SPEAKER_00 0:12

Welcome to the Build the Church podcast, where we help you gain momentum, grow your church, and go the distance. I'm your host, Josh Murphy, and in today's episode, we're gonna talk with Pastor Victor and Ray from the Will of the Church in Maryland, where they have experienced some tremendous code. And the reason that they've been able to do that is that they have become experts in connecting people to the church. In this episode, we talk to you about how they've been able to hype the conversation on the way of making such a big impact on first idea in their church. And you'll be surprised to learn that one of the ways that they do this is just simply having fun. So if you find yourself struggling to see people connect to your next steps or growth traps or take a next step in your church, you're gonna want to tune in and listen to this conversation with Pastor Victor because he's gonna give you some strategies that I know gets a track. Before we get into that conversation, I want to take a second to talk about your team.church. Your team.church is to place every volunteer in your church where they provide by giving them an online personality test that is common, enjoyable, and easy to take. It's also easy for you to administer as a pastor, then that test connects them to the team. If you ever wanted a spiritual gift test that's as your own churches branding in a unique URL just for your church, that people in your next steps class can scan the QR code and take right away instead of summing through a book that may or may not provide them a good match. Then you need to check out your team.church. You can take the test for free right now at your team.church slash disk. We're also running a promo where you can try out the full platform 30 days for free. So go check out your team.church slash disc today. Now let's hop into our conversation with Pastor Victor. Victor, I'm so glad to have you on the podcast today. Thank you for joining us.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

I'm glad I am honored when I got the text. I was like, are you sure he has the right number? But I'm I'm really, I'm really honored. You've been a blessing. Like what you do for ARC and with ARK is incredible. I point everybody to ARC, and you're a very big part of that. So thank you so very much. You've been a blessing to me, my church.

SPEAKER_00 2:19

I know. Well, that's very kind of you. And you've been a blessing to ARK because you make us look good. Because you've done so well as a church planner and as a pastor. You bring so much energy to every conversation, and you bring a lot of great knowledge and experience. So I know pastors are going to get a lot out of this conversation. So we're going to talk about connection strategies. But before we get into some of that stuff, I'd love people just to get to know you a little bit. Certainly. And I think what's really interesting is you're a trained medical doctor that planted a church. So how did that happen?

SPEAKER_01 2:49

How did that happen? Thank you so very much again for this privilege. Well, to train medical doctor, yes. I was born in Nigeria, so did medicine in Nigeria, went through medical school, doing all the things, and then I I saw my dad. My dad is a pastor and a medical doctor. So I thought I was going to be able to combine the both of them because I was pastoring already back in Nigeria. But God was like, no, that's not for you. You're gonna do medicine. So when I relocated to the US, I was supposed to go back to Nigeria, but that did not happen. And God changed our minds. I was like, no, stay here and serve here. I'm calling you here. And he didn't give me the option to take the the the MCAT. It was like, no, forget that is gone. You're doing ministry. So then I began to serve at the local church, and uh that was it. It be it didn't begin with planting the church, it began with no leave the medicine, go into full-time ministry, and I was do I was a web designer for a while, a communications director. So it wasn't necessarily ministry for pastor as much as medicine for ministry in whatever capacity um I'm called and I have the opportunity to serve.

SPEAKER_00 3:47

Well, you moved from healing people's bodies to healing their souls. Tell me a little bit about the journey with that church plant and where you guys are at today.

SPEAKER_01 3:56

Absolutely. I think it's the best church on the planet. Just I'm biased and I know, but it's been wonderful. I think we got the call, we got the release from our pastors in 2020, pandemic. So you can imagine, in the pandemic, when people were trying to just keep the doors open, we got and we just felt it was God that was saying, hey, I think it's time for you to do this. And then we did it. So we went with the first thing we did, we we felt the call in July. August, we were at an ARC training immediately, like the very next month. We got ourselves into a room with ARC, and then we got trained, got a coach and all of that. And it was valuable in just exposing us to what to expect. I tell people when you go through ARC, you're gonna come out either sure you want to do this or sure you don't want to do this. That's how clear the process is. So we were sure when we're done. And then in um January of January 30th, 2022, we launched, followed the playbook and launched, and it's just been incredible to see um what God has done. And we launched with about 470, 400, I can't remember 490 people. And just about four years now, we are doing an average of 1300, 1,400 people, and it's been incredible. Easter has been special here. We had about 2,800 people last Easter, and that's above, that's almost like a thousand more people than the previous year, which was about a thousand more than the previous year. It's just been wonderful to see what God is doing. So we launched, and it's just been seeing people transformed. I always have this image of this lady. She came to our church for the very first time, Easter 2022. By Easter 2023, she was leading a dream team. And I was like, that's the face, that's what transformation looks like. So yeah, that's a little bit about our church.

SPEAKER_00 5:35

Well, that's great. And the fact that you could see someone walk through the process like that to leading a team, you're doing a lot more than just creating a great environment. And one of the things that you're doing so well is not just seeing a lot of people show up on Sunday, but you're connecting them well. And you can go on your website and just easily see you guys are obsessed with connection.

SPEAKER_01 5:54

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 5:55

And so that's why I wanted to talk with you today because one of the things that you're doing really well right now is a party with a pastor. So let's hear about that. Just tell me what that is.

SPEAKER_01 6:05

Absolutely. What is party with the pastors? I got it from a friend, actually, Chris, man. It's so what we do. So you come for the very first time to the world church, you hear about us, where about TikTok, Instagram, a friend, whatever, you come. And then after the service, we encourage you to stop by the first-time guest area. That's where the party begins in the area first. So let's say you came on the first Sunday or the second Sunday, you stop by the area. I and my wife, Pastor Ambi, we are always around that area. Like when we tell our church, after service, we are more for the first-time guests than we are for you. So I would interrupt a conversation with you to talk to a first-time guest, just so we're clear. I would I would do anything, but that's who we are primarily there for. And so you come there, we hear, how did you hear about us? What's your name? We welcome you, learn a little bit more about you. And three things happen there. One, we encourage you to come back next week. Two, we have a gift to appreciate you for coming today. Thank you. We have a water bottle. We thought it was cool.

SPEAKER_00 7:03

Yeah, it makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 7:04

Yeah, it makes sense, right? And then we invite you to the party with the pastor. So party with pastors happens every fourth or last Sunday of the month. Every. After the second and third services. So even if you came for the first service, we're inviting you. Hey, one week from now, two weeks from now, we're inviting you back. Yeah, they actually leave with an invite. We keep the names and number, but they keep the invite. Come if you don't mind for the second or third, why so we have time. There's going to be a room. So when they come for that, they get a text with a video of either I or Pastor Ambi saying, Man, I heard you came to church for the first time today. If I met you, good. If I didn't meet you, I'm so sorry. But I would like to meet you. And then we invite them at hey, two weeks from now, one week from now, next Sunday, whatever the timing is of their coming to church for the first time, we invite them to that party. So now service happens, let's say the second service happens at the end of the service. We remind them from the stage, hey, if you were here for the very first time this month, or you've been here for the first time, you've never been to a party with the pastors, our pastors like to party, like to party with you, like to get to know you, and feel free, just cut across the corridor, into the room, across from the auditorium. And then when they get in there, there are round tables with seats, little snacks here and there, some drinks, water. And the key is this the goal is this to help them make a friend. That's that's the goal. Facilitate conversation, help them make a friend. So we have a team of small group leaders. We use small group leaders to host them. So these are people who are probably going to end up on their groups, but we want to make sure the small group leaders bring that spirit of hosting a small group. This is almost like a multiple small groups in one room, and they come into this room and we tell everybody the goal is that they make a friend. They live here, you're connecting, you have kids, they have kids. Your kids go to this school, they go to this school. Just find that commonality with them, help them take a next step. And the next step from that is usually grow track. So how it happens is we come in, just before they talk, they mix, get some snacks and water, five, seven minutes in iron and Pastor Ambi comes in and then we talk. Hey, well, Pastor Ambi, in case we've never met you, Pastor Victor, lead pastors here. Here's a little bit about our church. We got our name from John chapter 4, and this is what we say. This woman has this conversation with Jesus, and her life is changed forever. So changed that she runs back to her community screaming, come and see a man. Our desire is that on your way to your car, before you get to your car, you go, Hey bro, hey, sis, you need to come to church with me next week. I came to an incredible church. So we're already inviting them to reach out to more people already there. And then next week, because next week is going to be the first Sunday of the month, in this room is your next step. Don't overthink it. After service, do what you did today. Come in here, there's growth track one in this very room. And so that's the make a friend, get them connected, hear their stories. So the table hosts are facilitating conversations and then give them a little bit about our church and then a very clear next step. And I'll just say this we began this year as a staff, and we said this. We said our goal as a staff in 2026 and moving on is to make it easy for Dash. Make it easy for people to join our church, make it easy for people to take a next step, make it easy for people to find friends, make it easy for whatever that next step is, our job as staff is to make it easy. We're going to keep looking at the systems until it is very easy to take a next step here at the web.

SPEAKER_00 10:29

Wow, that's simply incredible. It's very well thought through. Lots unpacked there, too. I want to go back and talk through some of that. So the first question I have is how long does the party typically last?

SPEAKER_01 10:39

15 minutes max. The the active intentional part, but they know they can't stay in the room for as long as they need to. We've had people stay into the next service in the room having conversation, but the active planned part is five minutes of interaction, five minutes of us just sharing a little bit about our church and encouraging them to take the next step, and then five minutes of helping them take that next step, which is sign up for Growth Track now. So as we're talking, we get a card and everybody gets that card, everybody fills out the card at the same time. So it's like five, five, five of them meeting each other, icebreaker, talking amongst themselves. We talk to them and then we just facilitate them taking the next step. So 15 minutes, but then they know you can hang out. Feel free, hang out, talk, make a friend.

SPEAKER_00 11:21

Yeah. So you're not doing it every Sunday.

SPEAKER_01 11:23

No, no. We have a meet the pastors every Sunday. That's a quick, literal, whereby the first-time guest area, we're talking to them, chatting it up. But the goal of that is invite them back to church. That's the key. It gives us a hey, come back to church in the next week. We have a special room for you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:40

I think I see the pattern. So after every church service, you're going to the first-time guest area so that you can shake hands very briefly with everybody and you're pushing them towards the end of the month party with the pastor. Yes. And then at the party with the pastor, you're making that very intentional, very high impact with the goal that they would come back the next week and start the growth track. So it's feeding the growth track every month. Absolutely. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:04

If we do it very well, you don't have to announce growth track at all. You don't have to. Yeah, you don't have to because everybody who, if you do it effectively, the only time you say growth track can just be like in a in a message where you're preaching and you talk about growth track as a next step. But the the system is such that everybody who comes for the very first time is naturally ushered into growth track.

SPEAKER_00 12:24

Yeah. Okay, amazing. So it sounded like they get like a text and an invite. So I'd love to talk about like all the feeder points into that party, and then we'll get into the follow-up afterwards. Absolutely. So when it comes to like getting people there, you mentioned they might get a text message, they might get an invite card. What are some of those feeders that that get people there?

SPEAKER_01 12:44

Okay, let's look at it from in-person and then online because we have some people who are in our in our locality but watch online first. So let's start in-person, you come to church, we celebrate you during the service, and we say, Hey, after the service, go to the first time guest banner area. So we're there, we're welcoming them, getting to know their name. Hey, how did you hear about it? Well, blah, blah, blah. They fill out a card then. It's a tearaway card where they fill out your name, phone number, and email on the bottom. We keep that, we send them home with an invite that reminds them this is your invite to the party next week or two weeks from now. Do you give them a gift at that point? Or is it? At that point, yes, there. A different gift than the party? Absolutely. They get a water bottle that says drink from the well. It's to remind them that we want them to go home thinking about our church. Well, it's a cool. I want to hijack the conversation on the way home. That's the key. If they came with the family, I want the kids talking about kids' church. I want the adults going, man, it's good. Oh man, the worship. I want to the goal is to hijack the conversation back home. That creates such a good impression, such a warm impression that you want to come back. Hey, man, we should actually come back for the party next week. So that's the that's the entry now into the workflow. But after service that day, that Sunday, they get a text with a video, not a lot of words, but just a video, quick 30-second video that says, Hey, thank you from either I or my wife, Pastor Ambie. And thank you for being at the well today. Mark your calendars. We have your party on the blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Thank you again. I can't wait to see you next week. We're going to continue our series about whatever that is. But that is very personal to every person get that. Now that's and then those who are online, we welcome them virtually. And we tell them if you're in the DMV area, feel free to come through. Whatever, whatever, whatever. There's a code text, this, that, this, this, this, this. That puts them into the same pathway as the in-person. And they also get a personalized video text with a video that says, Thank you for joining us online today as a first time guest. You're invited to mark your calendars for the party pastors. And then one week or the weekend of the party with the pastors by Friday, they get a reminder. Two days out from the party, and I cannot wait to see you bring your kids along. It's going to be wonderful. Remember, just after the second and third experience. So I know you like the first experience, it's wonderful. But just for this Sunday, could you come for the second or the third experience?

SPEAKER_00 15:04

Yeah. Okay, great. And just to be clear, you guys are doing three services here. Yes, we are. Absolutely. Okay. That's what you mean by that after the second and third service. Yes, yes. But worship experience is a much better word than uh service, service all old school. Absolutely. Okay, great. It's a you mentioned the kids. So kids are in there too, and they're just snacking up.

SPEAKER_01 15:24

You're all getting the better. Yeah. You can ask anybody in our church. I and my wife, we love kids. It's so good that people tell you if you want to cut the line and talk to Pastor Vicnar, Pastor Ambi, get a kid on your arms. They will bypass everybody and talk to you. I'm I'm kneeling there. I will walk a kid to a snack bar in the drop of a hat. Do whatever you need to do. We want to see your family, want to get to meet all of you and all your loved ones if possible. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:50

And I imagine you have music playing in there. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 15:53

Yeah. So the environment is such that if you cross, like we say, just across, there's a sign, there's somebody smiley, two smiley, people with signs, first time guest party here. Welcome, welcome, you come in. Somebody helps you get checked in because maybe today might be your very first time. So you're not even in the PCO system. We're just checking you in to give you a name badge that makes introduction easy. Nothing beats being welcomed by your name. Nothing beats, hey Josh, how are you doing? And you're like, okay, okay, that's great. So nothing beats you get a name badge that has your name on it. So you get that you sit down on a table with a host that has already been expecting you, that left the worship experience before the service was over to be ready for you. They've decompressed, they're ready, they're smiling, they're fresh, whatever they need to do to make sure you're welcomed warmly. Music is playing in the background, there's some snack, there's some drinks, relax. That's where the conversations begin to take place as they go before I and my wife come in and have a talk with them and help them take next steps. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:51

Okay, great. So is there any registration that people can do? And then I'm sure you just let people pop in that Sunday, whether they register or not, right?

SPEAKER_01 17:00

There's no registration. The fact you indicated that you're a first-time guest the previous weeks naturally gets you invited. So taking that little portion of the card and putting it on PCO in the workflow for first-time guests is the registration per se. And then we know that people are coming for the very first time that Sunday. And we know so the announcement on from the stage that Sunday is if you've if you've visited the well for the very first time this month or in the past three months or today, you chose a very great Sunday to be here for the first time because we actually have a party just for you. So it's an open invitation to make sure we catch all. So we're not very strict on the month, even. It can be from three months, and maybe you were working or maybe you traveled out of town those last two Sundays of the month. We're giving you a chance because again, we want to help you take your next step. So if let's say you've been here for six months, but for some reason every last Sunday you've missed the party, let's make this one count. That kind of thing.

SPEAKER_00 17:57

Yeah. Okay, great. Now, the so you guys do a first-time guest area that people can come to after service. Yes. But what if they fill out the connection card and they don't come to that area? Is there a place for them to turn it in other than that area and then they still get the information?

SPEAKER_01 18:13

Absolutely. So the way we are laid out is such that the first area you find is the first-time guest. I want to make it easy and quick for them. But before they get to the door, there's the guest services area. So even if let's say you're too shy, by the time the crowd, by the time you get towards the the exit of the door, the crowd is less there. And for some reason, let's say you didn't stop over at the first time guest. Stopping over at the guest services is another option where you still get the exact same treatment you got. Not just the only downside of that is that I and Pastor Ambi are not there. But the team knows, hey, once you get a first-time whatever, welcome them, go run, grab a gift or whatever you need to do to give them that experience. But very many people stop at the first time guest. It's very we are very loud about it. There are signs, there are people screaming, smiling. It's a it's a hey, it's a hey, we've been waiting for you. Like the guy on stage says, or the little lady on stage said, we've been waiting for you. And I'm there. So that's one of the big draws, and why we stay very close by is nothing beats hearing the speaker preach, and before you come out, it's outside there, waiting to shake your hands. So it actually stops people in their tracks to meet I and my wife or what, and then we can then usher them into there. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 19:28

And so the what does follow-up look like after the party with the pastor to get people plugged in the groups, connected to your church and taking next steps?

SPEAKER_01 19:36

Incredible. Uh group leaders are armed with the knowledge to know as you're having a conversation with a couple, you notice something. Hey, I think it'd be wonderful if you guys joined like a marriage small group. And it has to be as informal as possible. Like, let's get you to make a friend. Hey man, we we lead this small group, we're part of this small group, whatever that is. That begins to happen already on the table right there. Where yes, the big room next step is growth track, but there's a sensitivity happening during conversations to know if somebody needs uh freedom or if somebody needs some small group or if somebody but the big room is growth track, and then afterwards, again they get a text with a video that says, Thank you for coming for the party with them. Remember, next week is growth track, and then that begins. It's almost like we take them now from the first-time guest world and bring them into the growth track world by automation. Anyone who finishes this workflow just gets into this workflow, and then the growth track team picks up, man, thank you for saying yes, then we begin that. Now, also if we connect them to a small group, there's a small group workflow, we give them a directory of all the small groups. So in our church, we run what is called a sermon-based small group where the small groups have conversations around what was preached on Sunday. So that's a perpetual group that can go on for as long as possible. Why we did that was we realized sometimes in between group semesters, people would join the church and they would really want community. They would literally say that. So we decided to do that to help. But yeah, the next steps are based on conversation and in growth track also. They are introduced to the all the next steps at the church. But the follow-up is they get a text to say thank you and then they get a text just before Sunday, reminding them that today or this Sunday is growth track one or growth track two, growth track three.

SPEAKER_00 21:18

Well, what I'm hearing is if someone's listening to those podcasts and they feel like they have a hard time driving attendance to growth track, they need to start throwing a party and start having fun with some people. Yes. And you might get more people into growth track.

SPEAKER_01 21:31

Yes. No, I I tell them that room should be the most fun in in our church. It should be the most fun. Like you call it the party, and we put the pressure on ourselves by calling it a party because we want it to be the most fun. Like we want people laughing, we want outbursts of laughter of where it should be that. It should be one where people find a hard time walking away from. Because wow, these guys are nice, these guys are warm. I want what they are. I believe research shows that nothing makes a person stick to a church more than just finding a friend. So We're going to do everything possible to make it easy for someone to find a friend.

SPEAKER_00 22:04

This has been such a great conversation. I know it's going to help so many people. And I know that I'm going to want to have you back on the podcast because you have so much more to offer than just this one area. In fact, we haven't even exhausted all that you can talk about with connection. I know there's a lot of other things you guys are doing that we could talk about. And so if you want to find out more about the Well Church, go to mywellchurch.com and you can find out more about what they're doing at their church. Their YouTube channel, Pastor Victor, I'm just amazed. You have videos with a hundred thousand views. Most all of them have tens of thousands of views. So go check out their YouTube. But also, Pastor Victor, you're doing something else on YouTube that a lot of pastors might enjoy as well. Why don't you tell them about that?

SPEAKER_01 22:47

Absolutely. So I I started a YouTube channel just to help with resourcing again for next steps. Make it easy for people to blank. And so I began this thing. I just have resources based on like we have a resource on 40 days of faith just to help people build their faith. Over 40 days, short videos that they can watch and listen to every day for 40 days. We do this thing called Bible Con, where for six hours from 9 a.m. to about 3, 4 p.m. on a Saturday, we just pick a theme and just discuss it. Last year we talked about how to study your Bible. This year we learned how to receive from God. Because when you hear your members talking about I've been praying and praying and praying, and it doesn't seem like it's working, but then let's teach people how to actually receive from this God who is so benevolent and who is so kind. So you find resources like that and others on my own YouTube Pastor Victor TV on YouTube.

SPEAKER_00 23:38

I hope people check that out. And thank you so much for being on here. It's uh such a joy to see God bless you and your ministry. You're the kind of person that you want God to bless, and it's obviously that's happening uh for you guys, and I just uh appreciate you so much. Thank you, Josh.

SPEAKER_01 23:54

Thank you. Like I'm really honored. I still can't I still cannot believe, even though we're done with it, I still can't believe I want to hear.

SPEAKER_00 24:01

Well, it's it's gonna be a big hit, I'm sure. So thanks for being with me. Absolutely. Okay, bye-bye. Bye for man, that was so fun. I hope y'all enjoyed hearing from Pastor Victor. He is such a joy to be around, and you can tell he just oozes a passion and love for God and a gifting for making every person he talks to feel special. And that's probably why they've done so well with those parties. I would love to hear from you. If you want to try out the party with the pastor and you start having success with it, or you have more questions about it, please email me. I'd love to hear how that goes at josh at buildthe.church. And also don't forget to check out your team.church slash disc to take a free spiritual gift and disc assessment test. Take a free spiritual gift and disc assessment. Or if you want to try the whole platform for free for 30 days, you can go ahead and sign up for that promo that's live on the website today. Thank you for joining us today on the podcast. I can't wait until next time. Until then, keep believing and leading strong.