Churches rarely get a second chance to make a first impression with a guest or newcomer, but a Christian service company is giving pastors and congregations some advice on how to make one chance enough.
Managers of chain retail outlets always have to be on the lookout for “mystery shoppers” who will share the truth about how business is being conducted, and now thanks to Faith Perceptions, “mystery visitors” are being planted at participating churches.
Instead of churches dreaming up their own lists of things they do well and things they could improve, the Missouri-based company partners with churches to help them better understand the genuine perceptions “un-churched” people have of their ministries.
Mystery visitors are hired to attend services and provide written and numerical feedback on their experiences and the data are aggregated to provide churches with written reports that can be used to more clearly understand guests’ perceptions.
On average a church will have 12 different visitors in the first three months after registering.
With conferences all over the nation experiencing a decline in membership numbers, Missouri Area Bishop Robert Schnase — author of the Five Practices books — believes the idea of getting better at welcoming in strangers is not only important, but Biblical.
“In Christian theology, we’re asked to see the possibility that the visitor among us is none other than Christ. Jesus surprised his disciples by telling them that he had come visiting them,” he wrote at www.fivepractices.org.
Rev. Lou Grettenberger of Christ UMC in Traverse City said his congregation has gained many insights in the past by asking visitors questions about what they noticed first upon entering the church, what they liked best and what prayer requests they had.
Schnase said authentic mystery visitors, or planted ones from a company like Faith Perceptions should motivate congregations toward excellence and engagement.
Aside from hiring out average “Joes” and “Jills” to sneak into a pew once in a while, Faith Perceptions also offers services like community surveys, focus groups and market research for church planting.
The leadership team at Faith Perceptions admits churches can try to do some of these activities on their own, but it is sometimes difficult for leaders and staff members to be completely objective about his/her church.
Faith Perceptions also hints that churches that do these activities on their own need to find ways to make them seem “less like recruiting” and more like an opportunity to provide an objective, honest opinion.
There is a one-time start-up fee of $250 per church and packages run from just over $3,000 plus undercover visitor fees for 52 contacts to just under $1,100 plus undercover fees for 12 contacts.
Discounts of up to 20 percent are given to large groups of churches who sign up.
More information on Faith Perceptions is available at www.faithperceptions.com or by calling 1-877-330-1885.
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