Your Assimilation Process Isn’t Broken. You Just Haven’t Defined It.
You’re tweaking names, formats, and environments…
without ever answering the real question:
What are we actually trying to accomplish with you say “Assimilation”?
1. Define “Assimilation” Before You Build It
If assimilation means:
“Attend a class”
“Hear our story”
“Meet the pastor”
…then you’re building the wrong thing.
Assimilation is not a meeting.
Assimilation is a process where someone becomes known, connected, and contributing.
That’s it.
If someone attends your church for three months, knows nobody, and serves nowhere… they are not assimilated. I don’t care how many classes they took.
So before you build anything, answer this:
What does a fully connected person look like here?
For me, it’s simple:
They know people
They are known by people
They are serving
Yep, notice I didn’t say “in a group” is assimilated. You can say that if you want, then say it. I just don’t think passively hanging with friends over pizza casually chatting about Christian topics is assimilated. I think it’s helpful, sure. But again, that’s just me. And yes, I was a Groups Pastor before and know how to build them. But serving will always be paramount to me.
Everything you build should point to that.
