Smaller churches spend a lot of time worrying about why people are not coming through the front doors of their churches each week. In the past these churches saw a number of visitors attend their church each year. Some of these visitors may have moved into the community while others were looking for a new church to attend. Regardless of the reasons for their visit, they came and some stayed. For at least the past two decades many churches have seen a steep drop-off in the number of visitors who show up at their front door on Sunday morning, and with the way many people feel about churches today that is unlikely to change.
What churches can do is to begin to open up the side doors into their church. In one of my favorite books on church leadership, What Every Pastor Should Know: 101 Indispensable Rules of Thumb for Leading Your Church, Gary McIntosh defines a side door as "A church-sponsored program, group, or activity in which a nonmember can become comfortably involved on a regular basis. It is an ongoing function in which a nonmember can develop meaningful and valued relationships with people in the church." These relationships are built around common interests that people have, and they can lead to effective evangelism and provide a safe way to introduce people to your church.
Almost any interest can provide a side-door into your church. There may be a group that enjoys bass fishing. Another group may enjoy quilting while a third group may be focused on recent widows or widowers. There could be groups of single moms or dads. Another group may ride motorcycles. Virtually anything can become a side-door into your church.
A few years ago I heard of a megachurch that had over 200 side-door groups meeting in their church building every week during the summer months. These groups led to amazing growth in the church, and much of that growth came from people who committed their lives to Christ as a result of the relationships they had with others in their group.
McIntosh suggests a good rule of thumb is that a church should create at least two side doors per year. To begin a side door find someone in your church that is passionate about something. Perhaps your church has someone who is passionate about quilting and would be willing to lead such a group. Bring a group together to brainstorm the idea to see if there is interest in such a group. I always suggest that churches make sure other churches in the area are not already doing what you are considering. McIntosh says that if there are three persons willing to help begin a specific group then it's time to schedule when it will begin and to publicize it.
There are many people who have no interest in attending a worship service, but they are willing to be involved in some activity that happens to meet in your church. As they get to know some of the church members who are part of the group they find out that they are not such bad people after all (hopefully!). If they decide to attend a worship service they will now have someone there that they know and can sit with. In time, they may become a part of your congregation.
As the subtitle of this book says, it includes 101 rules of thumb that church leaders need to know. It is one of the most practical books on church ministry I have in my library, and I highly recommend you add it to yours.
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