The Welcome Sequence

Six emails that turn a new subscriber into someone who shows up, serves, and gives.

Your email list is the only audience you actually own.

Everything else is rented. Facebook decides who sees your post. Instagram buries you when the algorithm shifts. YouTube changes the rules on a Tuesday and your reach drops in half by Thursday. You built that audience on somebody else's land, and they can raise the rent or evict you whenever they feel like it.

Your email list is different. Those addresses are yours. Nobody stands between you and the people who raised their hand and said I want to hear from you.

Which is why it's strange how little most ministries use it.

Think about the last few times your church or ministry landed in somebody's inbox. There was probably a big event coming up and you needed seats filled. Then it was end of year and the budget was short. Then you needed nursery volunteers, and fast. Every message honest, every message necessary, every message asking for something.

And your list learned the pattern.

They see your name in the inbox and their shoulders tense, because experience has taught them that your emails cost them something. Money, a Saturday, a commitment they don't have room for. They didn't decide to ignore you. You just trained them, one ask at a time, that opening your email is work.

Meanwhile the businesses selling them shoes email three times a week and get opened.

The difference isn't that people love shoes more than they love God. It's that those companies figured out something ministries keep missing: the relationship gets built before the ask, or the ask doesn't land. Give first, long enough and generously enough that seeing your name feels like good news, and by the time you finally need something, people are glad to help.

That work starts in the first email.

The one email everybody opens

Here's the part almost nobody thinks about.

Your welcome email is the single highest-opened message your ministry will ever send. Not the newsletter. Not the event announcement. Not the year-end giving appeal you rewrote four times at eleven at night. The automatic one you probably haven't looked at since you set up the account.

It gets opened because it arrives at the exact moment somebody has decided to care. They're still on your website. They still remember the story that moved them enough to type in their address. Welcome emails routinely see two to three times the engagement of anything else you send, and that spike never comes back.

That's the moment you're currently spending on this:

Thanks for subscribing! You've been added to our list.

Somebody was moved enough by your ministry to hand over their contact information, and they got a receipt.

And it teaches them exactly what to expect from you. The first email you send sets the terms of the whole relationship. Send nothing, and you've told them you have nothing to say, so the next thing that shows up is an ask arriving out of nowhere. Send something warm, useful, and worth reading, and every email after it opens a little easier, because they've learned your name means something good is coming.

You're pouring your best effort into the emails almost nobody opens, while the one everybody opens sits empty.

That's what this fixes.

Yes, I Want My Welcome Sequence →

What You're Getting

Six emails, written for your ministry, in your voice. Not templates with your name dropped in. Written from scratch after I've read your writing and listened to how you actually talk.

Each one has a specific job, and they're ordered on purpose. Here's what each one does and why it's there.

  • Email 1: Belonging

    Sends the moment they subscribe

    Something like: "You're in, [Name]. Here's what that means."

    This is the handshake. Who you are, what you're about, and the feeling of walking into a room where somebody saved you a seat. It also sets expectations, so they know what's coming and how often, which is the single easiest way to keep somebody from unsubscribing three weeks later out of confusion.

    Then it asks them to hit reply and say hello. That one small request does something most ministries never realize: replies tell Gmail you're a real person having real conversations, which keeps your future emails out of the promotions tab and out of spam entirely.

    What it accomplishes: They stop being a database entry and start being part of something. And your deliverability improves from day one.

  • Email 2: The Gift

    Sends the next day

    Something like: "The thing I promised you"

    Whatever you're giving away lands here. A prayer guide, a devotional, a reading plan, a short teaching series. Something they can hold onto that costs them nothing.

    This is the email that proves the pattern. You said you'd give them something, and you did, immediately, without asking for anything back. That's the moment your name stops feeling like an obligation in their inbox.

    Don't have a free resource yet? Tell me on the intake and I'll recommend exactly what would work for your ministry and why. It's usually simpler to make than you'd think.

    What it accomplishes: They learn that your emails give rather than take. Every email after this one gets opened because of what happened here.

  • Email 3: The Story

    Something like: "Marcus almost didn't come that night"

    One specific person whose life changed because your ministry exists. Real name, real details, real turning point. Not "lives are being transformed and God is good," which is true and which nobody reads. Marcus standing up at youth group to say he finally got the job after six months of applications and prayer, and the room erupting, and his mom texting later that he has hope again.

    Specificity is what makes somebody believe you. It's also what makes them forward it.

    What it accomplishes: They stop taking your word for it and start seeing the evidence. This is the email that turns a subscriber into someone who tells other people about you.

  • Email 4: The Vision

    Sends day seven

    Something like: "What we're actually building here"

    What you're working toward, why it matters, and what your community looks like when it's going right. This is where somebody stops watching from the outside and starts picturing themselves inside it.

    People don't stay subscribed for information. Information is everywhere and it's free. They stay for a mission they want a piece of, and this is the email that hands them one.

    What it accomplishes: They shift from audience to participant. Which is the shift that makes every future ask feel like an invitation instead of a request.

  • Email 5: The Next Step

    Sends day ten

    Something like: "Come sit with us Sunday"

    One clear, specific, unmissable invitation. Where to show up, when, what happens when they get there, and what they should expect. No "we'd love to see you sometime." An actual door with the handle pointed toward them.

    Most ministries lose people right here, because they assume interest converts to attendance on its own. It doesn't. Somebody who's been reading your emails for ten days is willing to come, and usually just needs to be told exactly how.

    What it accomplishes: This is the email that fills your Sunday, your small groups, and your volunteer roster. The one with the most direct line to a person physically walking through your door.

  • Email 6: The Invitation

    Sends day fourteen

    Something like: "There's room for you in this"

    The first ask, done right. Give, serve, or partner, depending on what your ministry needs most.

    By now they've been welcomed, given something, shown proof, handed a vision, and invited in. So this doesn't read as a ministry asking for help. It reads as an open door into work they already believe in, which is the entire difference between a donor who gives once and a partner who stays.

    What it accomplishes: Your first giving or volunteering conversion from someone who was a stranger two weeks ago. And the relationship is now warm enough that every ask after this one lands softer.

Plus the bonus email nobody else gives you

The Re-Engagement Email.

Here's the thing about the list you already have. Some of those people haven't opened anything you've sent in a year. They're not just dead weight. They're actively hurting you, because Gmail watches how many people ignore your emails and quietly decides whether you belong in the inbox or the spam folder.

You need a way to wake them up or let them go. That's what this email does.

It goes to your cold subscribers, gives them one honest chance to stay, and cleans out the ones who don't respond. Better deliverability for everyone who's left. A healthier list. Fewer emails vanishing into promotions.

Included at the launch price.

The Part That Actually Matters: It Sounds Like You

This is the real question, and I'd rather answer it than dance around it.

You've spent years building a voice your people recognize

The way you open a sermon. The phrases you come back to. The particular warmth or bluntness or humor that makes your congregation feel like they know you. Handing that to a stranger feels risky, and it should.

So here's how I protect it.

Before I write a word, you fill out an intake that asks about your ministry, your people, and what you're actually trying to build. Then I read your writing. Past emails, sermon transcripts, your website, whatever you've got. I'm listening for how you actually sound, not how ministry copy usually sounds.

Then I write.

Then you get two rounds of revisions. If something doesn't sound like you, you tell me and I fix it, and then you tell me again if I still haven't got it. That isn't a safety net I'm offering because I'm worried. It's how voice work gets done. You know how you sound better than I ever will, and two passes is almost always the difference between close and exact.

How You Get It

A Word document. Ready to paste in.

All six emails plus your bonus, formatted and labeled. Every email comes with its subject line, the full body copy, and a note at the top telling you when to send it and what it's doing.

You paste them into whatever platform you already use. Mailchimp, Flodesk, MailerLite, Constant Contact, all of them work the same way. Most people have the whole sequence live in an afternoon.

I never touch your email account. No passwords, no admin access, no stranger poking around in your subscriber list. You stay in control of your own platform.

Delivery is five business days from the time your intake comes back. Two rounds of revisions included, good for thirty days after delivery.

Who This Is For

✅ Ministries with a signup form and nothing behind it. People are subscribing right now and getting a confirmation notice. Every one of them is a missed introduction.

✅ Church plants and new ministries. You're building the first impression from scratch. Get it right now and you never have to fix it later.

✅ Anyone whose welcome email currently says "Thanks for subscribing." You already know. That's why you're still reading.

✅ Ministry leaders who can write but cannot find the time. You could do this. You've been meaning to do this since March. It's still not done, and it's not going to be, because Sunday keeps coming.

✅ Ministries growing faster than their systems. New people are arriving quicker than you can personally greet them. This is how you greet them anyway.

Who This Is Not For

❌ Ministries with no one joining the list. A welcome sequence welcomes people. If nobody's signing up, fix the front door first. Buying this would be putting a doormat outside a house with no path to it, and I'd rather tell you that now than take your money.

❌ Anyone who wants a template. This is custom work built on your voice and your ministry. If you want fill-in-the-blank, there are free ones online and they'll serve you fine.

❌ Anyone who won't do the intake. I can't write in your voice if you don't let me hear it. Twenty minutes of honest answers is the whole requirement, but it's not optional.

❌ Ministries wanting someone to run their email program. This is one sequence, delivered as a document. If you need ongoing strategy and a monthly writer, tell me and we'll talk about something different.

The Price

$297

Launch price. It goes to $497.

Six custom emails, the bonus re-engagement email, the full intake, and two rounds of revisions.

This is what it costs to launch something new. The price reflects the fact that I'm building a client list right now, not the quality of the work, and it won't be $297 for long.

I take a limited number of these each month so that every sequence gets the attention it needs. When a month fills up, the next opening is the following month.

No refunds. You get two rounds of revisions and my full attention until the document is right, which is a better deal than a refund and considerably more useful to you. I don't need an escape hatch on my own work and neither do you.

Get My Welcome Sequence →

What Happens After You Order

✔ You'll get a confirmation and your intake form immediately. Twenty minutes of questions about your ministry, your people, and your voice.

✔ Send me your writing. Past emails, a sermon transcript, your website, whatever shows me how you sound. The more you send, the closer I get.

✔ I write. Five business days from the moment your intake lands.

✔ Your Word document arrives. Six emails plus your bonus, labeled, formatted, ready to paste.

✔ You review and I revise. Anything that doesn't sound like you, I fix. Two weeks to use it.

✔ You paste it in and turn it on. From that day forward, every single person who subscribes to your ministry gets welcomed properly.

Questions You're Probably Asking

  • By reading everything you've written and asking the right questions first. The intake covers your ministry, your people, and the way you talk. Then I read your sermons and past emails. Then you get two rounds of revisions to catch anything I missed. Three layers on the thing that matters most.

  • Tell me on the intake and I'll recommend what would work for your ministry, whether that's a prayer guide, a reading plan, or a short devotional. Email 2 gets written around whatever you decide, and I'll tell you exactly what to make.

  •  If you can copy and paste, you can install this. Every major email platform handles automated sequences the same way, and I include a note on each email telling you when it should send.

  • They're yours. Change anything you want, use them for years, adapt them as your ministry changes. You own the document outright.

  • No. You get two rounds of revisions instead, which is the thing that actually solves the problem. A refund hands you your money back and leaves you exactly where you started, still without a welcome sequence. Revisions get you the document you paid for. Tell me what's off and I'll fix it until it's right.

  • That depends on what a new person is worth to your ministry. If this sequence turns one subscriber into a volunteer, or fills two seats at your next event, or brings in a single monthly partner, it's already paid for itself several times over. And it keeps working for every person who signs up next year, and the year after that. You write it once and it welcomes people forever.

Here's What I Actually Want For You

Right now somebody is going to find your ministry. Maybe tonight. They'll read your story, feel something shift, and give you their email address because they want in.

You've got one shot at what happens next.

You can send them a receipt. Or you can send them six emails that tell them who you are, show them a life that changed, hand them something worth keeping, and point them toward the door.

Your people aren't tired of emails. They're tired of boring emails.

Give them something worth reading. Watch what happens.

$297 at the launch price. $497 after.

Yes, I Want My Welcome Sequence →