The Small Thing a Pastor Can Do To Make a Huge Impression

This past Sunday at church I met several new families at Mt Vernon Church, but I was able to make a huge impression on two of them. How? I knew their names. The small thing a pastor can do to make a huge impression is know somebody’s name before he even meets them. How is this possible? Take my situation for example.

On the first family, they walked in the doors just as the early service was about to start. We didn’t have but a moment to speak but the dad said, “I’m Jennifer’s* brother.” I know Jennifer. Her and her family come to our second service. I texted Jennifer during the first service and asked her the names of her brother and his family. She gave me all four. About 60 seconds before the first service ended and they would walk by me in the back, I glanced down at the text, memorized the four names of the family, and called them all by name as they exited. They later told Jennifer that they were extremely impressed that I knew their names. 🙂

With the second couple I had help from another church member. About five minutes before the second service started, a regular member said, “I met a new Air Force couple today, they’re sitting right up there and their names are Todd* and Shannon*.” Taking that cue, I introduced myself to Todd and Shannon and called them by name the first time I saw them. They were both impressed that I already knew them by name. Just by watching their non-verbal cues, they seemed cared for and validated because the pastor already knew their names. Even though they would have to make the 30 minute drive from the base every week, they said that they really enjoyed our church and would be back.

It takes a little bit extra work, but believe me, learning names on the front end makes a huge impression.