Law Seven

Seven Months for Follow-Up

The Seventh Law of Seven, the Law of Seven Months, states that the church has seven months to follow-up on each person who has visited the church or that person will most likely be lost to that congregation. This law assumes that the visitor has attended regularly during this time, or at least he now considers it to be his church. Several aspects of church assimilation will need to be in place for this to happen, and putting these in perspective is the major function of the sev-enth law.

In the Second Law of Seven Laws, we learned the first aspect of assimilation that keeps the visitor coming back. This law explains the importance of each visitor receiving “seven touches of love” upon his arrival at the church. These touches usually make the visitor feel loved and accepted by the unfamiliar con-gregation. Behavioral scientists tell us that the more a person feels uncomfort-able in a setting, the more he distrusts that setting. Therefore, the quicker the church alleviates the visitor’s discomfort, the quicker he will accept not only the new environment, but the church’s teachings, as well.

An entertaining service also can help visitors overcome their initial discomfort. But most churches are not normally deemed entertaining by the unchurched. This may help explain why churches with dynamic and humorous preachers of-ten draw large numbers of outsiders to their services. Another way of doing this is by way of the media factor. For example, churches with a television ministry give prospects a “preview” of their services so they will know what to expect when they attend the church. This has a way of making visitors feel more com-fortable. Nevertheless, church members still need to show love and acceptance to first-time visitors if they want to assimilate them adequately. The congrega-tion that has mastered this law will reap great dividends.

In the third law of seven, we have discovered that the next requirement to help-ing a visitor return to the church is the “Law of Seven Contacts.” This law en-courages church members to contact visitors through correspondence, telephone calls, and visitation. A visitor should receive a letter from the pastor in the first week following his visit. In that same week he should receive a visit from a lay member of the congregation. In the following week, the visitor needs to receive cards and phone calls from other members. In the third week following his visit, the visitor should hear from the pastor, either by telephone or with a personal visit. During this contact, the pastor will determine if the visitor is still a pros-pect or if his name should be crossed of the prospect list. He also may have op-portunity to enroll the visitor in a class for newcomers. Remember, according to the Fifth Law, we have only seven weeks to get the newcomer involved, or he will go elsewhere. These post-church-service contacts help the visitor feel loved, accepted and cared for by the local church.

The Fifth Law, “The Law of Seven Weeks to Assimilate Leaders,” should con-centrate on the “Four-Four-Four” method of involvement. We involve a person by teaching him about Spiritual gifts and helping him discover the gifts God has given him. Then the church enlists the newcomer for four months in a task that is complementary to his gifts. Ideally, the church can offer newcomers a choice of tasks that fit their giftings. In the “Four-Four-Four” plan, the church trains the volunteer to do a task in the first four months. Then during the next four months, he is allowed to function in that task, as he initially agreed. In the final four months he trains someone else.

A primary goal of the church is to disciple or matures the saints. Studies show that the church grows no greater than its leaders. The statistics in these studies do not refer to quality of leadership. Many saints have exceeded their pastors and leaders in that regard. But it does refer to quantity. A church will grow no larger than the number of leaders in place to disciple and train its members. Both Jesus’ models of discipling and Ephesians 4 give us a truth most churches do not seem to understand: maturity comes when the saints do the “work of min-istry.” Churches do not grow, nor do the saints mature, when churches hire pastors to do their Christianity for them. The Gospels do not say, “When I was sick or in prison, you hired a pastor to visit me.” One of the main reasons “saints” float from church to church is because they are searching for satisfaction and fulfillment. Such fulfillment only happens when an individual obeys the Scriptures by “doing the work of ministry.”

We give newcomers tasks that correspond with their giftings, but we must also encourage as many saints as possible to use their gifts to work within the church and the community. Encourage each attendee to have a task that helps the church minister within the community and a second task that helps it reach out into the community. Church growth studies indicate that 60 percent of its mem-bers must be doing meaningful ministry in order for that church to grow. Of these, half should be participating in ministry from the church to the community. In other words, 30 percent of your congregation needs to be reaching out into the community with programs that draw the community into the church and the Kingdom. So, as soon as possible, the church should offer ministry opportunity to those coming to the church who are outreach oriented. Historically, failure to do this has been one of the greatest weaknesses in the church. We are good at taking care of the church family, the church buildings, and its operations, but we seem to be poor at touching the lost in the community.

In the Fourth Law, we recognized that church leaders must encourage the con-gregation to befriend visitors. Dr. Winn Arn teaches that each visitor needs to gain seven friends within seven months. One of the best tools to make this hap-pen is the “Adopt-a-Family Program.” This plan calls for three church families to agree to adopt one visiting family for three months. The three families sched-ule among themselves which of them will be responsible for which month or week. In that week or month, the family that is responsible for the new family will “wine and dine them.” They will take them out to eat, or go shopping to-gether, or they will find other creative ways of bonding a friendship with the vis-iting family. One fast growing church in Virginia uses only one family to adopt each visitor or visiting family, and only for one month. The problem with this arrangement is that it can limit the number of friendships formed and short-circuit the law of Seven Friends in Seven Months.

To reiterate the Sixth Law, “the law of seven prospects,” every newcomer has seven unchurched friends who are good prospects for the church and the church needs to encourage these prospects to attend. Eighty percent of those who visit your church come as a result of the influence of their friends and relatives who are already in your church. There are many ways of doing this. One of the most effective tools can be through the pastor’s or newcomer’s class. Give a new-comer a reason to give you the names and addresses of those in his network of acquaintances. Then follow-up by sending these people the church newsletter and invitations to special events. Put their names on a class prayer list. Invite them to attend special days honoring their family member or their friend at the church. An event honoring the newcomer is a tremendous way of exposing the church to these prospects. Have the person who already attends your church to participate by sharing his talent, reading the Scriptures for the day, or by giving his testimony. Culminate the event by sharing in a meal for him and his friends. Use whatever means you can to bring these prospects into your church. This will result in growth for the Kingdom and your congregation.

Finally, the Seventh Law asks you to analyze your effectiveness in reaching those that God has called you to target. It requires that you evaluate what you church is doing well to effect growth so you can keep doing it. This law helps you see whether or not you are honestly carrying out the Great Commission. The church should be tracking its visitors over seven months. It should know how well it has taken care of God’s most precious treasure, those souls for whom Jesus died and asked the church to reach and disciple.