THE SHERPA TRIBE
A coaching community for church leaders who are
done watching guests disappear.
The Sherpa Tribe is a coaching membership that gives you the systems, tools, and hands-on support to turn first-time guests into fully engaged disciples — without burning yourself out or figuring it out alone.
Rich Birch, Founder of unSeminary
"Greg is the best — he knows his stuff. Every time we're chatting I have my notebook out because I'm learning from him on all things assimilation. Everything he does is full of practical help wrapped up in a winsome package.”
Here's the problem nobody talks about.
Every week, roughly 2-3% of your church walks in for the first time.
At a church of 1,000, that's 15 to 25 new people this Sunday alone.
Not church people — people people.
The couple who just moved to town and don't know a soul.
The woman who finally got sober and decided it was time to try something different.
The guy whose marriage is hanging by a thread and Sunday felt like his last shot. T
he college kid who grew up in the church, walked away, and quietly slipped back in hoping nobody makes it weird.
They came. They sat. They looked around and asked the question every first-time guest asks without saying it out loud:
Is there a place for me here?
A church of 1,000 will see over 1,000 new faces walk through its doors this year. The national average is fewer than 2 in 10 getting connected to anything real — not because churches don't care, but because the gaps in their systems are invisible until someone maps them out.
You can't fix what you can't see. The Sherpa Tribe helps you see it — and fix it.
Here’s what happens inside the Tribe.
Action Plans
30-day system-building sprints with video, diagnostics, and plug-and-play tools
Each Action Plan tackles one key piece of your assimilation system at a time — so you make real, steady progress without trying to rebuild everything at once. Watch the videos, use the tools, go implement. That's it.
Weekly Huddles
Live group coaching calls where we troubleshoot, implement, and keep you moving
This is where the Tribe comes alive. Every week, you get on Zoom with Greg or Tommy and a community of leaders who are in the trenches right alongside you. Bring your real problems. Get real answers. Leave with something you can actually use on Sunday.
No canned content. No pre-recorded answers. Just honest, experienced coaching from Sherpas who have helped hundreds of churches build systems that work.
100+ plug-and-play tools
Templates, scripts, and frameworks you can use immediately
52 pre-service huddle guides. 45 email templates. Job descriptions, volunteer qualifications, group placement frameworks, and more. You'll never start from scratch again.
A Community that Gets It
You're not the only one rebuilding something broken.
The Tribe is full of connections directors, lead pastors, XPs, and volunteer leaders from churches of every size and context. Swap strategies, share wins, troubleshoot challenges, and find people who actually understand what you're dealing with.
Why this is one of the smartest investments your church can make
It's cheaper than staff.
A full-time connections hire costs $40,000–$70,000 a year. A part-time hire still runs $15,000–$25,000. The Sherpa Tribe is $2,400 annually — and it gives your existing staff or key volunteer the coaching, training, and tools to do the job at a whole different level. For a lot of churches, this is their connections director. For others, it's what makes their connections director genuinely excellent.
It's the best way to develop your people for this kind of ministry.
There is no seminary class on assimilation. No conference track that goes this deep. The Tribe gives whoever owns guest connection at your church a focused, ongoing education in the one area that touches every other part of church health — and it keeps going, every month, as your system grows.
You’re looking for results, not theory.
The national average is 1 out of 20 guests getting connected long-term. Churches that build an Assimilayas system with us typically double (at least) that rate within 6 to 12 months. That's not a promise — it's just what we see consistently when leaders actually implement. That means dozens, hundreds, more guests securely placed in environments where real discipleship can happen.
Join the Tribe.
If you pieced this together anywhere else — coaching, a consultant, a course, a conference — you'd spend $6,000 or more in a year (way more). The Sherpa Tribe doesn’t even come close.
And it keeps going every month, with people who actually know your church by name.
Testing the Trail — $260/month
Full access to all Action Plans from day one
Weekly Sherpa Huddles — live Zoom coaching every week
100+ downloadable tools, templates, and frameworks
Access to the full Tribe community
Cancel anytime before your next billing cycle
Committed to Culture Change — $2,400/year
Everything in Testing the Trail, plus:
Best Value — Two months free
Audit Debrief Call included — start with a personalized plan built around your specific church
The Sherpa Commitment Guarantee — if you implement and don't see results, we'll coach you privately and refund the remaining balance if it's still not working
The path for leaders who are done dabbling and ready to build something that lasts
The Sherpa
Commitment Guarantee
Join with an annual membership. Work through at least one Action Plan. Attend at least four Huddles. If you're not seeing progress, we'll give you two private coaching calls to troubleshoot your system together.
If after that it still isn't working for you, we'll refund the remaining balance — no guilt, no runaround.
We're not offering a safety net. We're offering a Sherpa.
Brian Vaughan, Grace Church
“Greg’s system was EXACTLY what I needed to help me with vision and strategy for my new role in engagement...and I'm loving every minute of it.”
[12,000+ in attendance at 2 campuses]
Marti Horne, Damascus Road Community Church
“Our staff team have gone through Greg’s content several times through! There is so much wisdom in what Greg has to share about engaging new guests. No matter where you are in the process, I highly recommend the Tribe!”
[1,500 in attendance]
This isn't a course you shelve or a conference high you'll forget by Monday.
The Sherpa Tribe is built around one thing: implementation.
You already have the basics — a ChMS, email, volunteers, some of the right environments…
The problem isn't what you have. It's that nothing is aligned into one clear system aimed in the right direction.
That's what we fix — together, one step at a time, with real support every week until connection becomes inevitable instead of accidental.
What's waiting for you inside »
When you join the Tribe you get instant access to every Action Plan that's been built so far — with new ones added every season. Each one is a standalone 30-day sprint targeting one key piece of your assimilation system.
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The mindset shift that changes everything — how to see your whole guest journey as one connected discipleship system.
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How a church that functions like a body creates natural movement instead of bottlenecks — and the data goals that prove it's working.
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How to turn your volunteer environment into the most formational space in your church.
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Transform your connection point from an information desk into the front door of belonging — with trained volunteers and conversations that actually lead somewhere.
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Stop running orientation. Start creating an experience that moves people from "nice to meet you" to "I belong here."
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Lock down the system that moves people from interest to impact — quickly, clearly, and without anyone falling through the cracks.
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Turn your 15-minute pre-service window into your church's most consistent discipleship environment.
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The two bookends that keep your volunteer culture energized all year — one fuels momentum, one sustains it.
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Give your leaders the clarity to place people confidently — and make placement developmental instead of judgmental.
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Short, seasonal training groups that keep volunteers growing without overwhelming them or you.
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Build the on-ramps that consistently turn group interest into deep, lasting community — no more people falling through the cracks.
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The handful of numbers that actually tell you whether your system is working — and how to use them to lead with confidence instead of guesswork.
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A 20-step peer-to-peer recruitment challenge that brings in a rush of fresh volunteers — without stage announcements, pressure, or staff-driven asks.
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Turn casual one-time volunteers into committed team members — by designing the experience that makes them want to come back and stay.
FAQ
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Lead pastors, executive pastors, connections directors, and the volunteers who own guest assimilation at their church. Every size church. Every context. If guests are your responsibility, this is for you.
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Plan for 1–2 hours a week during a sprint — a 10–15 minute video, a 60-minute Huddle, and an hour to go implement. Many Sherpas delegate pieces to their team so the load doesn't fall on one person.
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Almost never. Most churches already have what they need. The wins come from alignment and clarity, not more spending.
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The opposite. Done right, assimilation makes large churches feel more personal than ever — by multiplying guides and clear next steps so every guest finds their place, not just the ones who already know how to navigate on their own.
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No problem. Huddles happen weekly at rotating times so you'll always hit at least 1–2 per month. Jump in whenever you can — every Action Plan stands completely on its own.
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Yes. Jump in monthly and cancel anytime. But if you're already leaning all-in, the annual membership is the better math — two months free, the guarantee, and the Debrief Call included from day one.
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The national average is 1 out of 20 guests getting connected long-term. Churches that work through the full system with us typically double that rate (at least) within 6 to 12 months. That's not a promise — it's just what we consistently see when leaders actually implement.
Join the Tribe.
Testing the Trail — $260/month
Full access to all Action Plans from day one
Weekly Sherpa Huddles — live Zoom coaching every week
100+ downloadable tools, templates, and frameworks
Access to the full Tribe community
Cancel anytime before your next billing cycle
Committed to Culture Change — $2,400/year
Everything in Testing the Trail, plus:
Best Value — Two months free
Audit Debrief Call included — start with a personalized plan built around your specific church
The Sherpa Commitment Guarantee — if you implement and don't see results, we'll coach you privately and refund the remaining balance if it's still not working
The path for leaders who are done dabbling and ready to build something that lasts
Not sure yet? Need to talk it over?