Shepherding Communication

Elders & Wives,

We use our database, TouchPoint, as a tool that will help us make sure no one falls through the cracks and will also foster shepherding communication between you and your campus pastor. You will receive an email every Tuesday that lists people in each flock at your campus who meet this criteria: they have not attended a small group or church service (including online) for at least 21 days AND we have not connected with them by phone or a visit in at least 21 days. These are people who we need to connect with and make sure they are doing ok.

Once you've had a phone call or made a visit to someone in your flock, you'll want to take a few minutes to record that contact. Not only will this enable our system to work, but it will also foster shepherding communication between you and your campus pastor, as he will be able to access the shepherding notes that you record as will future elders, should someone shift from your flock to another flock.

here are some "best practices" ideas:

1) Log into your campus shepherding dashboard once or twice a week (recommend Thursdays & Mondays) to see if it's highlighting anyone that needs to be followed up with. You may already have a natural rhythm of following up with your flock, but this can serve as a back up reminder to highlight someone who hasn't been at small group, at church (onsite or checked in online), nor had a contact from you in the past 21 days.

To log in, simply go to: my.village.bible (If you're having any difficulty logging in, please let Keith Duff know.) There you will see your dashboard.

The "vital stats" box lists each elder and the number of people that are in ASAP need of a visit or a phone call. Click on the number and you'll see the names. The other box is a list of each elder and the total number of adults in their flock. Click on the number and you'll see the names.

Our goal is to have no one show up on our Tuesday emails because everyone has been connected in one way or another.

2) When either or both of you (elder or wife) make a visit or phone call to someone in your flock, please take a minute or two to record that into the shepherding system. That's how it knows who has and hasn't been contacted in the past 21 days. It is suggested to do this right after your visit or phone call.

We're recording actual 2-way communication made - via a visit or phone call. Texts and emails are a great part of our ongoing shepherding relationship, but for this we're recording actual 2-way communication.

3) If making a phone call to a couple who hasn't been engaged in the past 21 days, it's normally best to have the elder reach out to the men in the flock and the elder's wife reach out to the women. Each of you can record your individual calls. However, sometimes one spouse is not very engaged. In these circumstances, you may find that you record the same phone call for both the husband and wife.

HOW TO Record Shepherding Contact in touchpoint

HOW TO Record visit with two people in touchpoint