Your six-year-old gets off the bus, jumping with excitement. When you ask why, your child gushes about the EPIC BIRTHDAY PARTY a friend is having. What a fun event! As time passes, however, you realize that you know nothing about it. You haven’t seen an invitation or heard from the parents by phone, email, or anything. You believe your child was invited, but you still have no details. When the day of the supposed party comes, your child doesn’t go. Even worse, the birthday child is sitting alone with no friends at the party.

What kind of parents would have a party and not make sure invitations go out? You can’t expect people just to read your mind and figure out the details on their own. Yet too many churches do just that. They wonder why people don’t visit. If they do visit, they don’t come back. Just like you carefully plan a party or event, your church visitor journey deserves the same thoughtful planning.

Do You Need a Church Visitor Journey?

You’ve heard the saying that failing to plan is like planning to fail. Just like a business needs a plan to attract customers, a church focused on growth needs a plan to reach people..

Too many churches, however, simply hope it will all come together. They figure that they can plan weekly services and events and people will just show up. This isn’t Field of Dreams… Building it does not ensure that “they will come”. That’s just like our poor birthday child whose parents didn’t give any details about the party!

Step One: The Visit Starts Before Sunday

In researching church visitor journeys, I was surprised how many start in the parking lot. In reality, the church visitor journey usually starts at home with a Google search. You can have the most thoughtful in-person plan in the world, but that doesn’t matter very much if people never make it on the property.

Since about 75% of visitors judge a church’s credibility based on its website, the church visitor journey actually begins online.

You can’t afford to ignore this! Make sure your website caters more to visitors than to insiders by following these 5 steps.

While a Google search will lead potential visitors to your website, sometimes people find you on social media. Keep your profiles up to date to show an active, thriving church. When a potential visitor finds you on Facebook or Instagram and sees posts from weeks (or months) ago, they assume your church is as dormant as your news feed, an impression that could keep them from visiting.

💡 Pro Tip: Put your service times and address front and center on your homepage. Visitors shouldn’t have to click around to find the basics.

Step Two: The Sunday Experience

Now that your irresistible online presence has encouraged someone to attend a service, let’s take a look at their experience. From the time they drive onto the church property, what is your goal?

Is it to lead them to Christ, get them to return, or even make them a member?

Nope.

Your main goal when it comes to a visitor’s experience at your church should be to reduce tension.

Think about it. The very act of going to a new place brings tension. So does:

• Not knowing where to park.
• Getting lost looking for the nursery.
• Wondering how long the service will last.
• Being unfamiliar with the song lyrics.

That’s a lot of tension before the service even starts!

Every little thing you can do to reduce tension during the church visitor journey helps that person feel more at ease and welcome. To the seasoned church member, these items may seem insignificant. Small details such as clear signage, clutter-free hallways, and a service order that’s easy to follow will make a huge difference.

Since many first time guests decide whether they’ll visit again within the first 10 minutes, those first impressions matter more than anything that happens later in the service.

That’s not the first ten minutes of the service. It’s the first ten minutes on the property. No matter how impactful your sermon is, a disgruntled visitor who had a hard time finding the restroom will not be in the right headspace to hear it.

💡 Pro Tip: A clear visitor page on your website can answer many of these questions before guests ever arrive — reducing tension before a visit starts.

Step 3: Gathering Visitor Info

Your primary goal is to reduce tension wherever possible. After that, you want the visitor to give you their contact information. That requires a certain level of trust, which is another reason you want them to feel comfortable.

You may want to find out everything you can about the visitor. After all, you want to get to know them, right? Resist the urge to do this on the first visit. The only essential information you need is their name and email address. You can fill in the other information as they are ready to give it to you.

When you meet someone new, do you ask everything about them? You wait and learn as you get to know the person. Why, then, do we ask people we’ve just met to tell us their life stories on their first visit?

A simple form with 2-3 questions looks like a no-brainer. Every question you ask after that decreases the likelihood that a visitor will complete the form at all. Don’t make it feel like work!

💡 Pro Tip: Offer both a physical card and a digital option (like a QR code) so visitors can choose the format that feels most comfortable.

Step 4: Following Up – The Last Stop of the Church Visitor Journey

I’ve mentioned this before, but it continues to astound me.

Only 24% of churches follow up with guests who have willingly shared their contact information. That means about 3 out of 4 people never hear a word back!

If you legitimately want visitors to feel like they matter, this should be the most important part of the church visitor journey. When a visitor takes the time to share contact information, they give you permission to use it. What message does it send when you don’t?

Even the simplest “thanks for visiting” email is better than nothing. Reach out. Let them know you care. Don’t let this fall through the cracks. Here are some simple emails you could send.

💡 Pro Tip: Don’t send a super long email that people don’t have time to read. Instead, use automation to deliver short bits of information over the next week.

Planning a birthday party without sending invitations is a recipe for disappointment. In the same way, hoping visitors will just show up and stay without a clear path is wishful thinking.

When you map out your church visitor journey, you take the guesswork out of it. A welcoming website, a thoughtful Sunday experience, a simple way to collect visitor info, and timely follow-up all work together to help guests feel seen and valued.

Visitors won’t stick around by accident. But with an intentional plan, they’ll be more likely to return, connect, and become part of your church family. So map out your church visitor journey, and keep swimming along!