ORGANIZATION

Making Connections Intentional
Gia Garey

Connecting our worship attenders into the life of the church and the body of Christ beyond the worship experience is critical, not only to spiritual growth but to building Christian community.

There are Scripture verses that speak to these very things—worship (Psalm 35:18), spiritual growth (Colossians 1:10), service (1 Timothy 1:12), and community (John 15:12-16). Without an intentional and organized process in place to connect people into church life, these spiritual disciplines are merely words on a page. It is necessary that faith be put into action.

So how do we go about making intentional connections that will allow our congregants to grow in faith and community outside of the worship arena?

Most churches have an information area that serves as a resource to its churchgoers. If not, that's a great place to start. With a lot of prayer and some organization, preparation, time, and teams, that information area becomes a place of hospitality and intentional churchwide connections.

Here's how to create your information center:

• Begin by organizing alphabetically an information binder that includes all program, service, and support opportunities in the church, such as adult Sunday school, ushers, divorce care, and so on. Then include general information for categories such as baptisms and membership. For each item listed in the index, provide the ministry area associated with it, a contact name, phone number, and e-mail address.
• Organize the rest of the binder by ministry area, such as adult Christian education, women's ministry, young adult ministry, singles, and so on. For each item in the index mentioned above, provide an informational paragraph with any details that would help a first-time attendee have a good understanding, and place it alphabetically under the ministry area heading. If a church Web site is available, the same information should be available there as well.
• Follow with additional administrative tools that will help capture the placement conversations held with incoming volunteers such as an interview sheet, referral sheet to be taken home by the congregant, and a log to keep conversations documented. Share this information by e-mail (so you have a record) with ministry areas that may be of interest.
• Finally, establish two critical teams—the Information Area Team (my church calls it the Connection Point Team) and the Ministry Connector Team. These teams are in partnership to care for and place people into the body of Christ.
  • The Information Area Team uses the ministry information binder to provide program, class, service, and support group opportunity information, as well as to answer general questions about the church. This team is made up of friendly people who have a heart for others and a vibrant spirit of hospitality. They serve before and after worship each weekend to capture the conversations that will connect people into church life beyond worship.
  • The Ministry Connection Team is part of every ministry area in the church (see Gia's article in the April 2007 issue for more information on ministry connectors.) While the Information Area Team has overall view of ministry opportunities, the Ministry Connectors can make the one-on-one connection. They have a heart for people and understand the minutia involved in their respective ministry areas. They seek to invite, screen, interview, place, train, and welcome those who have a desire to participate. Ministry Connectors are the key to the necessary follow-up that ultimately makes connections intentional.
• To ensure that people do not fall through the cracks, both teams serve to support a follow-up tracking and evaluation process that keeps the Connections Ministry efficient and effective.

Enhancing the information area to make connections intentional is only the foundation for strengthening congregations. With this resource in place, the tools can be used to assist subteams that will grow beyond the Information Area Team. These subteams can help to integrate regular guests and new members, and re-connect those members experiencing erratic worship attendance.

The Scriptures mentioned in the beginning of this article are incorporated into the mission of a Connections Ministry with a purpose statement something like this: To develop deeply committed Christians by passionately and effectively connecting those in our church into meaningful, growth-filled programming, service, and support opportunities that allow them to know the Lord intimately, grow in faith, build community, and serve according to who God made them in the body of Christ.

Intentional connections help people know our Lord Jesus Christ and live out their Christian calling. Who in the faith-based community can argue with that?

Gia Garey is the Next Steps director at Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kan. She has been an equipping leader for nine years and is a presenter for Group's Church Volunteer Central Live in addition to writing for Rev! magazine.

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