Your church had visitors on Sunday.

What should you do next—and how quickly should you do it?

In this episode of The Great Commission Toolkit, I'm back with my brother, Pastor Josh Williams of Crosspoint in Foley, Alabama, to get practical about one of the most important parts of church outreach: following up with first-time guests.

Last episode, we talked about WHY every church needs a follow-up system.

This time, we're talking about where to start.

Josh explains why he recommends contacting guests within 24 hours, how to collect visitor information without making people uncomfortable, and ways churches can follow up even better because of the digital age.

We cover:

📱 Why Josh recommends following up within 24 hours

👋 How to make your first contact personal and welcoming

☕ Building relationships through coffee or lunch

📝 What to put on a church visitor card

🎁 Using welcome gifts to connect with guests

👥 Training a team to collect visitor information

📲 Paper cards vs. QR codes and digital registration

🎉 How to collect contact information at church outreach events

🎟️ Using preregistration and giveaways effectively

⛪ Practical ideas for both small and growing churches

One of the biggest principles from this conversation is:

Don't make follow-up complicated. Make it intentional.

For Sunday visitors, Josh recommends a simple card asking for a name and phone number, paired with a personal introduction and a clear explanation of why the church would like to contact them.

For community events, he explains how preregistration, entrance check-in, and interactive giveaways can help churches build connections with families.

And when it comes to reaching out?

Don't wait two weeks to make the first contact.

A timely, thoughtful message can help begin a relationship that extends well beyond a single Sunday or special event.

Our goal isn't just collecting names or increasing attendance. We want to build relationships, share the gospel, and help people become growing disciples of Jesus Christ.

🎙️ The Great Commission Toolkit | Excellerate Ministries

In the next episode, Josh will explain the actual follow-up process and the tools he uses to make it work.

If this episode helps you, share it with a pastor, outreach director, or church leader!

Questions or coaching with Pastor Josh Williams: pastorjosh@crosspointoffoley.org

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

#ChurchFollowUp #ChurchGrowth #ChurchOutreach #ChurchVisitors #Evangelism #ChurchLeadership #GreatCommissionToolkit

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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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How do you get families you've reached through VBS, kids' programs, and community events to actually visit your church on Sunday?

In Part 2 of our conversation about Celebrate Kids Sunday, I'm back with my dad, pastor of Bluestone Baptist Church, to break down the practical promotion and outreach that went into their biggest Sunday of the year.

This wasn't built around a massive advertising budget.

Instead, they used relationships and contacts they had already developed through VBS, Summer Kids Club, community events, and other outreach opportunities—and intentionally invited those families to take another step.

In this episode, we talk about:

📝 Using registration forms to identify families who want more information about your church

📱 Building an outreach contact list instead of losing contacts after an event

👨‍👩‍👧 Moving families from a children's event to Sunday morning

📲 How texting was used to reconnect with previous contacts

📣 Facebook promotion on a small budget

📄 Using flyers and encouraging church members to invite

🙏 Making prayer a major part of event preparation

⚽ Why a VBS parents' night can be incredibly valuable

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Getting parents and grandparents involved in children's events

🎯 Keeping the ultimate goal of salvation and discipleship in view

One of the ideas I love from this conversation is incredibly simple:

When someone attends one of your events, don't lose the relationship when the event ends.

Give families an opportunity to request more information. Keep appropriate contact information. Continue building the relationship. Pray for them. And intentionally create opportunities to invite them back.

By God's grace, Celebrate Kids Sunday brought around 10–12 visiting families, and the relationships behind many of those visits had been developing through previous outreach.

You don't necessarily need a massive budget to reach families in your community.

Start with the people God has already allowed you to reach.

🎙️ The Great Commission Toolkit | Excellerate Ministries

This is Part 2 of our conversation about Celebrate Kids Sunday. In the next episode, we'll get even more practical about what happened when families actually arrived—how they were welcomed, how information was collected for follow-up, and how the children's ministry was structured.

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

#ChurchOutreach #ChurchGrowth #ChildrensMinistry #KidsMinistry #VBS #ChurchMarketing #Evangelism #GreatCommissionToolkit

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What happens AFTER your big church event?

Churches can spend weeks planning a VBS, kids' day, community outreach, or special Sunday. But sometimes we put so much effort into getting people there that we don't have a plan for getting them back.

In this episode of The Great Commission Toolkit, I'm joined by my dad and pastor to talk about Celebrate Kids Sunday at Bluestone Baptist Church.

The goal wasn't simply to have a big attendance day. The church wanted to connect with families they had reached through VBS Soccer Camp and Summer Kids Club. Then give those families a reason to return.

By God's grace, Celebrate Kids Sunday became the church's biggest Sunday of the year, and several visiting families continued coming back in the weeks that followed.

We talk about:

🙏 The spiritual preparation and prayer behind the day

🎯 Why they started with a clear goal

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Reaching the entire family through children's ministry

📱 How they used texting to personally connect with families

🍖 Using a simple meal to keep families on the property

🎉 Bounce houses, snow cones, gifts, and school supplies

🙌 Getting church members and children's workers involved

📖 Starting a sermon series on the special Sunday

📅 Giving visitors a reason to come back the next week

🔄 Planning follow-up BEFORE the event ever happens

📈 What happened in the weeks following Celebrate Kids Sunday

One of the biggest lessons from this conversation is simple:

Don't just plan the event. Plan what happens after the event.

The goal isn't simply to fill the building for one Sunday. We want to reach people with the gospel, connect families to the local church, and ultimately see disciples made.

If you're planning a VBS, kids' day, Friend Day, community outreach, or another special event, I hope this conversation gives you some practical ideas, and challenges you to think beyond the big day.

🎙️ The Great Commission Toolkit | Excellerate Ministries

This is only Part 1! In the next episode, we'll get even more practical about promotion, follow-up, and what went into making Celebrate Kids Sunday happen.

If this episode helps you, share it with another children's ministry worker and leave us a review!

Want a Kids Ministry Training Booklet? Contact us here: chase@excellerateministries.com

Gospel Resources:

Dad Joke Tracts: https://excellerateministries.com/dad-joke-tract

Counselor Cue Cards: https://excellerateministries.com/counselors-cue-cards/

The Bible Way to Heaven Booklet: https://excellerateministries.com/gospel-booklet/

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

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

#ChurchGrowth #ChildrensMinistry #ChurchOutreach #KidsMinistry #VBS #ChurchLeadership #Evangelism #GreatCommission #GreatCommissionToolkit

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How do you keep a room full of kids engaged, excited, and ready to listen?

In this episode of The Great Commission Toolkit, Chase Williams sits down again with Max Barker from Camp CoBeAc to talk about one of Max's strengths: leading from the platform.

Whether you're leading a VBS, children's church, camp service, youth event, or family program, there will be moments when things don't go according to plan. You may suddenly need to fill five minutes, wake up a tired room, transition from something fun to spiritual truth, or end an activity before you lose everyone's attention.

That's why Max recommends developing a "bag of tricks"—games, attention-getters, transitions, and other tools you can pull out whenever you need them.

In this episode, we talk about:

🎒 How to develop your own "bag of tricks"

🎮 No-prop games you can use almost anywhere

⚡ How to bring energy into a tired room

🎤 Using vocal inflection to keep kids engaged

😂 Getting kids, teens, and even parents involved

🙌 How to transition naturally from fun to spiritual truth

🎯 Why everything should be done with intentionality

🛑 How to know when it's time to end a game or activity

📈 Why you should end something while it's still at its peak

😬 What to do when something doesn't work from the platform

👀 How leading teens differs from leading children

One of the biggest principles in this conversation is that you don't have to be naturally gifted to become better at leading kids.

Build your bag of tricks. Practice. Watch yourself on video. Learn what works. Learn from what doesn't. And keep growing.

Most importantly, be intentional.

The fun, games, songs, and excitement aren't the ultimate goal. Use them intentionally to engage kids and prepare them to hear the truth of God's Word.

Whether you're a children's pastor, youth pastor, VBS director, camp worker, Sunday School teacher, or volunteer, we hope this episode gives you practical tools you can use the next time you step in front of a group.

🎙️ The Great Commission Toolkit | Excellerate Ministries

If this episode helps you, share it with another children's ministry worker and leave us a review!

Want a Kids Ministry Training Booklet? Contact us here: chase@excellerateministries.com

Gospel Resources:

Dad Joke Tracts: https://excellerateministries.com/dad-joke-tract

Counselor Cue Cards: https://excellerateministries.com/counselors-cue-cards/

The Bible Way to Heaven Booklet: https://excellerateministries.com/gospel-booklet/

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

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

#ChildrensMinistry #KidsMinistry #VBS #CampMinistry #YouthMinistry #SundaySchool #MinistryTraining #ChurchLeadership #GreatCommissionToolkit

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In this episode of The Great Commission Toolkit, Chase Williams sits down with Max Barker from Camp CoBeAc for a rapid-fire conversation about children's ministry, camp ministry, leadership, games, resources, and developing the next generation of children's workers.

After years of working with children and teens, Max shares practical lessons he's learned—including some hard-fought spiritual victories from camp, his favorite Bible stories to teach, resources he recommends, and one of the most important things every children's ministry leader needs to do:

Develop people to replace yourself.

If everything in your children's ministry depends on you, what happens when you're gone?

Max encourages leaders to bring people alongside them, give them opportunities to serve, allow them to gain experience, and intentionally develop people who can eventually carry the ministry forward.

In this episode, we talk about:

• 🎮 Simple games that work with kids
• ❤️ Some of Max's favorite camp ministry memories
• 📖 Bible stories and passages he loves teaching
• 📚 Children's ministry books and resources
• 🎯 Producing godly kids—not merely good kids
• 👥 Developing people who can replace you
• 🛡️ Protecting children and ministry workers
• 🙌 Why you don't need extraordinary talent to work with kids
• 👀 The importance of making children feel seen and loved
• 🎨 Simple teaching tools anyone can use

One of the biggest reminders from this conversation is that you don't have to be a magician, ventriloquist, musician, or incredibly gifted speaker to make a difference in children's ministry.

Kids want someone who will listen to them, love them, and see them. Max encourages workers to stop comparing themselves to unusually gifted people and simply start learning, practicing, and serving.

Whether you're a pastor, children's ministry director, Sunday School teacher, VBS worker, camp counselor, or volunteer, we hope this conversation encourages you to keep growing—and to intentionally develop others along the way.

🎙️ The Great Commission Toolkit | Excellerate Ministries

If this episode helps you, share it with another children's ministry worker and leave us a review!

Want a Kids Ministry Training Booklet? Contact us here: chase@excellerateministries.com

Gospel Resources:

Dad Joke Tracts: https://excellerateministries.com/dad-joke-tract

Counselor Cue Cards: https://excellerateministries.com/counselors-cue-cards/

The Bible Way to Heaven Booklet: https://excellerateministries.com/gospel-booklet/

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

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

#ChildrensMinistry #KidsMinistry #MinistryLeadership #SundaySchool #VBS #CampMinistry #ChristianLeadership #GreatCommissionToolkit #ChurchLeadership

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