It truly is amazing to see what happens when we make the intentional act to make contacts. People respond! We have been having a promotion in our church called Day of Champions and everyone has really been involved in doing the basics of Life Groups (Sunday School). It is amazing to see as well the correlation that has been shown between our number in attendance and our number of contacts made. I remember in science class hearing about these laws of where if one thing adjusted in this part of the equation then you would see a change in the results. I believe we are seeing in our church the law of contacts being experienced.
I would say if there was an equation for the law of contacts it would look like this:
[C(P3+T2+Po1)] x (M+G+L)=Growth
Let me give you some parts of the equation that are affected in the law of contacts:
C= Contacts: the number of contacts that a Life Group ministry makes during a week.
P3= Physical contacts: you will have the greatest response to your contacts when you are making an eye to eye, face to face visit with someone and personally asking for their engagement in your group.
T2= Technology contact: you will have the next greatest success when you make contact through technology means. This can be through a phone call, text message, or email. These are great because they are immediate and you still get to hear some feedback, not as much as a physical visit, but still profitable.
Po1: Postcard contact: your last form of contact is by postcard. The tone is generally one of "remember" as you remember those that weren't in your group (absentees) or you are asking them to remember to attend your group (new prospects). Once again your level of engagement drops with postcards. This is why the weight for making contacts through postcards decreases. Yes it is easy to write cards, but you will increase your retention and connectivity to members when you can go beyond postcards.
The next bracket in the equation seeks to ask the question of who should receive these contacts and we have two main groups.
M: Members: we should be in consistent contact to our members. We can learn about ministry needs, prayer requests, growth issues, and points to celebrate with when we are in constant contact with our members. It also shows that we care. It also shows that we truly desire to see them engaging in our groups. This is what we are called to do in loving one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.
G: Guests: this is new people to our church. When we have new people that are seeking a church home or to connect with our fellowship, we must be intentional about reaching out to them. This is why we have a prospect portion of our rolls, so that outreach leaders can lead the group to make contact on a consistent basis.
L: Lost: the church is a living organism which means that we cannot atrophy and have apathy and just wait to see who shows up. As a church we are to be looking for those that need to hear the good news of Jesus Christ so their lives can be transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ! A good question for your group to ask is if we are being intentional about reaching to the lost?
When we put this equation of making contacts to our members, guests, and the lost: the reality is that we are going to see growth occur on a regular basis. If we leave any part of the equation out, the law will not be in effect. We have to have all the pieces there together!
I would say if there was an equation for the law of contacts it would look like this:
[C(P3+T2+Po1)] x (M+G+L)=Growth
Let me give you some parts of the equation that are affected in the law of contacts:
C= Contacts: the number of contacts that a Life Group ministry makes during a week.
P3= Physical contacts: you will have the greatest response to your contacts when you are making an eye to eye, face to face visit with someone and personally asking for their engagement in your group.
T2= Technology contact: you will have the next greatest success when you make contact through technology means. This can be through a phone call, text message, or email. These are great because they are immediate and you still get to hear some feedback, not as much as a physical visit, but still profitable.
Po1: Postcard contact: your last form of contact is by postcard. The tone is generally one of "remember" as you remember those that weren't in your group (absentees) or you are asking them to remember to attend your group (new prospects). Once again your level of engagement drops with postcards. This is why the weight for making contacts through postcards decreases. Yes it is easy to write cards, but you will increase your retention and connectivity to members when you can go beyond postcards.
The next bracket in the equation seeks to ask the question of who should receive these contacts and we have two main groups.
M: Members: we should be in consistent contact to our members. We can learn about ministry needs, prayer requests, growth issues, and points to celebrate with when we are in constant contact with our members. It also shows that we care. It also shows that we truly desire to see them engaging in our groups. This is what we are called to do in loving one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.
G: Guests: this is new people to our church. When we have new people that are seeking a church home or to connect with our fellowship, we must be intentional about reaching out to them. This is why we have a prospect portion of our rolls, so that outreach leaders can lead the group to make contact on a consistent basis.
L: Lost: the church is a living organism which means that we cannot atrophy and have apathy and just wait to see who shows up. As a church we are to be looking for those that need to hear the good news of Jesus Christ so their lives can be transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ! A good question for your group to ask is if we are being intentional about reaching to the lost?
When we put this equation of making contacts to our members, guests, and the lost: the reality is that we are going to see growth occur on a regular basis. If we leave any part of the equation out, the law will not be in effect. We have to have all the pieces there together!
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