A few weeks ago, I took my toddler son on a walk to the Salt Marsh, a nearby track that I love.
It wasn’t an ambitious hike. We weren’t climbing a mountain or heading into the wilderness. It was simply an opportunity to spend time together outdoors and enjoy God’s creation.
But as the journey continued, things started to go wrong. I carried my son in a carrier throughout the duration of the journey, and the further we went, the heavier he became. On top of that I wore shoes that weren’t suited to the track so I found myself slipping on sections of the path.
As the morning wore on, the day became hotter than I’d anticipated and, when I went to reach for my water, there was barely half a bottle between us.
Eventually my heart started racing. probably from panic and from exertion. I looked ahead and realised there was still a steep staircase to climb before we reached the end.
Even though we were only about a hundred metres from the finish, I turned around.
The destination hadn’t changed. I still wanted to get there. But I realised I didn’t have what I needed for the journey to be successful. Continuing would have been possible, but it didn’t feel wise. The risk had become greater than the reward.
How My Journey Relates to the Journey for Churches
As I reflected on that experience later, I found myself thinking about our churches.
I wonder how many people quietly turn back before they ever experience what God is doing in our communities.
Not because they rejected Jesus.
Not because they weren’t interested.
But because somewhere along the journey, the barriers became too great.
For many churches, we instinctively think the journey begins on Saturday when someone walks through the front doors for worship. We invest time preparing the sermon, rehearsing the music, organising the welcome team and making sure the service runs smoothly.
Those things matter.
But what if the journey began long before Saturday?
What if someone first encountered your church through a Google search while looking for hope? Or a Facebook post that a friend shared? Perhaps they drove past your church sign every day on the way to work before finally becoming curious enough to look up your website. Maybe they watched a sermon online months before ever considering a visit.
What Makes People Turn Around in the Middle of the Journey?
For others, Saturday never comes.
They quietly turn back somewhere along the journey.
Perhaps they couldn’t find your service times. Perhaps your website didn’t answer the questions they were asking. Maybe they weren’t sure whether there was a children’s program, what to wear or whether someone would notice they were visiting for the first time.
None of those barriers seem particularly significant in isolation, but together they can become enough for someone to decide, “Maybe not today.”
That’s why I’ve become increasingly convinced that every church already has a journey.
Every Church Already Has a Journey
Whether we’ve intentionally designed it or not, people are already experiencing our church long before they walk through the front doors. They experience it through our church sign, our social media, our website, our emails, the way the phone is answered, the friendliness of our members and the conversations they have after the service. Every interaction shapes what happens next.
The question isn’t whether your church has a journey.
It already does.
The real question is whether you’ve intentionally thought about the experience people are having as they move from first click to belonging.
Every Journey Needs a Destination
If every church already has a journey, the next question becomes obvious.
Where are we trying to take people?
One of my favourite conversations in literature comes from Alice in Wonderland.
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where—” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
“—so long as I get somewhere,” Alice added as an explanation.
“Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.”
It’s a reminder that journeys only make sense when we know the destination.
The same is true for our churches.
Before we think about websites, social media, visitor follow-up or hospitality teams, we need to be clear about what we’re inviting people into. Otherwise, it’s very easy to become busy without being intentional.
Is a Full Church the Destination?
Sometimes churches unintentionally make attendance the destination.
We celebrate when the building is full. We measure how many people came to an event. We rejoice when our social media engagement increases or our livestream receives more views.
Those things can be encouraging, but they aren’t the destination.
A full church isn’t necessarily a healthy church.
If people don’t know Jesus more deeply than they did a year ago, if they aren’t learning to love one another sacrificially, if they aren’t discovering their gifts and making disciples themselves, then attendance becomes little more than a vanity metric.
The Destination is Discipleship
The destination has always been discipleship.
That might sound obvious, but I’ve discovered that when churches become clear about the discipleship journey, something unexpected happens.
Everything else becomes clearer too.
Our communications become clearer.
Our digital strategy becomes clearer.
Our hospitality becomes clearer.
Even our calls to action become clearer because we’re no longer asking, “How do we get people to church?” Instead, we’re asking, “What’s the next step on their journey towards Jesus?”
Thoughtful Questions When Designing a Journey
I’ve had the privilege of seeing churches intentionally map that journey. One church I visited had thoughtfully considered every stage of a visitor’s experience. They had asked questions like:
- How will someone first discover us?
- What questions will they have before they visit?
- How can we make their first experience less intimidating?
- Who will greet them?
- How will we follow up?
- How will they become part of a small group?
- What opportunities will help them continue growing as disciples?
What impressed me wasn’t that they had a detailed process.
It was that every step pointed in the same direction.
They weren’t creating activity for activity’s sake. They were intentionally helping people move towards becoming mature disciples of Jesus.
Intentionality Changes Our Communication
That kind of clarity changes the way we communicate.
If we know we’re helping someone move from spiritual curiosity to belonging, from belonging to growing, and from growing to serving and making disciples, then every piece of communication has a purpose.
A website isn’t simply a place to publish information.
A Facebook post isn’t simply something to fill the feed.
A welcome email isn’t just good administration.
Each becomes an opportunity to help someone take their next step.
Without a destination, every ministry begins pulling in different directions.
With a shared destination, the church begins moving together.
Whose Destination Are We Optimising For?
Once we’ve clarified our destination, another question begins to emerge.
Whose destination are we optimising for?
At first, that question sounds a little strange. Surely, as churches, we’re trying to help people become disciples of Jesus. Of course we are.
But while our destination may be discipleship, the people we hope will one day become disciples often arrive with very different concerns.
Do We Understand What People Care About?
They’re not usually thinking about joining a ministry team or attending a small group.
They’re wondering if there is hope after losing someone they love.
They’re searching for meaning after life hasn’t turned out the way they expected.
They’re wrestling with anxiety, trying to forgive someone who hurt them, or looking for purpose in the middle of an ordinary week.
Interestingly, those are some of the very questions people are already asking.
According to Dave Adamson of YouVersion, the ubiquitous Bible App, hope, anxiety, purpose, forgiveness and meaning are among the most common Bible searches in New Zealand.
Long before people are looking for a church, they’re often looking for hope.
As churches, we sometimes assume people are asking the same questions we are.
We’re thinking:
“How do we help people join a life group?”
“How do we encourage people to volunteer?”
“How do we help them become fully engaged members of our church?”
Those are important questions, but they usually aren’t the first questions visitors are asking.
What Do People Want?
People rarely continue towards our desired destination until we’ve helped them reach theirs.
Imagine someone walking into your church carrying the weight of a broken marriage, a frightening medical diagnosis or the loss of a job.
They’re not wondering how soon they can join the church board.
They’re wondering whether God still sees them.
Whether anyone will notice them.
Whether there is hope.
If we immediately invite them to our destination without acknowledging where they are beginning, we risk asking them to take a step they’re not yet ready to take.
What Did Jesus Do?
Jesus rarely did that.
He met people where they were.
The woman at the well came looking for water.
Nicodemus came with questions.
Zacchaeus simply wanted to see Jesus.
The paralysed man needed healing.
Jesus never compromised the destination, but He was remarkably attentive to each person’s starting point.
That has challenged the way I think about communication.
Communication as a Guide on the Journey
Perhaps our role isn’t simply to tell people where we want them to end up.
Perhaps our role is to thoughtfully accompany them from where they are today towards where Jesus longs for them to be.
That shift changes everything.
Instead of asking, “How do we get more people to attend church?” we begin asking, “What might someone need before attending church even feels possible?”
Instead of asking, “How do we encourage more volunteers?” we ask, “How are we helping people discover that they belong before asking them to serve?”
The questions become more pastoral.
More relational.
More human.
Ironically, when we begin helping people reach the destinations they’re searching for—hope, purpose, forgiveness, community and prayer—we often discover they’re much more willing to continue the journey towards the destination we’ve been praying for all along.
Not because we’ve manipulated them.
Because we’ve walked with them.
How Do We Thoughtfully Help People Take the Next Step?
Once we become clear about the destination and begin understanding the needs people bring with them, the next question becomes surprisingly practical.
How do we thoughtfully help people take the next step?
I don’t believe this is something churches should be hesitant to ask.
In fact, I think we should ask it far more often.
Politicians spend countless hours designing the journey from hearing a message to casting a vote. They understand how each neighbourhood is likely to vote and they have targeted campaigns.
Sporting teams invest hours every week planning how each player will move across the field. They have intricate knowledge of their opponents and map out plays to counteract each potential offensive attack. Every person knows their role and dutifully carries it out.
Businesses carefully remove obstacles that might prevent someone from completing a purchase. They understand their target markets and design products to specifically meet their needs.
None of those organisations leave important outcomes entirely to chance.
Yet the church has been entrusted with the greatest message in the world, and sometimes we’re the least intentional about the journey people experience.
Become Better Shepherds
Please don’t misunderstand me.
I’m not suggesting churches should become marketing organisations or treat people like customers.
I’m suggesting we become better shepherds.
A shepherd thinks about the path.
A shepherd notices the places where people are likely to stumble.
A shepherd removes unnecessary obstacles while recognising that some parts of the journey will always require faith and courage.
There are barriers that belong to following Jesus. We shouldn’t remove those. Jesus Himself said that following Him involves taking up our cross.
But there are many barriers that have nothing to do with the gospel.
Removing Barriers to Make the Path Accessible
Confusing websites. No clear next step. Visitors standing alone after the service. No one following up. Different ministries working independently rather than helping people move towards a common destination. Those are barriers we can remove.
Thoughtful journey design isn’t about making Christianity easier. It’s about making it easier for people to encounter Jesus and His people.
That changes the role of every ministry in the church.
The communications team isn’t simply producing graphics. The hospitality team isn’t simply greeting at the door. The children’s ministry isn’t simply running Sabbath School. The pastor isn’t simply preaching a sermon.
Each ministry is helping people take another step along the journey.
When everyone understands the destination, each ministry begins asking the same question.
What’s the next step?
It might be the next step after someone visits the website, attends church for the first time or joins a small group.
Or it might be the next step after someone has been faithfully attending for years but has never discovered the joy of discipling someone else.
The question stays the same.
Only the person changes.
I’ve often thought that we understand this instinctively in our personal lives.
How Friendship Relates to Journey Design
I’ve often thought that we understand this instinctively in our personal lives.
I can invite someone to my home for dinner, and we might have a wonderful evening together. But if I never learn their name properly, never invite them again, never show genuine interest in their life or create another opportunity to spend time together, we probably won’t become lifelong friends.
Relationships don’t develop because two people happened to share a meal. They grow through a series of intentional moments over time.
Church is no different.
Hospitality is much more than smiling at the front door. It’s noticing people, remembering their names, introducing them to others with similar interests, following up during the week and inviting them back again. It’s helping people discover where they belong.
Belonging doesn’t happen simply because someone attended a church service. More often, it grows because someone intentionally helped them take another step.
Perhaps that’s why I’ve become increasingly convinced that digital ministry and hospitality ministry aren’t as different as we sometimes imagine.
Digital ministry often has the privilege of welcoming people before they arrive. Hospitality ministry has the privilege of continuing that welcome once they do. Together, they help accompany people from first click to belonging.
Looking at Your Church with Fresh Eyes
As I think back to that day on the Salt Marsh track, I don’t regret turning around. It was the right decision. The destination was still there; I simply wasn’t prepared for the journey that would get us there.
I’ve found myself wondering whether churches sometimes experience something similar. We faithfully prepare for what happens once people arrive. We pray over the sermon, rehearse the music, organise volunteers and hope visitors will return. Those things are important, but what if some of the most significant opportunities to disciple people happen before they ever take a seat?
What if people are quietly turning back because they don’t know what to expect, they can’t see a next step or they simply haven’t experienced enough intentionality to keep moving forward?
The encouraging news is that we don’t have to redesign everything overnight. Journey thinking doesn’t begin with a new website or a larger communications budget. It begins with curiosity. It begins with slowing down and asking better questions.
Journey Design Begins with Curiosity
What journey are people currently experiencing when they encounter our church? Where are they most likely to stop? Which barriers are part of following Jesus, and which barriers have we unintentionally created ourselves? Most importantly, where are we hoping this journey will eventually lead?
These aren’t questions for the communications team alone. They’re questions for pastors, elders, hospitality teams, Sabbath School leaders, children’s ministry volunteers, small group leaders and everyone involved in the life of the church.
Every ministry sees a different part of the journey. When we bring those perspectives together, we begin to see something much bigger than a website or a welcome team. We begin to see how God might be inviting us to more intentionally guide people as they move towards Him.
Map the Journey
If you’re part of a church leadership team, perhaps your next board meeting or ministry planning day could begin with one simple exercise: map the journey.
Start with the moment someone first hears about your church. Ask what they experience next. Where are they likely to have questions? Who notices them when they arrive? How do they become known? Where do they discover community? How do they grow? How do they begin serving? How do they become the kind of disciple who helps someone else take the same journey?
You don’t need every answer immediately. You simply need to begin asking better questions.
The Best Journeys Start with People at the Centre
I’ve had the privilege of helping churches work through these conversations, and one thing has become clear. The most fruitful discussions rarely begin with websites or social media. They begin with people.
As teams gather around a table and start mapping the journey together, they often discover that every ministry has a role to play in helping someone take their next step towards Jesus. If that’s a conversation you’d like to have in your own church, I’d love to facilitate it. Sometimes an outside perspective can help a leadership team see their church through the eyes of a first-time visitor and identify simple, practical ways to remove unnecessary barriers while remaining true to the church’s mission and culture.
Have We Thoughtfully Prepared the Path?
Every church already has a journey. The question isn’t whether people are travelling it. The question is whether we’ve thoughtfully prepared the path.
Because somewhere today, someone may be only a hundred metres away. They’re searching for hope. They’re looking for purpose. They’re wondering whether there’s a community where they might belong.
My prayer is that when they encounter our churches—whether through a conversation, a church sign, a website or a warm welcome on a Saturday morning—we will have thoughtfully removed every unnecessary barrier so they can continue the journey towards Jesus.
Would you like to create a discipleship journey for your church?