From July 2022 to July 2023, Liz visited 52 churches in 52 weeks from Texas to Canada. Mega to micro. Liturgical to charismatic. Black church, white church. She sat in every pew as a visitor and asked one question: What makes people stay?
The answer had nothing to do with production quality, theology, or programs. It had everything to do with what happens in the first seven minutes, whether anyone learns your name, and whether the organization's identity matches its actual experience. Those lessons aren't just for churches. They're for every organization that wonders why people show up once and never come back.
This is an ethnographic study built on operational observation, guest experience analysis, and two decades of Fortune 500 systems thinking applied to the places where community is supposed to happen. If you lead anything that depends on humans choosing to return, this talk is for you.
Why This Matters Now
Every organization that depends on people choosing to return, from churches to membership organizations to coworking spaces, is wrestling with the same question. This keynote delivers answers built on a year of firsthand research.