Your church had visitors.

Now what?

In this episode of The Great Commission Toolkit, I'm joined by my brother, Pastor Josh Williams, to talk about one of the most overlooked parts of church growth and outreach:

FOLLOW-UP.

Josh pastors in Foley, Alabama, where he stepped into a struggling church situation with just a handful of people in 2020. Six years later, the church recently averaged 188 on Sunday mornings.

Josh is quick to give God the glory for what He's done—but when I asked what practical tool God has used most in the church's growth, one of his first answers was:

A first-time guest follow-up system.

In this episode, we talk about:

👋 Why getting visitors isn't enough

📋 Why every church needs an intentional follow-up system

🤝 Why ministry happens through relationships

🎉 The difference between Sunday visitors and event visitors

📊 Why churches should track what happens after an outreach

🚪 Why events can reach people who may never initially attend a Sunday service

📱 How follow-up can move people from an event to church

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Real families reached through community events

🙌 People who eventually trusted Christ because relationships began at an outreach

⏳ Why follow-up sometimes takes MONTHS—not days

🎯 Why the event isn't the finish line

One of the most powerful stories in this episode is about a family that attended a community event. They didn't immediately become faithful church members.

But the church kept building the relationship.

Eventually they came on Sunday.

Their daughter trusted Christ.

Her friend trusted Christ and was baptized.

Years later, that friend is now serving in the church's nursery—and the original family has helped bring several more families to church.

That's why follow-up matters.

Ministry isn't an event.

Ministry is people.

And if God gives us an opportunity to connect with someone, we want to intentionally build that relationship and point them toward Christ.

This episode explains WHY your church needs a follow-up system.

In the next episode, we're getting extremely practical and breaking down WHAT that system can actually look like so you can begin implementing it in your church.

🎙️ The Great Commission Toolkit | Excellerate Ministries

If this episode helps you, send it to a pastor, outreach director, or church leader who needs to hear it!

Donate to our ministry: https://www.paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/4894299

Follow us on Social Media: https://linktr.ee/excellerateministries

Send in Question to chase@excellerateministries.com

#ChurchGrowth #ChurchFollowUp #ChurchOutreach #Evangelism #Pastor #ChurchLeadership #GreatCommission #GreatCommissionToolkit

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Your big church event was a success. New families came.

Now what?

In this episode of The Great Commission Toolkit, I'm back with my dad, Pastor Jon Williams, for the final part of our Celebrate Kids Sunday series.

This time, we're talking about one of the most important parts of outreach: follow-up.

After new families attended Celebrate Kids Sunday at Bluestone Baptist Church, the goal wasn't simply to celebrate a good attendance number. The goal was to build relationships, encourage families to return, and ultimately help people become growing disciples of Christ.

We break down the actual follow-up strategy they used, including:

📱 Texting families before and after the event

🙏 Praying specifically for outreach contacts

📅 Using Saturday reminder texts

🎙️ Starting a sermon series designed to encourage families to return

☕ Inviting new families to coffee or a meal

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Building relationships beyond Sunday morning

📲 Why every church should consider a texting system

🎉 Using future events to continue building relationships

📣 Facebook ads, personal invitations, and existing contacts

💰 What Celebrate Kids Sunday actually cost

⛪ How a small church can implement something similar

One of the most encouraging results was that four to five visiting families returned for the third Sunday—the best retention my dad says they've seen following a big church event.

Whether your church has 5 kids or 500, you don't have to copy exactly what another church does.

Pray. Follow the Lord. Use the people and resources God has given you. Be intentional about follow-up. And don't let the relationship end when the event does.

🎙️ The Great Commission Toolkit | Excellerate Ministries

If this episode helps you, share it with a pastor, children's worker, or church leader who could use these ideas!

Donate to our ministry: https://www.paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/4894299

Follow us on Social Media: https://linktr.ee/excellerateministries

Send in Question to chase@excellerateministries.com

Have questions for Dad, Pastor Jon? Email him here: bluestonepastor@gmail.com

#ChurchGrowth #ChurchOutreach #ChurchFollowUp #ChildrensMinistry #KidsMinistry #Evangelism #ChurchVisitors #GreatCommissionToolkit

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Do you need a huge budget, elaborate children's building, or expensive program to have a great children's ministry?

No.

In this episode of The Great Commission Toolkit, I'm back with my dad, Pastor Jon Williams, continuing our conversation about Celebrate Kids Sunday at Bluestone Baptist Church.

This time, we're talking about what happens when the kids and families actually arrive, and how a church can intentionally build a strong children's ministry with the people and resources God has already given them.

We talk about:

👥 Training children's workers before putting them into ministry

🎓 Giving new workers opportunities to learn alongside experienced teachers

💰 Building an effective children's ministry without a massive budget

🙌 Creating a ministry kids genuinely want to come back to

👋 How Bluestone welcomes first-time families

🎁 Simple visitor gifts and a welcome team

⏰ When they dismiss children for children's church

📖 Making God's Word the priority of children's church

🎮 Using games, songs, prizes, and object lessons

🌱 Using object lessons to develop new teachers

📝 Planning out the children's service before it starts

⏱️ Giving every part of children's church a specific amount of time

🙏 Intentionally leaving time for the invitation and counseling

One of my favorite thoughts from this conversation is simple:

You don't have to wait until you have more money, a better building, or a bigger ministry to start improving your children's ministry.

Use what God has already given you.

Train your people. Give new workers opportunities to grow. Plan intentionally. Have fun. Teach the Bible. And keep working to make your children's ministry better.

At Bluestone, multiple teams rotate through children's church, but they work from the same basic philosophy and structure while still bringing their own personalities and strengths.

You don't have to copy the biggest church in town.

Be faithful with what God has given you and ask: How can we make what we're already doing better?

🎙️ The Great Commission Toolkit | Excellerate Ministries

This is part of our continuing series on Celebrate Kids Sunday. In the next episode, we'll dig deeper into follow-up and what the church did to encourage visiting families to return.

Donate to our ministry: https://www.paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/4894299

Follow us on Social Media: https://linktr.ee/excellerateministries

Send in Question to chase@excellerateministries.com

Have questions for Dad, Pastor Jon? Email him here: bluestonepastor@gmail.com

#ChildrensMinistry #KidsMinistry #SmallChurch #ChurchGrowth #SundaySchool #JuniorChurch #VBS #MinistryTraining #GreatCommissionToolkit

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