Think Big!

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Big Days are a great way to reach new people in your community.  These are opportunities to be intentional about outreach.  It’s important that when we cast vision for Big Days, we emphasize that our target is to invite people who are not active in another church.  It’s great to have our friends and family visit who may be from another church, but that doesn’t do much to grow the kingdom.  We emphasize to invite everyone you come in contact with, but make sure your priority is inviting those who are lost or needing a church home.  I’ve discovered after several years of having Big Days at our church that a well promoted and well planned Big Day can bring in double your average weekly attendance and increase your weekly attendance by as much as 20% going forward.  Additionally, you should pray for, plan for and expect people to accept Christ as their Savior.  (This is why it’s important to have a New Believer follow up plan in place. I will be sharing our plan in the near future.)

Each year, our church plans several Big Days designed to encourage members and regular attenders to place a special emphasis on inviting friends, acquaintances, co-workers, and strangers to church. Big Days also provide a unique opportunity for evangelistic outreach during the service, as many of the guests on these days have not yet heard a clear presentation of the gospel.  It also gives those in our church a great way to bring God into a conversation by way of a simple invite.

There are generally two categories of Big Days at our church: holidays and special outreach.

Holidays

Historically, our church has promoted special services on Easter and Christmas Eve. These two occasions are when many who do not normally come to church feel the urge to attend, either due to traditional upbringing or because someone invited them. Promotions around holiday events are meant to capitalize on the pre-existing idea among the public that this is a time to go to church. When promoting a holiday Big Day, the following activities are usually the most effective:

Specialized Invitation Cards, Direct Mail Postcards, Radio Advertisements, Newspaper Advertisements, In-Service Promotional Videos & PowerPoint Slides, Handouts on Sunday Mornings, Host or Pastor Mentions, Member & Attendee E-blasts, Web Site Information, Social Media Promotion, Door Hangers, etc…

Special Outreach

Our church creates these Big Days for the express purpose of encouraging invitations to our church. These include Back to Church Sunday in the fall and Friend Day in the winter. Promotions around special outreach events are meant to remind members and attendees of the urgency of advancing God’s kingdom through church attendance.  When promoting a Special Outreach Big Day, the following activities are usually the most effective:

Specialized Invitation Cards, Radio Advertisements, In-Service Promotional Videos & PowerPoint Slides, Handouts on Sunday Mornings, Host or Pastor Mentions, Member & Attendee E-blasts, Web Site Information, Social Media Promotion, Door Hangers, Community Service Projects, Encourage hand-written invitations from members & regular attenders