Fusion: Turning First-Time Guests into Fully-Engaged Members of Your Church

by Nelson Searcy, Jennifer Henson

Creating an environment that both embraces our newcomers and excites them enough to return does not happen by chance. We must be prepared to be effective stewards of those God brings us. Why should the Church not be the epitome of service at its best, as modeled by the greatest server of all time? Built on The Journey Church of the City's Assimilation Seminar, Fusion embodies a step by step, biblically grounded, tested and proven plan for establishing a relationship with necomers that ultimately prompts them to become fully developing members of our congregations. This innovative, practical guide is full of how to information, testimonials from the recently assimilated and from participating church leaders, examples of the assimilation materials used and check points to make sure the reader is on track. Engaging, informative and immediately applicable, here is help for setting newcomers on the path toward true life transformation and spiritual maturity.

Genres: Church, Leadership, Christian, Nonfiction, Religion, Discipleship, Reference

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 2, 2008

Reviews

[Thomas Christianson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some solid, practical tips on how churches can engage with guests. A corny narrative and comically frequent references to other books written by the author are pretty distracting.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

The content of this book is great, it really is. Every church should seek to treat their guests as well as the pages of this book outline. Throughout the entire book are great systems and strategies on how to turn first-time guest into regular attenders, all accompanied by recommendations of Searcy's other resources. Every time he talks about membership or groups or volunteers, there's a plug for a resource or a book. Seriously. Every. Single. Time. I get it, he is the godfather of all things assimilation, but don't push the same exact book seven times! Enough already, we get it! You're a systems guru, and for an extra $10 I can gain your wisdom on how to double my volunteer teams. As I was finishing the book it was almost laughable. If you are planning on reading this book, turn it into a drinking game, take a shot every time he mentions one of his books or companion resources. That should make it bearable to read.

[Jess McDonald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Practical and helpful especially if you’re a mega church with a hundred people on your greeter team. ;) But i found some really good points that we are using to revitalize our church’s greeter ministry.

[Ashley Berndl · Rating 4 out of 5]

super easy, clear read
had lots of wisdom for first time guest experience
tools at the end all clearly outlined is super helpful

[Evan Staffieri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought most of this stuff in the book is self explanatory, but the main message of this book is being good stewards of the guests God brings to us.

I think the author sometimes took it too far into what man can do rather than what God is going to do that is out of our control, but if a person who is walking in step with the spirit and has the Holy Spirit in them, all these things in this book should be a, "duh, that makes sense!" If you love Christ, you most definitely should love His church. If you don't, you need to test yourself and see whether you be in the faith.

The way I look at it is, I'm a fallen creature; though I have the Holy Spirit in me, I will still fail because of the constant battle of the sinful, unredeemed flesh. I will miss opportunities, say something wrong, or even mess up, as I am daily falling short of His glory unfortunately... but God will do what He must do to bring people to their church and save them if they aren't saved, and put them there as members if it is His will.

In Matthew 18 Jesus said to Peter, "I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH, NOT EVEN THE GATES OF HELL WILL PREVAIL AGAINST IT." Am I going to do my best as a servant of Christ to make a great first impression to the guests God gives us? Yes! Am I going to do everything they want or like in a church just so they can be happy and feel comfortable being members? I am going to try my best as long as it is accordance with God's word.

The point is basically this: if you are in the word, having a consistent, quiet time, and prayer life is healthy, you will be doing your best, by God's grace to love and take care of your neighbors. It is God who gives the growth, we must be only willing to water and plant. I wouldn't read this book again. My wife and I now want to read a discipleship book to further our efforts and something with more scriptural references and depth, not just this man's views and system.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! The basic premise of this book is that a first time guest to a church will make a decision whether they will come back in the first 7 minutes of being there. Nelson gives us a system to make guests feel accepted and a system of follow up to help them know we care for them. I am going to try this is my church and see how it goes!

[Rev Ricky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely practical and very important for Pastors. I highly recommend it, especially for those of us who believed all we would need to do to build a church was preach.

[Mike Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was recommended to me by people in the ministry who have implemented these principles and seen them work. Searcy painfully exposes how most churches lack an effective system (if they have any at all) to promote reoccurring attendance in their church. To help us, the author presents the philosophy behind his Assimilation System and gives every practical detail on how to carry it out. Basically, the goal is to turn a first time guest into a second time guest. Then, he aims to provide every second time guest relationship-building opportunities to cause them to become a regular attendee. Searcy then encourages a membership class to move the attendees to a deeper level of commitment to the church through membership.

My initial concern in reading this book was that the assimilation philosophy would be based upon a shallow view of salvation and discipleship. As I read, I realized that his system is actually based upon the assumption that the services and small groups in the church are providing the needed nourishment to develop committed disciples. On the practical side, Searcy offers many suggestions that are worth implementing. He heavily focuses on the pre-service experience (friendliness, door greeters, ushers, etc) and gives some helpful tips to plug people into small groups and activities.

After reading this book, I believe the church I serve in could benefit from the pre-service suggestions by the author, as well as some other practical suggestions that will help close the gap in our process. I would recommend this book to any person in ministry looking to polish to their follow-up process. Every church has something to learn from Searcy's book.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Fusion" is a great church tool for leaders. This is perfect for pastors. The aim of the book is for those in ministry trying to engage first time guests into returning back to their church for a second and third time. The author basically uses second-time guest relationships a building block for opportunities to have them become regular attendees. He then encourages a membership class to move attendes to further their level of commitment to the church. One note I must point out, is that this system's structure is based on the fact that those who are being disciples are being discipled out of community in a small group setting. While he offers great advice, not every church has these resources of team members to do this. I give this book 4/5 stars. A favorable review was not required.

[victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had a fantastic writing and compelling to read with can helping people to connection to move their first time guests take step by step, practical and tested examples on their journey toward maturity and fully engaged who is serving and sharing in Christ also with the others. I highly recommend to everyone must to read this book. “ I received a complimentary a copy of this book from Baker Books Blogger for this review”.

[Peter Stonecipher · Rating 2 out of 5]

Many "church growth" techniques and systems seem manipulative and artificial. To its credit, there are many good ideas to be processed from "Fusion", but I fear that a mechanical reproduction of what is contained here would be unhealthy and unloving.

[Darrin Niday · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had some great info on how to treat first time guests and not scare them off. Practical information, and easy to do.

[Julie Lanham · Rating 4 out of 5]

My husband and I lead the greeters/ushers at our church. This definitely gave me a different perspective on first time guests. Looking forward to sharing ideas from the book with our team.

[Andy Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every pastor and church member needs to read this book. Great system to retain first time visitors to your church.

[Daniel Mann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some helpful practical advice but poor ministry philosophy and understanding of the church

[JSem · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gimmicky

[John Majors · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very practical step by step guide to following up with people. Some info seems a little outdated (technology wise) but to be fair my copy might be an older edition.

[Dustin Blumer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such good practical advice on follow up. A simple yet so helpful guidebook.

[Oak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fusion: Turning First-Time Guests into Fully-Engaged Members of Your Church by Nelson Searcy (with Jennifer Dykes Henson) discusses ways to help make church newcomers into members of your congregation. The book introduces a wide variety of ideas to assist in assimilating new people into the church.

My favorite chapter was “Creating Fans Through Follow-Up,” which provided constructive ideas to follow-up with church visitors. I also thought the idea of a membership class was interesting; I have seen and heard about membership classes at different churches, but never thought much about their importance. Additionally, I liked how Searcy explained the “three Rs” of church retention: return, relationships, and responsibility. Fusion would be a handy guide for church leaders.

*I received this book for review*

[A.J. Mendoza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy reading level, helpful for any church leadership that is desiring to be more intentional with how they approach guests. You will no doubt benefit from Searcy's thorough look at first impressions and the steps a church can take to best retain their guests. Would highly recommend for any staff that whats to increase their front door and decrease their back.

The critiques will come from the perspective that resists this "franchise" approach to local church. The majority of advice given by Searcy can be found in the training manuals at Chic-fil-A. For corporate America, it works great. There is something about this application to the local church that makes me sit uneasy. Also, Searcy does a lot of advertising for his other books (looking at you pages 91-93). Just weird.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual, Nelson Searcy does a great job of outlining processes, practices & procedures for ministry - this time, it's about their assimilation system at The Journey Church and how you can take their principles and apply it in your own church. (Yes, I'm aware that calling something an assimilation system makes it sound a bit like the Borg are running your church, but that's the terminology and it existed prior to Six of Nine and the giant cubes.)

Nelson always sounds like a bit of an Amway salesman to me - but that doesn't change the fact that he's done his homework, both in Scripture study & in practical ministry.

[Kevin Eccles · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this book is more of the same for leaders of a church. With many steps, specific examples, and Searcy's trademark "lets follow an imaginary test case through the process" writing, the book is inflated and far longer than it needs to be. It could have been a pamphlet.

1) Connect to people
2) Make them feel welcome
3) Give them opportunities to get involved

Done. The reason it got two stars and not one is because it does have decent examples of how that can be done, even if it takes 20 pages instead of a paragraph. If you're good at skimming books, it may be worth your while. Don't spend more than 90 minutes on it.

[Evelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have a new church or a church looking to revamp their assimilation process, then I highly recommend this book to help you get started or get in the right direction of growing your church in quantity and most especially in quality!!! I also recommend this book to those who have a desire of serving God but just don't know where to start - this book will encourage you to break out of your shell and help you to realize that God wants to use you even if it means being that person who greets a guest at the entrance and being the first impression of the church you serve under and represent the loving God we serve!

[Chris Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much like the book, I'll keep the review short and to the point. We were already using bits of the Assimilation System that Searcy lays out over the course of the book. However, reading through the entire work has given us a chance to tighten up our process and work to be even better stewards of God's grace in visitors to our church plant.

I recommend this book highly to church planters and ministry leaders across the board as a starting point for having a solid first time guests assimilation system in place. May God grant you great results in your ministry as you seek to honor him in all things!

[Melissa Santiago · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some really good ideas, the web links for more information were not accurate to what they claim to offer. Our church has done the connect cards with great success as well as a few of the other ideas. This was required reading for a class of mine. I was glad to get the information and happy to hear how we were adapting the portions of it that would work best for us. I emailed and asked for ideas on how to engage during the COVID issues we're having and they replied graciously that they had no information or suggestions. Now that COVID is predominate I think it's time for a follow up book. These techniques don't work for our current and possibly future situations.

[David Bocock · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made a profound impact on me and my ministry. It was also the basis for my DMin project and thesis. In it, I learned how to assimilate newcomers into new members and how to go about making that an intentional process. Every church can learn something in this vital book, especially progressive churches who are looking for relevancy and how to integrate their visitors rather than simply hoping they stay around long enough to join.

I highly recommend this book.

[Mark Soone · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not sure how this author and book have slipped under my radar??? I believed that already knew of most relevant christian authors and thinkers of our day??? Oh well learn something new everyday.

This is by far the best book that I have ever read, in regards to assimilation. This should be desired if not required reading for all pastors, and most other church leaders as well.

[Dale Critchley · Rating 4 out of 5]

While many of the ideas contained herein require a rather large church and wouldn't work for a small group of volunteers, there's enough practical knowledge here to glean something useful for nearly everyone. In my case, since we're in the process of designing such a system, it gave me a few ideas and gave me affirmation on other ideas I already had. A worthwhile read.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are interested in church growth, are working as a pastor, or would like to invite someone to help your church grow, then you should definitley read Searcy's series of books.

He hasn't invented all of the various ideas, you can find them elsewhere, but no one has taken all the ideas and placed them in such an orderly fashion with step one, two three so clearly laid out.

[Jim Armpriester · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had really basic ideas that should come pretty intuitively. I appreciate his heart and it was good fuel to keep doing what were already doing. There were a few improvements that I could grab hold for our current system. If you don't currently have any assimilation systems this book works as a good starting point.