Do you want a congregation filled with people who routinely invite others to church? Who doesn’t? Veteran church growth pastor and author Elizabeth Geitz explains what she means by motivation and invitation as she outlines a program that had her adding dozens of new families to her church every year.Elizabeth is the author of six books, including Entertaining Angels and Fireweed Evangelism that are two of the best books out about practical hospitality. She knows how to grow a congregation. When she gives advice, I listen.
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The Synopsis
I was immediately drawn to Elizabeth when I found her book, Fireweed Evangelism. In it she gives practical advice about how churches can establish and jump-start their hospitality ministries. She has a real gift at being able to communicate these important ideas to pastors like me. That’s why I wanted to sit down and do a 1 hour interview with her. And boy was it worth it. I have a couple of ideas I am going to take right away to my hospitality team. Here are my notes from the interview:
Motivation and Invitation
Elizabeth says that motivation and invitation are the key concepts to helping a congregation get back in the game. Elizabeth is convinced that once Christians identify their motivation for spreading the Gospel the will be more inclined to invite people to church.
Welcoming Prayer and Friendship Tablet
Elizabeth points us to The Welcoming Prayer, which she believes congregations need to incorporate into the regular live of their community. Elizabeth also explains what a Friendship Tablet is – when she brought it up I was skeptical – but after she explained it, I’m going to suggest we start using these in my church.
Holding Onto Visitors
This is a huge problem for many of us, and Elizabeth says we need to set the clock for one year – and that if we don’t have people plugged in by then, we’ll probably lose them.
About Elizabeth Geitz
A gifted author and keynote speaker, Liz has a passion for the Gospel. In addition to her books, she writes a regular newspaper column and blog. You can learn more at www.elizabethgeitz.com
Books Elizabeth Recommends
Magnetic Church – Herb Miller
Evangelism in the African American Community - Louis Jones
The Hispanic Challenge – Emmauel Ortiz
Radical Welcome – Stephanie Spellers
Sponsors I Mentioned
Church Post – If you are looking to improve your church’s communications you’ve got to check out this great email platform. I’ve found it easy-to-use, reliable, and John, Debra and Kim are great to work with.
Wistia – If you’re still hosting your videos at YouTube or another ‘free’ video sharing site you know the drawbacks. Wistia helps me put out great looking videos and see who’s watching for how long. The Wistia staff is easy to work with and very professional.
