MinTech.org » assimilation http://mintech.org Where Ministry and Technology Meet Sat, 28 Jan 2012 13:14:32 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Degree of Assimilation http://mintech.org/2009/10/03/degree-of-assimilation/ http://mintech.org/2009/10/03/degree-of-assimilation/#comments Sat, 03 Oct 2009 10:53:58 +0000 servant http://mintech.org/2009/10/03/degree-of-assimilation/ Having someone on staff in charge of the assimilation of new members is not enough. Although they may work hard to develop an effective process, and they may bring together the resources needed for that process, some people will only go so far with it. The new member may have ideas of their own as to how much they want to get involved with the new Church. We tend to presume that they want to go 100%, but in reality they have a certain “comfort zone” in mind. How do you discover this degree of assimilation that represents their comfort zone? Well, why not ask them? You can use an online survey for new members to gauge how far they have gone down the path of assimilation. On that basis, you could offer them an opportunity to get involved with a specific ministry in a different way, one that was not listed on the annual ministry opportunities brochure. This opens the door for them to move to the other side of their comfort zone, which is probably the most that can be expected. After all, people have work commitments, family commitments, and commitments to friends and social groups. You want them to be effective in their own style of ministry, be that meals on wheels or an ad hoc outreach to one person who needs them as a friend. Be flexible, and look for ways to involve people the most in things they’ll enjoy doing. The Church as a volunteer community will then really take off!

]]> http://mintech.org/2009/10/03/degree-of-assimilation/feed/ 0 New Members Video Page http://mintech.org/2008/09/17/new-members-video-page/ http://mintech.org/2008/09/17/new-members-video-page/#comments Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:00:59 +0000 servant http://mintech.org/?p=60 Why not have a New Members page on your web site, complete with video clips? The idea would be to let each new member record a video clip right after they joined. The topic would be their personal testimony of faith. This is appropriate as a witness to their faith. In most Churches, joining requires that you either profess your faith or reaffirm the vows of membership. The video clip would capture a word of testimony from each person that the community of faith would then be able to see outside of the Sunday morning event. Families could share together or separately. Each clip would be limited to 3 minutes.

The assimilation of new members is an ongoing challenge in many Churches. This idea would give that process a jumpstart. Staff could review the video as it went up on the web site to tailor the assimilation plan for each new member. Other members of the Church could watch the new member’s video and identify like interests. The video clip would make each new member more visible, and open opportunities to get involved with various small groups based on shared life experiences. This would open the door to new members, who might otherwise stay put in the pew. Video clips would stay up for about a month, and then rotate out as others joined.

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