Participant digital workbook
Study all nine Ms, reflect on what they mean for your church, complete each exercise, assess current practice and prepare your contribution to the church's shared work.
Digital workbook OR-NM-1.0 (prototype) · Nine M curriculum version 1.0
Your progress through the workbook
9 assigned modules, four lessons each, with a rated self-assessment and a 90-day plan per module.
0 of 36 exercises written · 0 of 45 areas rated (0%)
Every activity in the printed workbook can be completed here online. Your answers stay saved under your name, and the downloads give you the same complete workbook on paper.
M6 — Membership (module 6 of 9)
Create a clear, relational pathway from first visit to belonging, covenant, retention, and active participation.
What this module produces
Visitor-to-Member Pathway
- Documented lifecycle stages from first contact to active membership
- Current and Desired Belonging Journey Map with stage conversion measures
- Follow-Up Sequence Standards by guest type, with owners and timing
- Consent and confidentiality language for pastoral follow-up
- Newcomer experience design for the first four touchpoints
- Orientation Agenda and Membership Expectations Summary
- Pastoral-care handoff protocol between ministry teams
- Lapse Signal and Re-engagement Pathway with monthly funnel review
- Identified gaps in the current membership pathway
- A 90-day action plan with named owners and review dates
Objectives
- Define the stages between first contact and active membership
- Establish timely, pastoral follow-up standards
- Communicate membership expectations and orientation
- Detect disengagement and respond with care
4 weeks · about 6 hours of leadership time
Lesson 1: Designing the Belonging Journey
What you will learn: Define the stages between first contact and active membership.
75 minutes · Membership team, connections coordinator, and at least one pastoral staff member
Scripture lens — Ephesians 2:19
19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
King James Version (KJV) · Public domain
this passage speaks of no longer being strangers but members of God's household, which frames belonging as a journey with a real destination, not an accident.
Materials and evidence you will use
- Stewardship Nsites Connect check-in and follow-up pipeline reports
- Any existing guest card or connection card templates
- Every stage has an entry, exit, measure and owner
- At least one gap is clearly documented for follow-up
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to
- Leadership can name each stage of the belonging journey in plain language
- Entry and exit criteria are defined for every stage
- A conversion measure is identified for each stage transition
- Gaps between the current journey and the desired journey are documented
Study reading
Understand the concept
Your work in this lesson focuses on this outcome: Define the stages between first contact and active membership.
A belonging journey that is not mapped and measured cannot be improved; naming the stages honestly is the first act of hospitality leadership can offer.
Why it matters for your church
Without a mapped journey, follow-up and orientation depend entirely on individual volunteer memory rather than a shared system.
Stuck points, once named, become the church's clearest priorities for ministry attention and resourcing.
A shared journey map gives every ministry a common vocabulary for talking about guests and new members.
Examine the evidence
Use Stewardship Nsites Connect check-in and follow-up pipeline reports, and Any existing guest card or connection card templates to compare your church's present practice with its stated intentions. Look for documented patterns, missing information, and differences between what people assume and what the evidence supports.
Your completed work should be supported by Every stage has an entry, exit, measure and owner, and At least one gap is clearly documented for follow-up. Record uncertainty honestly so your team knows what still needs to be verified.
Prepare for the shared exercise
Produce a shared, honest picture of how guests currently move toward membership and how leadership wants that journey to work. The Belonging Journey Mapping Workshop produces the Current and Desired Belonging Journey Map with stage conversion measures, which contributes to the module's principal deliverable.
Before working with your team, consider this reflection: Where in our church's current journey would a guest most likely feel forgotten, and what would it take for that to no longer be true?
Key terms
- Belonging journey: The sequence of stages a person moves through from first contact with the church to active, contributing membership.
- Stage conversion measure: A specific, trackable percentage or count that shows how many people move from one stage of the journey to the next.
- Stuck point: A stage in the journey where people commonly stall or disengage before moving forward.
Failure patterns to avoid
- Mapping an aspirational journey that no current team has the capacity to deliver.
- Defining stages so vaguely that no one can tell when a person has actually moved from one to the next.
- Skipping the conversion-measure step because it feels like extra work, leaving the map unmeasurable.
Ministry case — The Guest Who Never Returned
A mid-sized congregation prided itself on friendly greeters, but when leadership finally reviewed six months of first-time guest data, they discovered fewer than one in five returned a second time. No one had a map of what a guest experienced after leaving the building on Sunday. There was no second-touch contact, no clear next step offered, and no one assigned to notice the drop-off.
Once the team built a journey map and assigned a conversion measure to the 'first visit to return visit' stage, they discovered the real issue was a seven-to-ten-day gap before any personal follow-up occurred. Naming that stage and that measure was the turning point that led directly into the work of Lesson Two.
Lesson takeaway: A belonging journey that is not mapped and measured cannot be improved; naming the stages honestly is the first act of hospitality leadership can offer.
Exercise — Belonging Journey Mapping Workshop (produces: Current and Desired Belonging Journey Map with stage conversion measures)
Produce a shared, honest picture of how guests currently move toward membership and how leadership wants that journey to work.
- List every stage a guest currently passes through, from first contact to active membership.
- For each stage, write the entry criterion and the exit criterion in plain language.
- Identify one conversion measure for each stage transition.
- Mark which stages currently have no measure or no owner.
- Draft a desired-state version of the journey, adjusting stages, measures or owners as needed.
- Circle the single largest gap between current and desired states.
- Assign a note-taker to record the gap for the module's 90-day action plan.
Worksheet columns: Stage · Entry criterion · Exit criterion · Conversion measure · Current owner · Gap identified
Saves as you typeBelonging Journey Map
Complete the Current and Desired Belonging Journey Map with stage conversion measures here. Your answers are kept under your name and are waiting for you when you return.
Belonging Journey Map # Stage Entry criterion Exit criterion Conversion measure Current owner Gap identified 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Saving keeps it private to you; submitting shares it with your coach and church panel.Worked sample — Northgate Community Church (illustrative example — not actual church data) (illustrative, scored 18/20)
Northgate is a synthetic, illustrative congregation of about 350 people used here to demonstrate a completed journey mapping exercise. It is not based on any real church.
Northgate Community Church Belonging Journey Map: Stage 1, First Contact, exit criterion is a completed connection card, owned by the front desk team, measured by percent of attenders who complete a card. Stage 2, Returning Guest, exit criterion is an accepted newcomer coffee invitation delivered within five days, owned by the connections coordinator...
- Reduce the follow-up window from 10 days to 5 days maximum for all first-time guests.
- Assign the connections coordinator explicit ownership of the newcomer coffee invitation.
- Move from two orientation sessions per year to a monthly offering to reduce the bottleneck.
The map named every stage with clear entry and exit criteria, attached a measure to each transition, and identified specific, actionable gaps rather than vague concerns, though the 90-day timeline for the monthly orientation shift still needs firmer staffing detail.
Discussion prompts
- Where in our current journey do guests most often seem to disappear, and why do we think that happens?
- Which stage transition would most benefit from having a clear owner and a tracked measure?
- What would need to be true for our desired journey map to be realistic within the next two quarters?
- Who outside this room needs to see this journey map before it becomes official?
Reflection: Where in our church's current journey would a guest most likely feel forgotten, and what would it take for that to no longer be true?
Use these prompts to prepare your own response before the group discussion. Honest differences help the church identify where further work is needed.
Lesson 2: Follow-Up that is Timely and Pastoral
What you will learn: Establish follow-up standards by guest type and expressed need.
75 minutes · Connections coordinator, care ministry leader, and front-line volunteer leads
Scripture lens — Hebrews 13:2
2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
King James Version (KJV) · Public domain
this verse's call to show hospitality to strangers suggests urgency and attentiveness, not delay, in how the church reaches out to newcomers.
Materials and evidence you will use
- Lesson One's Belonging Journey Map
- Stewardship Nsites Connect follow-up pipeline data
- Each guest type has a distinct timing window and owner
- Consent language exists for at least sensitive guest types
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to
- Follow-up timing windows are defined for each guest type
- Each follow-up step has a named owner and method
- Consent and confidentiality language is written for pastoral follow-up
- A process exists for guests who express a specific need or crisis
Study reading
Understand the concept
Your work in this lesson focuses on this outcome: Establish follow-up standards by guest type and expressed need.
Follow-up that is both timely and pastoral requires differentiated standards, not just good intentions; consistency comes from writing down who does what, by when, and with what care for consent.
Why it matters for your church
Differentiated follow-up prevents both under-care of urgent needs and over-contact of casual visitors.
Written timing windows turn good intentions into a system that survives staff and volunteer turnover.
Consent language protects guest dignity and builds trust that personal information will be handled with care.
Examine the evidence
Use Lesson One's Belonging Journey Map, and Stewardship Nsites Connect follow-up pipeline data to compare your church's present practice with its stated intentions. Look for documented patterns, missing information, and differences between what people assume and what the evidence supports.
Your completed work should be supported by Each guest type has a distinct timing window and owner, and Consent language exists for at least sensitive guest types. Record uncertainty honestly so your team knows what still needs to be verified.
Prepare for the shared exercise
Produce a written, differentiated follow-up standard that leadership can hand to every ministry team. The Follow-Up Standards Design Session produces the Follow-Up Sequence Standards with owners, timing and consent language, which contributes to the module's principal deliverable.
Before working with your team, consider this reflection: If a guest shared something painful with us this week, can we honestly say they would trust how that information was handled?
Key terms
- Guest type: A category of visitor defined by how they arrived or what need they expressed, used to determine the appropriate follow-up path.
- Timing window: The maximum number of days allowed before a follow-up contact must occur for a given guest type.
- Consent language: Plain-language wording that tells a guest what will be done with information they share and confirms their ability to decline further contact.
Failure patterns to avoid
- Treating every guest identically regardless of what they expressed or needed.
- Setting timing windows with no way to track whether they are actually being met.
- Collecting sensitive information without any consent language, damaging trust when guests learn it was shared further.
Ministry case — The Prayer Request That Waited Three Weeks
A guest at a growing church checked a box on a connection card requesting prayer for a serious medical diagnosis. The card sat in a stack with dozens of general visitor cards and was not reviewed for three weeks. By the time a pastor called, the family had already found support elsewhere and did not return.
When leadership reviewed the incident, they realized the failure was not a lack of care but a lack of a differentiated process. General guests and urgent pastoral needs had been funneled through the identical, slow channel. Building separate timing windows and owners, as this lesson describes, was the direct fix.
Lesson takeaway: Follow-up that is both timely and pastoral requires differentiated standards, not just good intentions; consistency comes from writing down who does what, by when, and with what care for consent.
Exercise — Follow-Up Standards Design Session (produces: Follow-Up Sequence Standards with owners, timing and consent language)
Produce a written, differentiated follow-up standard that leadership can hand to every ministry team.
- List each guest type your church typically encounters.
- For each type, define the maximum acceptable timing window for first contact.
- Name the specific role responsible for that contact.
- Specify the method of contact, such as phone call, visit or written note.
- Draft consent and confidentiality language appropriate to each guest type.
- Identify how the team will track whether the timing window was met.
- Flag any guest type currently missing a defined owner.
Worksheet columns: Guest type · Timing window · Owner · Contact method · Consent language · Tracking method
Saves as you typeFollow-Up Sequence Standards
Complete the Follow-Up Sequence Standards with owners, timing and consent language here. Your answers are kept under your name and are waiting for you when you return.
Follow-Up Sequence Standards # Guest type Timing window Owner Contact method Consent language Tracking method 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Saving keeps it private to you; submitting shares it with your coach and church panel.Worked sample — Northgate Community Church (illustrative example — not actual church data) (illustrative, scored 17/20)
Continuing with the same illustrative congregation, this worked example shows Northgate's completed follow-up standards after identifying the ten-day delay in Lesson One.
Northgate Community Church Follow-Up Sequence Standards: guests expressing a prayer request receive same-day contact from the on-call pastor by phone, with consent language read verbally confirming that information shared is kept confidential and used only for pastoral care and prayer...
- Route all prayer requests and visible crisis situations directly to pastoral staff same day, bypassing the general queue entirely.
- Use the Stewardship Nsites Connect follow-up pipeline as the single tracking point for the 48-and-72-hour windows.
- Review missed timing windows every Monday morning as a standing agenda item for the connections team.
The standards clearly differentiated guest types with specific owners and timing, and consent language was thoughtfully written, though the tracking method for member-invited guests still relies on a manual step that could be made more consistent.
Discussion prompts
- Which guest type in our church most often falls through the cracks, and why?
- What would a 48-hour follow-up standard require us to change about our current volunteer schedule?
- How comfortable are we that guests currently understand what happens to information they share?
- Who should be the named owner for guests expressing an urgent pastoral need?
Reflection: If a guest shared something painful with us this week, can we honestly say they would trust how that information was handled?
Use these prompts to prepare your own response before the group discussion. Honest differences help the church identify where further work is needed.
Lesson 3: Membership Expectations and Orientation
What you will learn: Communicate what membership means and prepare people for informed commitment.
75 minutes · Membership pastor, elder or board representative, and orientation facilitators
Scripture lens — Luke 14:28
28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?
King James Version (KJV) · Public domain
this passage's picture of counting the cost before building suggests that membership should be entered thoughtfully and with full understanding, not casually.
Materials and evidence you will use
- Lesson One's Belonging Journey Map
- Existing church covenant or membership agreement documents, if any
- Agenda includes belief, structure and practical expectation topics
- Expectations summary includes reciprocal church commitments
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to
- A written orientation agenda exists and covers all essential content
- Membership expectations are stated in plain, specific language
- Prospective members can articulate what they are committing to before joining
- A path exists from orientation completion to formal covenant membership
Study reading
Understand the concept
Your work in this lesson focuses on this outcome: Communicate what membership means and prepare people for informed commitment.
Membership that is entered with clarity and honesty builds trust; a good orientation is an act of pastoral care, not paperwork.
Why it matters for your church
Clear expectations reduce future conflict because members know, from the start, what they agreed to.
A well-designed orientation increases the likelihood that people who commit will actually follow through with engagement.
Framing membership as mutual, not one-directional, builds trust between new members and church leadership.
Examine the evidence
Use Lesson One's Belonging Journey Map, and Existing church covenant or membership agreement documents, if any to compare your church's present practice with its stated intentions. Look for documented patterns, missing information, and differences between what people assume and what the evidence supports.
Your completed work should be supported by Agenda includes belief, structure and practical expectation topics, and Expectations summary includes reciprocal church commitments. Record uncertainty honestly so your team knows what still needs to be verified.
Prepare for the shared exercise
Produce a usable orientation agenda and a plain-language expectations summary ready for the next membership cohort. The Orientation and Expectations Drafting Session produces the Orientation Agenda and Membership Expectations Summary, which contributes to the module's principal deliverable.
Before working with your team, consider this reflection: If someone asked us today, in one sentence, what membership at our church truly requires, could we answer clearly and honestly?
Key terms
- Covenant membership: A formal, mutual commitment between a person and the local church, typically involving shared belief, participation and accountability.
- Orientation agenda: The structured sequence of topics covered in the session or class that prepares a person for informed membership commitment.
- Membership Expectations Summary: A concise, plain-language document describing what is expected of members and what members can expect from the church.
Failure patterns to avoid
- Writing expectations so vaguely that no one, including leadership, could evaluate whether they are being met.
- Offering orientation so infrequently that it becomes a bottleneck rather than an on-ramp.
- Failing to state what the church commits to give members in return, making membership feel one-sided.
Ministry case — The New Member Who Did Not Know What She Signed
A woman joined a church after a single Sunday conversation with a greeter who encouraged her to 'just sign up.' Eight months later, she was surprised to learn that membership carried an expectation of regular giving and small group participation, and she felt misled, eventually leaving quietly and telling friends the church had not been honest with her.
When leadership reviewed the situation, they realized there had never been a real orientation, only an informal invitation. Building the agenda and expectations summary described in this lesson was their direct response, ensuring no future member would join without a clear, informed understanding of what they were committing to.
Lesson takeaway: Membership that is entered with clarity and honesty builds trust; a good orientation is an act of pastoral care, not paperwork.
Exercise — Orientation and Expectations Drafting Session (produces: Orientation Agenda and Membership Expectations Summary)
Produce a usable orientation agenda and a plain-language expectations summary ready for the next membership cohort.
- Write a one-to-two sentence definition of what membership means at this church.
- List the topics the orientation session must cover, in sequence.
- Assign a time allotment to each orientation topic.
- Draft the Membership Expectations Summary in plain, specific language.
- Add a section describing what the church commits to provide members in return.
- Decide how often orientation will be offered going forward.
- Identify who will facilitate orientation and who approves new members afterward.
Worksheet columns: Agenda topic · Time allotted · Facilitator · Key expectation covered · Church's reciprocal commitment · Approval step after completion
Saves as you typeOrientation Agenda and Expectations Summary
Complete the Orientation Agenda and Membership Expectations Summary here. Your answers are kept under your name and are waiting for you when you return.
Orientation Agenda and Expectations Summary # Agenda topic Time allotted Facilitator Key expectation covered Church's reciprocal commitment Approval step after completion 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Saving keeps it private to you; submitting shares it with your coach and church panel.Worked sample — Northgate Community Church (illustrative example — not actual church data) (illustrative, scored 18/20)
Northgate's leadership uses this worked example to move from two annual orientation sessions to a monthly rhythm with clearer expectations.
Northgate Community Church Membership Expectations Summary: Membership at Northgate means committing to regular attendance, participation in a small group, financial stewardship through consistent giving, and serving in at least one ministry area. In return, Northgate commits to providing pastoral care, transparent communication about church decisions, and consistent opportunities for spiritual growth...
- Offer orientation on the first Sunday afternoon of every month rather than twice a year.
- Require every prospective member to receive the written Expectations Summary before the session, not only during it.
- Have the elder board formally approve new members within two weeks of orientation completion.
The agenda and summary were specific, sequenced, and reciprocal in tone, and directly addressed the orientation-frequency bottleneck from Lesson One, though the approval step needs a defined process for what happens if approval is delayed.
Discussion prompts
- Would our current draft expectations have been clear to us before we personally joined this church?
- What does our church promise to give members in return for their commitment, and is that written down anywhere?
- How often should orientation be offered given our current guest volume?
- What is the single expectation most likely to be misunderstood if we do not state it explicitly?
Reflection: If someone asked us today, in one sentence, what membership at our church truly requires, could we answer clearly and honestly?
Use these prompts to prepare your own response before the group discussion. Honest differences help the church identify where further work is needed.
Lesson 4: Retention, Care, and Re-engagement
What you will learn: Detect disengagement and respond before people silently disappear.
75 minutes · Care ministry leader, small group coordinators, and a pastoral staff member
Scripture lens — Matthew 18:12-14
12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? 13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
King James Version (KJV) · Public domain
the parable of the one lost sheep suggests that noticing when even a single person drifts away matters as much as celebrating the many who remain.
Materials and evidence you will use
- Stewardship Nsites Connect journey funnel data
- Prior lessons' journey map and follow-up standards
- At least three distinct lapse signals are defined with named owners
- A funnel review cadence and decision authority are documented
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to
- Specific lapse signals are defined and observable
- A re-engagement pathway exists with named owners for each signal
- A monthly funnel review rhythm is established for leadership
- Confidentiality is protected throughout the re-engagement process
Study reading
Understand the concept
Your work in this lesson focuses on this outcome: Detect disengagement and respond before people silently disappear.
People rarely announce that they are drifting away; a church that wants to keep no one behind must build a system that notices quietly and responds warmly, on a rhythm leadership actually keeps.
Why it matters for your church
Defined lapse signals turn vague worry about disengaged members into a concrete, actionable practice.
A monthly funnel review keeps retention visible to leadership rather than only surfacing during a crisis or annual review.
Warm, low-pressure re-engagement outreach protects dignity and often surfaces real pastoral needs that would otherwise go unaddressed.
Examine the evidence
Use Stewardship Nsites Connect journey funnel data, and Prior lessons' journey map and follow-up standards to compare your church's present practice with its stated intentions. Look for documented patterns, missing information, and differences between what people assume and what the evidence supports.
Your completed work should be supported by At least three distinct lapse signals are defined with named owners, and A funnel review cadence and decision authority are documented. Record uncertainty honestly so your team knows what still needs to be verified.
Prepare for the shared exercise
Produce a working system for noticing disengagement and responding pastorally, with a recurring leadership review rhythm. The Lapse Signal and Re-engagement Design Session produces the Lapse Signal and Re-engagement Pathway with a monthly funnel review, which contributes to the module's principal deliverable.
Before working with your team, consider this reflection: Is there someone in our church right now who may already be quietly drifting, and what would it look like to reach out to them this week with warmth rather than waiting?
Key terms
- Lapse signal: A specific, observable change in attendance, giving or serving pattern that indicates a person may be disengaging.
- Re-engagement pathway: The defined process, including owner and message tone, used to reach out to someone showing a lapse signal.
- Funnel review: A recurring leadership meeting that reviews the entire belonging journey for patterns of drop-off across every stage.
Failure patterns to avoid
- Reaching out to lapsed members with guilt-laden or transactional language that pushes them further away.
- Defining lapse signals so broadly that ordinary seasons of life trigger unnecessary or intrusive outreach.
- Holding a funnel review only sporadically, so it never becomes a reliable habit that catches drift early.
Ministry case — The Family No One Called
A family that had served faithfully for years began attending less and less after a difficult season, eventually stopping altogether. No formal system existed to notice the pattern, and by the time a friend happened to mention their absence eight months later, the family had already settled into not attending anywhere.
In the aftermath, leadership realized that had a lapse signal existed for four consecutive missed Sundays, someone would have reached out within weeks rather than learning about the absence by accident nearly a year later. This case became the direct catalyst for building the re-engagement pathway described in this lesson.
Lesson takeaway: People rarely announce that they are drifting away; a church that wants to keep no one behind must build a system that notices quietly and responds warmly, on a rhythm leadership actually keeps.
Exercise — Lapse Signal and Re-engagement Design Session (produces: Lapse Signal and Re-engagement Pathway with a monthly funnel review)
Produce a working system for noticing disengagement and responding pastorally, with a recurring leadership review rhythm.
- List the specific lapse signals your church will watch for.
- For each signal, name who is responsible for reaching out.
- Draft the warm, low-pressure message or approach used for that outreach.
- Note how confidentiality will be protected during the outreach and any resulting conversation.
- Decide the cadence and attendees for the monthly funnel review.
- List what data will be brought to each funnel review.
- Identify one decision the funnel review team is authorized to make immediately when a pattern is found.
Worksheet columns: Lapse signal · Owner · Outreach approach · Confidentiality note · Funnel review cadence · Data source
Saves as you typeLapse Signal and Re-engagement Pathway
Complete the Lapse Signal and Re-engagement Pathway with a monthly funnel review here. Your answers are kept under your name and are waiting for you when you return.
Lapse Signal and Re-engagement Pathway # Lapse signal Owner Outreach approach Confidentiality note Funnel review cadence Data source 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Saving keeps it private to you; submitting shares it with your coach and church panel.Worked sample — Northgate Community Church (illustrative example — not actual church data) (illustrative, scored 18/20)
Northgate builds its retention system directly in response to the family that quietly disengaged for eight months before anyone noticed.
Northgate Community Church Lapse Signal and Re-engagement Pathway: any member missing four consecutive Sundays receives a warm personal text from their small group leader within one week, with no reference to attendance count; the monthly funnel review, held the first Tuesday of each month, reviews Nsites Connect attendance and small group data to identify emerging patterns...
- Route all giving-related lapse signals through the stewardship coordinator and a pastor jointly, never a general volunteer.
- Hold the first funnel review within 30 days, using Nsites Connect attendance and small group data as the primary sources.
- Authorize the funnel review team to immediately assign a care contact for any name that appears in two or more lapse categories at once.
The pathway defined specific, humane signals and owners, protected confidentiality thoughtfully, and embedded the review into an existing meeting rhythm, though the escalation criteria for members appearing in multiple categories could be defined slightly further.
Discussion prompts
- Can we name someone right now who may already be showing a lapse signal, and what would a warm check-in to them sound like?
- What data do we currently have access to that could help us notice disengagement earlier?
- Who should be in the room for our monthly funnel review, and what decisions should they be able to make there?
- How do we make sure re-engagement outreach never feels like guilt or solicitation?
Reflection: Is there someone in our church right now who may already be quietly drifting, and what would it look like to reach out to them this week with warmth rather than waiting?
Use these prompts to prepare your own response before the group discussion. Honest differences help the church identify where further work is needed.
Rate this module
Rate each area from 0 to 4 as the church is today, not as you hope it will be.
- 0 — Not Established: Nothing is in place for this area today.
- 1 — Emerging: Something has been started but it is informal and inconsistent.
- 2 — Developing: It works in parts of the church but is not documented or dependable.
- 3 — Established: It is documented, consistently followed and reviewed.
- 4 — Exemplary: It is a strength others could learn from, with evidence to prove it.
1. Journey Clarity
Weighted 20% of the Membership score.
What this represents: A written journey map names each stage, its entry and exit criteria, and a measure of conversion at each step.
Reference points for your rating
- 0 — Not established:
- No one can describe the stages a person moves through from first visit to membership; each ministry uses its own informal language.
- 2 — Developing:
- Stages are documented but conversion measures between stages are missing or inconsistent.
- 4 — Exemplary:
- The journey map is documented, regularly reviewed with data, and used by every ministry team to align their language and handoffs.
Use the closest reference point, then select 1 or 3 when your church falls between two descriptions.
2. Follow-Up Reliability
Weighted 20% of the Membership score.
What this represents: Follow-up standards specify owner, timing and method for each guest type, and are consistently followed with consent honored.
Reference points for your rating
- 0 — Not established:
- Guest follow-up happens only when a volunteer personally remembers to do it; there is no standard or tracking.
- 2 — Developing:
- Written follow-up standards exist with timing windows, but ownership is unclear or often missed.
- 4 — Exemplary:
- Follow-up reliability is tracked over time, reviewed monthly, and refined based on what actually reaches and serves guests best.
Use the closest reference point, then select 1 or 3 when your church falls between two descriptions.
3. Orientation and Expectations
Weighted 20% of the Membership score.
What this represents: A consistent orientation agenda and membership expectations summary are used with every prospective member.
Reference points for your rating
- 0 — Not established:
- New attenders receive no consistent explanation of what membership means or what is expected of them.
- 2 — Developing:
- A written orientation agenda exists but is not consistently delivered or is missing key expectations.
- 4 — Exemplary:
- Orientation is evaluated for clarity and completed-commitment rates, and is refined based on new-member feedback each cycle.
Use the closest reference point, then select 1 or 3 when your church falls between two descriptions.
4. Belonging and Care
Weighted 20% of the Membership score.
What this represents: A documented pastoral-care handoff protocol is used consistently and protects confidentiality and consent.
Reference points for your rating
- 0 — Not established:
- There is no defined way for a person's pastoral needs to be noticed, communicated or handed off between ministry teams.
- 2 — Developing:
- A handoff protocol exists but is not consistently used or lacks confidentiality safeguards.
- 4 — Exemplary:
- Care handoffs are tracked, reviewed for gaps, and consistently close the loop back to the referring ministry.
Use the closest reference point, then select 1 or 3 when your church falls between two descriptions.
5. Retention and Re-engagement
Weighted 20% of the Membership score.
What this represents: A documented Lapse Signal and Re-engagement Pathway is reviewed monthly with clear ownership and follow-through.
Reference points for your rating
- 0 — Not established:
- Disengagement is only noticed when someone finally asks where a family went, often months later.
- 2 — Developing:
- Lapse signals are defined but the re-engagement response is inconsistent or has no clear owner.
- 4 — Exemplary:
- Retention data is tracked over time, re-engagement approaches are refined, and outcomes are reported to leadership regularly.
Use the closest reference point, then select 1 or 3 when your church falls between two descriptions.
90-day plan for Membership
Name the first three moves, who owns each one and when it is due.
Completion checklist
- • All four lessons marked complete
- • All four exercises submitted
- • Required evidence uploaded
- • Named principal deliverable generated and approved
- • 90-day action plan created with owners and dates
- • Coach review recorded
0 of 4 exercises written · 0 of 5 areas rated
Pastor Lee Jenkins
6
Participant Workbook
Sample contents created by Allan Bell - CPA, CMA, MBA, for illustrative purposes.
What happens to these answers
Approval sits with people, not the software.
- Individual answers are held for the coach. Church reporting, board packs and the printed workbook show compiled scores and themes only.
- Nine M methodology, content, exercises and deliverables by Pastor Lee Jenkins.
- Prototype: responses live in this browser session only. No invitations, emails or text messages are sent, and nothing is written to a server.
A partnership between Pastor Lee Jenkins, the Stewardship Coach, and Allan Bell - CPA, CMA, MBA, Nsites founder and creator.