Pioneer Christian Monthly - September, 1987

Newcomer assimilation - Part 2
Murray Moerman

5. Letters. Send a welcome letter to your guests early in the week they came to visit. Make the letter warm and friendly, inviting them to return. You may wish to distinguish between those guests who indicate a local home church and those who do not and send a distinct form of that letter to each.

Quarterly letters informing and inviting guest who have visited in the pa st year to events of interest coming up in the next quarter are also valuable reinforcement.

6. Take their picture! After a visitor has returned a time to two ask if you can take their picture. Have a special bulletin board titled "Welcome our Newcomers" where you post the pictures of all newcomers over a 3 x 5 card giving basic biographical information about them and/or their family. Most people appreciate being included. Keep pictures on the bulletin board for a designated period of time - say six months.

7 Potluck supper for newcomers. Each month we seek to have at least one group potluck supper in someone's home for recent newcomers. This is an opportunity for newcomers to get to know one another, to begin to develop social relationships and friendships, and to begin to feel themselves to be a part of the fellowship. The focus of this evening is largely relational with a smaller devotional emphasis towards the end of the evening.

Hospitality. 'Each month for at least the first three or four months, seek to have each newcomer to the church invited into the home of a member of the congregation for coffee, dessert, lunch or an evening meal. Make sure no one is overlooked. A lay person with a heart for strangers can make this his or her primary ministry. Invite those with the most evident gifts of hospitality to participate in this monthly program. You may also ask some of these families, once a month or more frequently, to invite newcomers home from church spontaneously after their first visit.

9., An orientation seminar for newcomers. We offer this four consecutive Wednesday evenings at least three times a year. Childcare is provided. All newcomers receive a letter or personal invitation. Coffee is on. During this seminar newcomers are given an introduction to the history, philosophy of ministry, goals, beliefs and style of the church. Opportunity is given to ask questions and to learn how to find a place in ministry in the church. The last two weeks are an orientation to the theory and practices of home fellowship groups. We call the experience "Welcome to the Family".

10. Home fellowship groups. After "Welcome to the Family" all newcomers are assigned to a weekly home fellowship group for pastoral care. Lay pastors of these groups are responsible for the ongoing care of existing members and newcomers, whether or not those persons choose to attend the weekly group. Home fellowship groups worship, study, pray and have social times and retreats together - they are essential in the assimilation process.

11. "Friendship List". Each newcomer needs to be included in your fellowship directory. Your fellowship directory should be updated regularly - if you have a computer, you should update it monthly. All newcomers should be included without distinction - members and adherents. Then as soon as your newcomers have been incorporated into your directory, they should receive a copy to know that they belong. To ensure that all newcomers have been included in our "Friendship List" we include a slip in the bulletin monthly requesting information on changes and updates which we may have missed. Many congregations also publish a photo directory - an excellent idea. This directory requires more work to assemble and is more difficult to update as frequently as needed but many professional photo studios offer very economical packages. Enquire locally.

12. Task forces. Many churches have a structure of task forces, ministry groups, or planning and working groups by other names which oversee ministry in and outside the congregation in many areas. Newcomers need to be introduced to this structure and how to fit in at a very early point. You may show them how it works at a newcomers orientation, potluck, membership class or in some other setting, but it is important to the process of assimilation that newcomers learn how to get involved in ministry and do so at an early stage. Make sure that ministry fits their gifts (perhaps you can offer a "How To Discover Your Gifts" seminar as part of the assimilation process), that the term of service has a termination date, and mat you affirm their service often.

A Clue

Have you been successful? Is the newcomer now assimilated as a responsible disciple into your congregation? Here's a clue. If you hear them say: "Nice church you've got here" they are not yet assimilated. If you hear them say: "We've got to make some improvements in our Sunday School" they're assimilated. Watch for the "you" "we" distinction. Assimilated members say "we".

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