Church & Christian Business Guide®

Feature Article 2

A Success Formula for Consistent Church Growth

Church membership in most mainline Protestant churches has been declining in recent years across the country. Can a church reverse this downward trend and enjoy consistent growth?

Hope United Methodist Church in Greenwood Village answers a resounding "Yes." It starts with a commitment to grow year after year, followed by proactive evangelism and an enthusiastic volunteer army to carry it out. Evangelism isn’t just being nice to visitors who happen to wander in on Sunday.

At Hope, all new homeowners in over 15 zip code areas receive a written invitation to visit, which amounts to over 500 invitations a month. We also advertise special services in local newspapers, as well as in the Church & Christian Business Guide, which targets 60,000 new homeowners annually. The Church Guide is published three times per year, and carries extensive information about Hope’s programs. Our website also attracts newcomers looking for a new Church home. Finally, the membership is encouraged to bring a friend or neighbor, not affiliated with a Church, to a Hope Sunday service. As a result of this comprehensive advertising program, Hope has enjoyed a significant increase in the total number of visitors each year. But this is only part of the story.

Visitors must be converted to active members. At Hope, a first-time visitor is greeted at the door and introduced to a "Hospitality Minister" who welcomes the visitor, answers questions and provides an information portfolio. At the beginning of the service, the minister asks each first-time visitor to raise their hand so an usher can give them a "Colorado carnation" and a card, to provide their name, address and phone number. The flower identifies the newcomer, so members can greet them after the service and make them feel welcome.

On Sunday afternoon, a Church member visits the home of the new visitor, presents them with a gift-wrapped mug filled with Hershey kisses and an information brochure, then invites them to visit Hope UMC again. On Monday, one of the senior pastors writes a letter to each first-time visitor, welcoming them, offering his services and providing informational material. One week later, each first-time visitor gets a phone call from a member of the Evangelism Committee, thanking them for visiting the Church, answering any questions and welcoming them back.

All this activity is obviously designed to make visitors feel welcome at Hope, and encourage them to visit again and to consider joining the Church. Once visitors join the Church as a member, a nurturing program begins, designed to get new members "connected" and involved in the work and in the social life of the Church.

Does this program work? Well, Hope UMC is the fastest growing Methodist Church in the Denver metro area, realizing significant net gain in membership every year. We recently completed a large facility expansion project, in order to provide new space to handle growth. The above photo shows the recent expansion to the facilities of Hope UMC. More classrooms were added for adults and children and the kitchen facilities were expanded.

Of course, evangelism efforts cannot be completely successful without dynamic ministers, fine music, education and youth programs, along with a membership that is committed to achieving growth.

This article was submitted by Chuck Fetterolf, Member of the Evangelism Committee, of Hope United Methodist Church, located at 5101 S. Dayton in Greenwood Village, Colorado. Phone 303-779-1040. Mr. Fetterolf has been a corporate executive and management consultant for many years and is now retired.