The little cards in the seat backs of your worship center are not just there for kicks. They serve a valuable purpose and have great power if used effectively. The power they hold to connect one another and pray for one another is huge. However, if you’ve been underutilizing and altogether ignoring these cards, you’re not alone. Now’s the time to create a strategy that helps you to use these guest and prayer cards effectively.
Here are five ways to ensure that your guest and prayer cards are being used effectively so you can reach more people and further the mission of your church.
1. Tell People About Them
Have you ever seen something so often that you don’t see it anymore? Maybe it’s a picture hanging on the wall or a quote you have on your desk — something totally unnoticed because of its commonality. Don’t let this become true of your guest and prayer cards. Remind people from the stage that the guest and prayer cards exist. Encourage your members to write down their prayer requests and reassure them that their requests are kept confidential and will be covered with prayer. Ask visitors to write down their contact information so that you can reach out to them that week. The whole point is to direct people to these cards so they know they exist.
2. Place Them Everywhere
Simply putting these cards in the seat backs is not enough. Place these cards in classrooms, the main foyer, welcome centers, church office, and wherever else you can think to place them. The more places you can find to put them, the more opportunities people have to fill them out. You can also encourage greeters to have these cards in hand so people can fill them out as they enter or leave your church. Don’t forget to identify a specific area in your church where all cards can go so people know where to drop them off. Be sure all teachers, leaders, and members know where to put these cards so everyone is on the same page.
3. Utilize Your Church Management Software
Using guest and prayer cards is a great way to maximize your church management software (ChMS). In your ChMS, you can input new visitor information, specific prayer request, and update any additional information at your fingertips. You can utilize your ChMS to assign tasks to people in your church to pray over specific requests or to reach out to new visitors the week after they’ve visited. The sky is the limit with your ChMS, so be sure to manage your guest and prayer cards well by using it.
4. Go Digital
Creating digital guest and prayer cards is a great way to eliminate the need for paper. Allow people to fill in this information on their phones so that it is sent directly to your database. Imagine the freedom your church administrator would feel if he or she didn’t have to input all prayer requests and new visitor information. It would simply be uploaded in real-time.
5. Schedule Weekly Meetings
Before you dive into handling these guest and prayer cards each week, mark your calendars for one day per week to hold a prayer meeting. Invite anyone from your church to attend that desires to pray over your members. At the meeting, divide the cards among those who joined and spend quality time praying over each request. If the request has contact information on it, send them a short email or text to let them know you are covering their request in prayer. Ask if your church can meet any tangible need that week and let them know you love them. Praying and reaching out is one of the main ways to use these cards.
Next Steps
Hopefully, you’ve seen how to be more strategic with your guest and prayer cards. Our goal is to ensure you are utilizing what you have so that you can reach more people and grow your church. We want people to be positively impacted by your church, and we’re ready to help you with whatever you need. To learn more, start a free Elexio 60-day trial today (no credit card required).
