Wednesday, August 15, 2007

The Card in the Bulletin

If you attend Grace Church then you know that we have what we call a Connections Card in the bulletin each Sunday. This is a very important tool that is vital to our staff in being able to connect with the hundreds and hundreds of people that are attending on Sundays.

Why do we use these Connection Cards?

This is the only real way we have to be able to stay up on who is attending Grace Church and to learn the important needs and changes in the lives of our congregation. As our church continues to grow, this becomes more of a challenge. These cards help greatly.

Who should fill out the Connections Card?

Without question, we would love to have every guest on a Sunday fill out this Connection Card so that we have a record of their being with us and so that we can send them a thank you letter and be sure that they get one of our Grace Church cookbooks. However, it is also important that all of our members and regular attenders also fill out a card each and every Sunday. In short, we would love to see every person who attends on Sunday fill out one of these cards and drop it in the offering.

What should I include on the Connection Card?

If you are a guest with us, we would appreciate it if you would fill out all of the information on the card. If you attend Grace regularly, just your name is sufficient. On the back of the card you can include other pertinent information that you would like us to know about you. This should include any specific prayer requests you have; praises you have experienced; or changes in your personal information such as a new phone number, new address or change in e-mail address. It is also helpful to us if you use this card to let us know of any upcoming surgeries or medical procedures you are having as well. There is a place on this card for you to mark if you would like your comment to only go to me as the Senior Pastor or if it is something that can be passed on to our entire staff.

What is the wrong way to use the Connection Card?

Our Sunday morning Connection Card should never be used to communicate something about our ministry or services that you do not like or feel should be changed. These types of comments are never effective when only communicated in writing. The Bible teaches us to “go” to the person that we have an issue with (Matthew 18; Galatians 6). If there is an area of our ministry that you are not happy with or do not agree with, please do not communicate that through our Sunday morning Connection Cards. Our staff is always willing to sit down and talk with anyone that has constructive criticism. To be perfectly honest, we do not take into consideration any negative comments that are received on the Sunday Connection Cards and in most cases we do not pass these on to our staff.

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