Question: How do you pitch preview services best. I’m clear on not using the terminology “preview service” or “practice service”. Do you go with like a “try it before you buy it” or “test drive” theme? Any advise on how you advertise this and personally invite?

Kerrick Thomas my co-author on Launch:Starting A New Church from Scratch answers:

First of all – we never call them “preview” because that doesn’t sound like the “real” thing.  We always call them monthly services.  We say…we are going to have 6 monthly services leading up to the launch of weekly services on….

We are straight forward in how we talk about it.  Remember – an unchurched person won’t be thinking like that.  They’ll think – this church is pretty cool – they only meet once a month   And if someone asks – just tell them you wanted to start services as early as possible and monthly services was the best way to do it.

Remember – what you want to sell is the series that you teach through the monthly services.  So, join us on the following dates as we talk about how to get rid of stress in your life, about who Jesus really was, about what the bible says about relationships, etc.  Let people know you are working toward and building momentum toward the launch.

But as far as promotion – just promote the teaching series, dates and locations and mention that weekly services launch on that specific launch date.

Hope that helps!

Kerrick