Distinguishing Parish and Follow up Visiting

It is important to note that there are two distinct types of visiting within Giving in Grace. This Interaction section of the web site is concerned with Parish Visiting. Parish visiting is proactive; it accompanies the preaching series in Giving in Grace and personally delivers the written literature that forms the communication strategy: the letter, brochure and response forms. The purpose of parish visiting is to create an opportunity for one to one discussion of the need to respond to the Giving in Grace programme. The perspective, of course, is the spiritual need of the giver to give and the need of the church to resource ministry and mission.

By contrast Follow up visiting is all about thanking people, chasing up non responders and meeting requests for additional information after the preaching programme has finished. Personal follow up is a non negotiable. Every church should plan to make personal calls to follow up requests made by church members for additional information about planned giving, Gift Aid, standing orders or information about legacies. All parishes will need to recruit a visiting team to follow up the response forms that church members return. Guidance on Follow up visitor training can be found in the communications section of the web site.

A Planning Group must first of all familiarise itself with the fundamentals of follow up visiting and the resources needed for this before agreeing to implement a Parish Visiting programme. This is because the same visitors may well be involved in both. In some churches it may be possible to have two teams of visitors, one for parish visiting the other for follow up visiting. But in most churches there will be considerable overlap. Visitors may be recruited for both Parish Visiting as part of the programme and follow up visiting afterwards.