.

When Somebody Actually Called

At another church, I became the primary person responsible for contacting new people.

This church had a very different problem initially.

Someone new would show up on Sunday and they were front-loaded with emails and texts. Over roughly the next 40 days, they'd receive somewhere around 16 automated points of contact, with one major exception:

A phone call.

Someone visited Sunday, and my job was to call them by Thursday at the latest.

I had a generic script when I left voicemail. And to be completely candid, I couldn't pronounce half the names people wrote down, so I learned pretty quickly to keep my voicemail greeting general rather than becoming that guy.

But here's what stood out:

When I actually got someone on the phone and talked to them, I usually saw them again.

So I started asking questions of the people we saw again. One woman told me something I've never forgotten:

“We visited like five churches in town and you were the only one to call me. A different one sent a postcard.”

I was shocked.

And that began my own journey of asking what churches should actually be doing after someone visits.

I'm going to be totally candid about why I care about this.

I don't believe Jesus called us simply to make converts. He called us to make disciples.

Maybe you think I'm splitting hairs there. In my experience, I'm not, because that distinction changes what you believe happens after someone walks through the door.

I don't presume I know everything. These are my convictions after years of ministry, mistakes, conversations and learning. If you disagree with parts of it, that's completely fine.

Just know my heart:

I want to see people come to know Jesus in a very real way—and I don't want them falling through the cracks.

There Are Really Four Things You Need

A guest follow-up system doesn't need to be complicated.

You need a way to get their information.

You need somebody responsible for processing it.

You need somebody responsible for following up.

And you need an actual schedule for when follow-up happens.

1. Get Their Contact Information

I know.

Shocker.

Probably the most revolutionary part of this entire article:

You need someone's contact information in order to contact them.

And this is where churches somehow manage to make things weird.

They ask for their life story in checkboxes.

How many kids do you have? What are their ages?

What ministries are you interested in?

What's your spiritual background?

What's your blood type?

Maybe not that last one—but you have to wonder…

Here's what I think a Connect Card actually needs:

Name. Email. Phone. Anything we should know?

That's basically it.

Even outside church ministry, good information practices increasingly emphasize collecting only what you actually need. The Government of Canada's privacy guidance, for example, recommends collecting information directly connected to the purpose and “the least amount required” to accomplish it. Like or hate the government, we need to be wise, including from a privacy standpoint, regarding the information we ask for. (Canada)

Church Journey is built around the same idea. You don't need someone's entire household structure, serving interests and life history before you've even had a conversation with them.

You need enough information to begin a relationship.

Want to learn about their family?

Here's a really cool way to do that without being weird:

Talk to them.

Crazy, I know.

If they tell you they've just moved into town, ask what brought them there.

You get the idea.

McKinsey found something similar while studying customer experience in world-class hotels: information can help people provide personalized care, but that personalization must never become intrusive. (McKinsey & Company)

There is a major difference between: “I remembered what you told me,” and “I have assembled a disturbing database about your existence.”

Relationship first. Database second. Why? People matter.

2. Assign Someone to Process the Information

In the technical age, a lot of this can be automated.

That's one of the reasons we built Church Journey's Connect Card.

If somebody completes a digital form, you've eliminated the step where someone has to decipher handwriting and enter it manually afterward.

But you still need a strategy.

Maybe you have tablets in the foyer, or QR codes on tables, pews or chairs.

Maybe you use physical cards and somebody enters those cards after the service.

Maybe you use a combination.

Know your strategy and establish accountability so it actually gets done.

Faith Perceptions found that this is one of the places churches break down. In conversations with church leaders, they found confusion over who should follow up and when, and even churches with a process often lacked accountability to ensure the process was actually happening. (Outreach Magazine)

Again:

It's not always that churches don't care.

Sometimes everybody cares.

But nobody owns it.

Thinking something matters and acting on it—those aren't the same thing.

3. Assign Someone to Follow Up

Honestly, maybe someone else in the church is much better at this than you are.

Great. Use them!

That's not a weakness. That's the body of Christ.

But someone has to own it.

Things that aren't assigned don't get done.

I've watched church boards deal with multi-thousand-dollar issues that remained unresolved because nobody was actually responsible.

All I'm talking about is a two- or three-minute phone call.

Now, depending on the person, that two-minute phone call could become an hour. Welcome to ministry.

The point is that you planned for it.

Importantly, this is why Church Journey has reporting around follow-up tasks.

If 100 guests entered your church and nobody completed the follow-up tasks, that's information you need to know.

Wouldn't it be great to celebrate the fact that we're actually connecting and following up with people, and honour the person who did the follow-up, rather than feeling bad because we forgot to?

4. Schedule It

Your calendar matters. Use it.

Scheduling something does not make it less relational; it makes it intentional.

We schedule the things we don't want busyness to erase. And again, the research strongly suggests that simply allowing guest follow-up to sit indefinitely is a bad idea.

The Lewis Center for Church Leadership describes effective guest follow-up with three wonderfully simple words:

“prompt, personal, and pleasant.” (Lewis Center for Church Leadership)

Prompt does not mean desperate.

Personal doesn't mean invasive.

Pleasant doesn't mean pretending you've been lifelong friends.

It means:

You came. We noticed. We're glad you were here.

Interestingly, the same general rhythm exists outside the church.

BNI founder Ivan Misner teaches a “24/7/30” relationship-follow-up model: acknowledge someone within 24 hours, reconnect during the first week, and create another meaningful relational opportunity within 30 days.

And I particularly like his warning:

“Don't make it a sales call.” (BNI)

Exactly.

We're not selling Jesus.

We're not turning church guests into leads.

We're recognizing a transferable truth:

Relationships generally don't grow when one person reaches out and the other person disappears for a month.

So here's how I would approach church guest follow-up.

The First 24 Hours: Acknowledge Them

Don't overwhelm them.

Don't send five emails, three texts, the giving page, the ministry directory and a spiritual gifts assessment.

Just acknowledge them.

If somebody voluntarily gave you their contact information, no one should have to wonder whether it was received, looked at, and acted upon.

A short text or email can simply say:

“Thanks for joining us yesterday. We're glad you were there. Someone from our team will give you a call in the next few days. If there's anything you need before then, just let us know.”

Internally, this is also when ownership should be clear.

Who is following up? When?

Is there something important they wrote on the card that needs attention?

The system should answer those questions.

Days 2–7: Actually Talk to Them

This is where I strongly prefer a phone call—not because everybody loves phone calls; a lot of people will think you're a scammer—but because actual conversation lets ministry happen.

My basic script is incredibly complicated:

“Hey, I'm Pastor Steve from ___ Church. I was just calling to thank you for joining us and see if you had any questions about the church?”

That's it.

Then have a conversation.

If they mention something from the service, ask about it.

If they shared a prayer request, talk about it.

Maybe they ask about Alpha. Great.

Maybe they say, “Everything was great, thanks for calling.”

Also great.

Don't force a next step simply because your database has an empty field.

And when the conversation is finished? Record what happened.

Not every detail of their existence but enough so the next person caring for them doesn't begin at zero.

Days 8–30: Open Doors, Don't Chase People Through Them

The first contact is not the finish line.

But neither should guest follow-up become church stalking.

The Lewis Center specifically warns churches to navigate the difference between good follow-up and making people feel pursued. (Lewis Center for Church Leadership)

This stage should be based on what you've actually learned.

Maybe they're interested in a newcomers lunch or they want to meet the pastor.

Offer the next appropriate step.

Not every possible step.

What if they aren't responding?

At some point, stop. There isn't a magical biblical rule that says “three attempts and you're done.”

Use wisdom.

After a small number of kind, unanswered contacts, leave the door open rather than increasing the pressure.

How Church Journey Handles This

Church Journey was built around a pretty simple conviction:

Automate what should be automated. Keep human what should be human.

A Church Journey Connect Card adds the guest to New Guest and creates a Welcome Call due in three days. Someone on the team takes responsibility and makes the call.

Afterward, you record a Touchpoint—what happened, what mattered, anything that should be remembered.

If another step is needed, create it.

For example, you ask if the children's ministry leader can call their kids just to say hi—because what kid doesn't like being the one who gets a phone call?

You say:

“Would you mind if our children's leader called? You could put it on speakerphone for like three minutes so they can connect with your kid in this same kind of way, or invite them to ___ program.”

Those calls are often much shorter, more one-sided and possibly awkward, but do you know how much that can mean to parents and the kid when someone actually calls for that reason?

Small things like that can have tremendous impact.

You do whatever actually makes sense.

If nothing else is needed, complete the Welcome Call.

Church Journey does not automatically decide someone is “Connected” because somebody checked off a phone call.

A church leader intentionally decides when their journey has changed.

Because a person is not a workflow. The workflow serves the person.

A Church Guest Follow-Up Checklist

Here's the practical version. Steal it.

• Before Sunday: Decide how guests will identify themselves, who processes the information, and who owns follow-up.
• Within 24 hours: Acknowledge the guest. Confirm internally who is responsible. Review anything they voluntarily shared that may require attention.
• Within 2–4 days: Make a personal contact. Preferably talk. Thank them. Ask whether they have questions. Respond naturally to anything they shared.
• After every meaningful contact: Record the touchpoint. Don't make another leader rediscover the same information.
• During the first week: Offer one appropriate invitation or next step if one naturally exists.
• During days 8–30: Follow up according to the relationship rather than a generic marketing sequence. Pay attention if they return. Help them take the next appropriate step.
• If they don't respond: Don't chase forever. Leave the door open and stop escalating contact.
• Always: Know who owns the next action—or intentionally decide that no action is needed.

Seriously.

It's not complicated, but it does require intentionality.

Someone raised their hand and identified themselves. Don't let them fall through the cracks.

People actually matter.

Let's build our ministries like we believe it.