The following Net Results article (reprinted in text-only format) is among 14 classic articles in the reprint pac Finding Prospective New Members.

You may print this article and copy it for use in your congregation or your regional or national church organization.

"Share-a-Dozen-Long-Stemmed-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies-
With-a-Friend Sunday" Proves Effective
by Kathi L. Heim

The first year we used this concept, thirty-one of our guests eventually joined our congregation (many became cookie-committee members the following year). The second year, nineteen of our guests have joined thus far, with another fifteen continuing in faithful attendance but not yet ready to join. The first year, we used this procedure in relationship to Valentine’s Day, the second year a few weeks before Easter Sunday (related to the Lenten theme: “Who’s My Neighbor? Anyone who needs to hear the Good News about Jesus”).

Located in a Cleveland suburb, our church just celebrated its fifty-sixth birthday. The congregation realized its greatest membership growth during the late 1950s and early 1960s under the leadership of a very popular pastor. (Our people liked him so much that they asked him to return as their pastor after he served another parish.) However, as did many mainline congregations, our church declined in membership/attendance during the 1980s. Attendance fell from 325 per Sunday to just over 200.

The Plan
We began exploring ways to increase our membership. Studies show that 70 percent to 90 percent of the new members in every congregation attended the first time because people from the congregation invited them. We needed a way to acclimate our members to inviting others. Our discovery began when we saw the “Bring-a-Friend Sunday” method in the May 1995 Net Results.

Borrowing some ideas from that article, we adapted them to our needs. We called our program “Share-a-Dozen-Long-Stemmed-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies-With-a-Friend Sunday.” People soon shortened the name to “Cookie Sunday.” We conducted our program during the Lenten season, so that our Cookie Sunday would fall about two or three weeks prior to Easter.

The program was easy for the congregation but a bit more labor intensive for the cookie committee. The entire process, from the first announcement to Cookie Sunday, takes about six weeks. This is how it unfolded: We sent a letter (see Appendix A) to everyone in the congregation and also placed it in our church newsletter. Each communication had a tear-off section for people to fill out and drop in the offering plate. At every worship service during the next month, we asked our members to give us names and addresses of people they would like to see receive chocolate-chip-cookie bouquets.

The committee took the names, addressed the invitations with “To” and “From” and then divided them into zip-code zones for the convenience of the volunteers who delivered the bouquets.

One week prior to delivery, the cookie-committee members got together to bake cookies. We had ordered the various components in advance from the following sources:
• Heart pans from Wilton Industries, 2240 West 75th St., Woodridge, IL 60517; phone 630/963-7100.
• Wooden sticks and cellophane wrappers from Country Kitchen Sweetart, Inc., 3225 Wells St., Fort Wayne, IN 46808; phone 219/482-4835.
• Ribbon, tissue paper, and flower-bouquet wrappers from a local craft center (any full-service craft store has these).
• Cookie dough from Sysco Food Service of Cleveland, Inc., Wholesale Groceries, 22801 Aurora Rd., Bedford Heights, OH 44146; phone 216/587-0200 (any wholesale grocery has this). The cookie dough is available in two forms (ready to press and bake): two-inch round frozen cookies or 18-20 pound bulk pails.

We placed the sticks in the metal heart molds, sprayed the pans with nonstick spray, and pressed in slightly frozen cookie dough (semi-frozen dough doesn’t stick to the hands as easily). Through trial and error, we found that the wooden sticks absorb a lot of oven heat, so the cookies had to bake five to eight minutes longer than the recipe directs. We baked the cookies for fifteen to twenty minutes at 350º F (always preheat ovens for thirty minutes). The pans held six cookies each: You can place only one pan per rack in industrial ovens, due to the stick length (six-inch sticks are long enough). We let the cookies cool for five minutes and turned them carefully out onto a wooden cooling table. (Broken cookies are a fact of life, but hungry volunteers readily eat them.) After the cookies cooled, we wrapped them in the cellophane bags and tied them with festive ribbons. We placed the finished cool cookies in boxes and put them in the freezer until delivery day.

On delivery day, the cookie committee assembled the bouquets and matched them with the invitees’ names. Volunteers delivered the bouquets. (Six locations per volunteer is enough.) Each delivery person simply rang the doorbell, said he or she had a delivery, gave the bouquet to the recipient, and told him or her to have a nice day. The card enclosed with the cookies was self-explanatory (see example in Appendix B).

We instructed members of the congregation who had sent the cookies to call their invitees during the following week to (a) ensure that they had received the cookies and (b) again ask them to be their special guests at worship (the card with the cookies extended that invitation, too).

The first year we made 65 chocolate-chip cookie bouquets that invited 103 people to worship. Sixty-nine attended our services the following Sunday. The second year we made 49 bouquets that invited 79 people, and 50 attended our services. The first year, we followed each service with a reception/coffee hour where our congregation’s members could warmly welcome our guests (the next year we offered a small meal).

On Monday after Cookie Sunday we sent a personal note, along with a “Visitor’s Packet,” to each of our guests (see Appendix G). Our church also has a friendly caller-- a volunteer who phones or sends each visitor an additional personal note of thanks for attending.

Four to six weeks following Cookie Sunday, we invited all of our guests to a “Discover 101--Euclid Lutheran Church” three-hour membership seminar (see Appendix H). We held the seminar on Sunday evening, complete with child care and dinner. It covered topics ranging from “How We Worship at ELC” to “Goals of Our Ministry.” An open forum allowed questions and interaction. The seminar ended with the opportunity for our guests to become members of our congregation.

The Plan Works
Cookie Sunday has become an integral part of our outreach program. In our size church, it requires a committee of approximately ten people who give an average of six hours each. After the first year the process becomes much easier. You learn shortcuts and adapt the program to your specific needs.

The following examples of people’s responses summarize their feelings and the Cookie Sunday results:
• “You didn’t have to send me cookies to get me to come; why didn’t you just ask?”
• “I cried when I realized someone cared about me so much.”
• “The cookies were great; may I have the recipe?”
• “Can we use your idea in our flower shop for Mother’s Day?”

Don’t forget the children and youth in your congregation. One youth invited his parents and siblings. From that one invitation, seven people joined and became very active members. Two girls invited their babysitter. The first year she only came for the Cookie Sunday. The next year they invited her again. Their persistence won out. She joined.

Appendix A
Letter to church members, which we also run in the church newsletter:

We gratefully acknowledge the Euclid Lutheran Foundation for its support of this important outreach program. Thanks!
[Back panel]	[Front panel]

Appendix C
Mailed out during week #2 and also appears as an announcement in the church
bulletin and newsletter.

Appendix D
Upon receipt of invitees' names from our members, this letter is sent to each person who
has invited someone to attend and to receive a cookie bouquet.
This letter is accompanied by the invitation folder.

Appendix E
Week #3 letter to anyone who has turned in an invitee name
(we enclose a hook pin for them to wear):

Heim is director of outreach and guest relations, Euclid Lutheran Church, Euclid, Ohio.
This Evangelical Lutheran Church in America congregation's average worhip attendance is 305.

Copyright 1998 by Net Results

For additional information about and to obtain the entire Finding Prospective New Members action pac from which the above article is taken, see below.

For a list of reprint pacs on other need-meeting topics: Reprint Pac Information

For more information about Net Results, Inc.: Home Page

The tools in the Finding Prospective New Members action pac are Net Results reprint articles that can increase your church's ability to reach out to the unchurched community.

You'll find attention-getting ideas such as the following. Permission to photocopy these articles increases their practical value.

• "Affirmation Evangelism!"
• "Boosting Worship Attendance through Special Day Inviting"
• "Bring-A-Friend Sunday: A Time-Tested Inviting Plan"
• "City-Wide Campaigns Evolve from the Invite-A-Friend Project"
• "Developing and Using a Responsibility List"
• "Evangelism through Special Events"
• "Get Ready, Get Set, Invite a Friend"
• "How to Contact New Residents"
• "Inviting Ideas for Christmas and Easter"
• "Leading a Community 'Fill Our Churches Sunday' Campaign"
• "Nonmember Weddings as an Evangelism Tool"
• "One-Day Worship Emphasis Achieves Lasting Results"
• "Phoning a Church Off Its Plateau"
• "'Share-a-Dozen-Long-Stemmed-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies-With-a-Friend Sunday' Proves Effective"

To order the Finding Prospective New Members reprint pac (print form):

Church Name _______________________________________________



Name ______________________________________________________



Address (no P.O. Boxes please)_____________________________



City ______________________________________________________



State ____________________ Zip ____________________________



Phone (_______)____________________________________________



Above is my _____home or _____organization address.





Payment Method



$12.00, plus $4.00 for shipping (outside U.S., remit only in U.S.funds).



___My Check is enclosed



___Please charge my ___VISA ___MasterCard 



Card #___________________________________



Expiration Date__________________________



Signature________________________________

Net Results 5001 Avenue "N" Lubbock, Texas 79412-2993 Phone: (806) 762-8094 Fax: (806)762-8873 Email:  netresults@llano.net