The problem
Welcome cards sit in a basket until someone types them up, and by then the newcomer has had no contact for a fortnight. A church welcoming 8 newcomers a month, with 15 minutes each for typing, emailing and telling the pastoral team, plus 30 minutes of coordinating, spends 150 minutes, 2.5 hours a month, and still loses track of who was followed up.
What the AI does
ChurchSuite's Address Book lets newcomers enter their own contact details on a tablet or laptop at the welcome desk. Its built-in flow feature moves people through a process such as newcomer integration, so each person sits at a stage (welcomed, emailed, invited for coffee, joined a group) and nobody is forgotten. Key dates such as 'First Visit' are recorded, the email tool sends a personal welcome, and the communications log shows what each person has been sent. The welcome lead checks the flow once a week.
A worked example
An Anglican church in Reading with about 160 contacts welcomes around 8 newcomers a month, many of them students and young families. A volunteer welcome lead and the curate share the follow-up.
Before
About 2.5 hours a month typing cards and chasing follow-up, with some newcomers missed
After
About 45 minutes a month moving people through the flow and writing welcome emails
What it's worth
About $35£26€31A$50C$49 a month in volunteer time saved, against about $17£13€15A$25C$24 for ChurchSuite. 1.75 hours a month saved (2.5 minus 0.75), valued at an assumed $20£15€18A$29C$28 an hour. The Address Book on its own is $16.63£12.50€14.88A$24C$23.50 a month for 100 to 199 contacts, including VAT; adding other modules raises the price.
How to set it up
- Write down your newcomer steps: welcome email, personal contact within a week, invitation to a course or group.
- Start the trial with the Address Book and set up a flow with those stages.
- Put a tablet at the welcome desk with the newcomer form and a short privacy notice saying how details will be used.
- Each week, the welcome lead moves people through the flow and sends the welcome email.
- After 3 months, look at how many newcomers reached each stage and adjust the steps.
What goes wrong
- A newcomer form is the start of a relationship, not a marketing list. Say on the form what you'll do with the details, under UK GDPR.
- Flows don't act on their own; someone must check them each week or people stall at a stage.
- Pastoral notes can reveal health or family matters. Keep them out of general notes and restrict who sees them.
- If the welcome tablet isn't staffed, people walk past it. Keep a few paper cards as well.