3 Things Your Catholic Church Can Do to Encourage Visitors This Year

Your church takes the challenge of Christ’s missionary mandate seriously. You want to be known as a welcoming place for visitors and a community that people feel comfortable inviting others to. Here are three tips on how to maximize your efforts this year when it comes to encouraging visitors and creating an environment of pastoral care.

1. Dial in your web presence.

Visitors will often check out your website and look you up on their preferred social media platform before they walk through your front doors. For this reason, it’s important to make sure that your online presence is professional-looking and inviting — not just for computer users but for those searching for information about your church on their mobile devices as well. Statistically speaking, recent data suggests that over half of all visits to a church’s website are from phones and tablets. At LPi we find that 68% of our website visits come from mobile devices! This means that you should expect that at least half of your visitors will be using their phone to view your content as well. Your homepage should be designed to be attractive and easy to use when someone navigates to it via their cell. Feel lost already? LPi’s design team is available to help you get your website ready for visitors this year! They can optimize your online presence for mobile visitors and even give you a logo refresh! We also recently published a blog with more in-depth tips and tricks to make your website more inviting!  

2. Equip your members to invite.

Consider what tools you may or may not be giving your parishioners when it comes to inviting new folk to your parish. Some things you can do to equip your community to reach out and invite others into the fold are:

• Remind parishioners that there is advertising space for local businesses available in the weekly bulletin! 
• Help coach your members on how you’d like them to approach visitors at Mass on Sunday 
• Make sure there is a visitor welcome brochure ready for any new folks and that your parishioners know where to find it so that they can direct new people to it
• Create a visitor welcome table that stays on display in your church narthex, gathering space, or entry to your sanctuary so it’s easy to find friendly information
• Commit to making your parish accessible to those who might be disabled. This could include hearing devices, special signage helping direct people to resources, a quiet room for families, and more
• Have visitor parking close to the doors of your sanctuary reserved for first time visitors
• Put a sign or banner out by your parking lot entrance facing the road inviting visitors to a specific event or Mass time
• Welcome visitors at the beginning of every Mass and encourage them to visit a point person who can connect them to parish resources and information
•  Encourage your parishioners to bring friends and invite others to upcoming parish events
•  Make sure your Mass greeters are trained to be welcoming of ALL 

For more ideas, we’ve collected over 60 ways for your parish to reach out to your surrounding neighborhoods. 

3. Hold distinctively visitor-friendly events.

Whether events are catered to adults, youth, families, singles, or special groups, your parish should be holding a variety of visitor-friendly events every year. What do we mean by this? A visitor-friendly event might be an event that isn’t overtly religious — an event with an environment that focuses on community building instead of a specific Christian teaching. A great example of this would be a church BBQ, parish picnic, or service project! Youth group open mics, campfires, and game nights can also be options for great events to invite a friend to! Having a free holiday Christmas concert? This type of event is perfect for an invitation to your entire neighborhood! Check out these free flyer templates that are ready for you to customize. Just make sure that your visitor-friendly invites focus on events where your parish isn’t asking for money.

Do you have more ideas on how to encourage visitors into your vibrant parish this year? Let us know!