In this series on “Rethinking Membership Development,” it’s time to consider “Leads.”

Important reminder: Working with Leads will sound familiar. It’s close to what we know how to do. But it’s the third stage in membership development, not the first, and without the hard work of stages one (“Touches”) and two (“Prospects”), this third stage will never happen.

Second reminder: If all you do with Leads is welcome them to Sunday worship, the outcome will be negative.

Leads are people who have developed an interest in your congregation. They’re like the person who walks onto a Chevrolet lot pretty much ready to buy. Or the shopper who’s in the market for a new lawn mower and has studied your inventory online. Or the student who wants an advanced degree and is touring your engineering campus.

Leads aren’t buyers. They have received your emails, done further investigating online, had chats with clergy or others. They are on their way to “buying” — but only if you receive them well, treat them right, listen to their needs, build bridges of responsiveness and trust, and close the deal. Simply allowing them on your lot will lead nowhere.

It’s easier in retail, because Leads (potential customers) tend to be visible. Spotting a Lead in Sunday worship is difficult. It’s like the video of a lifeguard monitoring a crowded swimming pool and, because of her training, being able to spot a drowning child across the pool, dive in, and save him, while everyone else is enjoying a swim and is oblivious to the child’s emergency.

In fact, Sunday morning is the worst possible time to “sell the product.” Leads come to Sunday worship because that seems to be the only way in. But it usually isn’t worship they seek, but a sense of the congregation’s character, its mission, and its openness. A quick handshake at the door, a frenzied passing of the Peace mid-worship, and a distracted greeting in the line out of church don’t answer any of those questions. Nor, contrary to our hopes, does worship itself answer meaningful questions. In most churches, worship is a stylized compromise among warring factions. Too busy, too unfocused, too long.

Leads must be engaged person-to-person. You know their transition from Prospect to Lead by how they respond to invitations such as these:

 the pastor inviting the Lead to lunch and learning the Lead’s interests and needs
 a church leader inviting the Lead to dinner with a small group of friends
 the pastor inviting several Leads to a small group considering mission and ministry (not church membership)
 a mission team asking the Lead to help with a project (not to “join our committee”)
 a midweek learning group inviting the Lead to come talk about their work
 a midweek worship leader inviting the Lead to attend the service and then join a few folks for coffee/drinks/supper afterward
 leaders inviting several Leads to serve as a focus group to help leaders see the world outside church doors

You get the idea: personal invitation, focused on the Lead, not on the institution, not a rush to ongoing commitment, and not simply trying to get their fanny in a pew. The process points eventually to the “closer,” usually the pastor, who is skilled in “making the ask” and helping the Lead to say Yes.

About the Author Tom Ehrich

Tom is a writer, church consultant and Episcopal priest based in New York. He is the publisher of Fresh Day online magazine, author of On a Journey and two national newspaper columns. His website is Church Wellness – Morning Walk Media