By Iddi Yire
Accra, March 20, GNA – Dr Samuel Tengey, an Elder of the Agape Assembly of the Great Commission Church International (GCCI) has called on pastors and church leaders to prioritise winning and keeping new converts for Christ.
He stated that after being saved, the believer needed to become a member of a church, which for many people was not just a place to worship, but a home, a family, an entire community, hence the need to give much thought about where to place new converts, for their effective growth.
Elder Dr Tengey, made the appeal in his presentation at the 34th Annual National Pre-Missions Meeting of Ministers of the GCCI at Adenta near Accra.
The weeklong event on the theme: “Structuring the Culture of GCCI for Effective Soul Winning,” is being attended by all the Church’s Ministers of the Gospel.
He explained that it was not all church visitors who were looking for God, saying people had multiple needs made up of spiritual, material, social and psychological among the many solutions they sought for their numerous problems.
He said people were looking for a church family with an enabling environment, which served as a community or family, and that the church with its own environment (climate) might be welcoming or scaring members away.
Elder Dr Tengey said recent research by Tony Morgan (2011) had indicated that ‘only 10 per cent of first-time visitors end up becoming regular attendees.
“It has been proven that almost 90 per cent of first-time visitors will return to a church if someone follows up on them on the same day they of their visit, but this percentage drops to 60 per cent if one waits just 24 hours,” he said.
He said whether new visitors would come back and how many would do so, depended on the church’s multi-faceted environment, such as visitors’ experience on their first visit, the display of genuine love, care and prayer for them and the effectiveness of follow-up strategy.
Elder Dr Tengey said on their first day of visit, first-timers must be seen as the most important people and need to be treated as such.
He said to secure and maintain first time visitors’ commitment to the Lord and a local church, the congregation and leadership needed to create a congenial environment, showing friendliness, the presence of God, as well as a loving and caring congregation.
Others are genuinely warm-hearted members, an authentic sinner-focused congregation, with a commitment to people’s lives and helping them to meet their needs, rather than a rushing desire to get them to just join the church.
As part of efforts to return souls in the Church, Elder Dr Tengey recommended the establishment of an award system to recognise and celebrate members committed to followup.
He also advocated for the provision of regular training in Customer Service, Follow Up and Member Care, so that the personnel could become abreast of modern methods that work.
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