Why do first-time guests stop coming back?
Guests decide quickly: in a 2023 Lifeway Research survey of churchgoers who had switched churches, 71% decided to attend regularly within three visits. (Lifeway Research, 2023)
That leaves very little room for a slow week. A card filled out on Sunday sits in a stack until Tuesday. The text that should have gone out never does, because nobody owned it, and by the next Sunday the guest has made other plans.
What is church visitor retention consulting?
Church visitor retention consulting is a short, structured engagement that maps what really happens to a first-time guest after Sunday, finds where follow-up stalls, and designs the pathways, owners and cadences your staff and volunteers run every week. It works with the system you already use, including Breeze, Planning Center or a spreadsheet.
Curious where your church stands first? The free Retention Scorecard takes a few minutes, and the church visitor retention statistics page collects the sourced research.