After the Class

The class is not the finish line

"It would be knowing that every person who walked through our doors got connected.

They found a friend. They found a crew. They found a team. They found a place to belong.

Nobody got overlooked."

Use those four as your check on every person who finishes the class: a friend, a Crew, a team, a place to belong. If you cannot tick them off for someone by name, they are not connected yet.

The goal

Everyone who finishes Growth Track is invited quickly by a team lead. Not by an office. By the person they will serve beside.

The follow-up process

By the end of the day on the Wednesday after the class:

1. Check the list. Each team lead checks the graduate list for people who chose their team.
2. Message first. Reach out through your church's messaging app.
3. No reply in 24 hours? Call.
4. Still nothing? Email, and leave your number.
5. Mark the list when you have made contact.

Keep that list private. It has real people's details on it.

The conversation

• Introduce yourself. "Hi, my name is ___, from [church name]. I'm the ___ team lead."
• Celebrate them. They finished Growth Track. That matters.
• Tell them what's next. Make sure they know about Shadow Sunday, where they shadow a team this Sunday, and about the next Team Night.
• Start simple, then go deeper. Ask a few of these:
• Can you make it to Shadow Sunday?
• Do you have any experience in this area?
• How often would you like to serve?
• Which part of the team interests you most?
• Where are you from? What's your story?
• Have you served in a church before?
• Always ask if they have questions.
• Be friendly and excited. It's contagious.
• Hand them off if it fits. If they would fit better on another team, connect them to that team lead yourself.
• Offer to meet in person.

A first message you can copy

Hi [name], this is [your name] from [church name]. I lead the [team] team. Congratulations on finishing Growth Track. I saw you picked our team and I'm so glad. This Sunday is Shadow Sunday, and I'd love for you to come serve alongside us and see how it works. Can you make it? Any questions, just ask. I'm happy to grab coffee too.

Change it so it sounds like you.

The heart behind it

This is a big moment for the person you are calling. They just said yes to taking part.

• Even if they decide not to serve, show real interest in them.
• Be vulnerable. Tell them what you are still learning.
• Remember this is discipleship, not recruiting.
• Be grateful, expectant and ready.

See them, bring them, celebrate them

• See them. "Nobody gets overlooked."
• Bring them. "Everyone deserves a place to belong."
• Celebrate them. "Honor builds healthy teams."

"People stay where they feel valued. People stay where they feel appreciated. People stay where they feel celebrated."

Say a new team member's name in front of their team. It costs nothing.

Who owns the path

Give the whole path to one person, so a guest is never handed from one department to another. Here is the role as I wrote it for our church. It can be staff or a volunteer.

Purpose. To develop leaders, systems and processes that ensure individuals are engaged in their next steps, from first-time visitors to team leaders, while embodying [church name]'s culture, vision and values.

What they bring.

• Ability to build relationships to assess, advise and direct individuals toward their next steps.
• Proficient in recruiting, equipping and developing leaders to lead successful teams and groups.
• Strong leadership and team management skills.
• Commitment to the church's culture, systems and vision.

What they do.

• Oversee and resource the leaders of the set-up, connect, Growth Track, baptism and security teams.
• Oversee the vision for the class and ensure the process is well-resourced, communicated and executed with excellence.
• Ensure participants have clear next steps and effective follow-up plans developed by team leads.
• Refine onboarding for new members, ensuring clarity and alignment with the church's culture.
• Personally connect with new people on Sundays and reach out to them during the week.
• Identify, recruit and develop new leaders every year.
• Regularly evaluate and refine systems and processes to align with the church's mission and vision.
• Pray for and spiritually support the team members and leaders.

Decide how many hours a week the role gets.

Check the path once a season

• How many guests came, how many took the class, and how many are now in a Crew and on a team?
• Where do people drop off? Fix that step first.
• Ask three people who finished the class recently what was confusing.
• Ask one person who did not finish it why.