How Redemption Church Replaced Awkward Follow-Up with a Simple, Automated System
For many church leaders, guest follow-up does not feel like a warm welcome. It feels like phone tag, missed calls, and awkward conversations from personal cell phones.
Text In Church member, Caleb Oliver, Creative Arts Pastor at Redemption Church in Lakeland, Florida, shared how his team navigated rapid growth as a young, portable church. As attendance increased, so did the pressure to follow up well. Too often, that responsibility landed on a pastor’s personal phone, and families still slipped through the cracks.
Redemption Church knew they needed a better system, not to replace ministry, but to support it.
Here are the three shifts that helped them move from stressful, inconsistent follow-up to a clear, relational communication strategy.
Shift 1: Moving Away from Awkward Personal Phone Calls
Before implementing a centralized communication system, guest follow-up at Redemption Church was entirely manual. When guests were contacted, the call usually came from a pastor’s personal cell phone.
Caleb explained it this way: “It was always a little bit awkward. A lot of times, guest follow-up came from my personal cell phone or our lead pastor’s personal cell phone.”
That approach created two problems. First, it blurred personal boundaries for staff. Second, it was not scalable as the church continued to grow.
By switching to a dedicated church number, the team immediately gained clarity and consistency. Now, when Caleb calls a guest, the caller ID displays Redemption Church. Guests know who is calling, and staff can communicate without sharing personal phone numbers.
Most importantly, this system allows the entire team to participate in follow-up, not just one or two leaders.
Shift 2: Using Systems to Support Ministry, Not Replace It
One of the biggest concerns church leaders have about automation is the fear that it will feel impersonal. Redemption Church discovered the opposite.
Through their Planning Center integration, their communication system now acts as the backbone of their follow-up process. Lists stay updated automatically, and the right messages go to the right people at the right time.
Caleb is quick to clarify that the system does not do the ministry for you. It creates space so ministry can happen more naturally.
For example, when a guest plans a visit and indicates they have children, the system alerts the appropriate team. That allows the Kids Ministry Director to be ready and waiting, greeting that family by name when they arrive.
The automation handles the logistics. The people handle the relationships.
Shift 3: Turning Consistent Communication into Deeper Engagement
One of the most unexpected outcomes for Redemption Church was not just improved guest follow-up, but increased engagement across the congregation.
During a mid-year capital campaign for their kids ministry, the church used Text In Church to communicate the vision clearly and consistently. Because they had already built a habit of ongoing communication, people understood the why behind the ask.
Even families who had only been attending for a short time felt informed and included. As a result, generosity increased, not because of pressure, but because people felt connected and invested.
Consistent communication created trust. Trust created buy-in.
Caleb’s Advice: Commit to 30 Days
For church leaders hesitant to change their communication strategy, Caleb offers a simple challenge. Try it for 30 days.
“You can set up a workflow for Plan Your Visit or guest retention in a 24-hour period,” he shared. “You will see the impact by next Sunday.”
Redemption Church is proof that you do not need a massive tech team to communicate well. You need a clear system that protects your leaders, supports your volunteers, and ensures no one is forgotten.
Build a Guest Follow-Up System That Grows with Your Church
As churches grow, communication becomes more complex. Without a system, even the most well-intentioned teams struggle to keep up.
A centralized, automated follow-up strategy helps you stay personal, consistent, and organized without adding more work to your plate.
If your church is ready to move beyond awkward follow-up and build a clear path to connection, start your free trial of Text In Church and see how it can work for your team.
