Training Your Church for Visitors

by Reba Collins and William Cowles

Uh-oh. Someone you don’t know just sat beside you. Well, they are two seats over, but still you know you should close the gap and talk to them. After all, your church claims to be known for its friendliness. And it’s not being friendly if you completely ignore a new person just because you don’t know what to say.

But, what do you say after “Hello?”

Worse yet, what question can you ask that will let them know you’re interested, but not being nosy?  How can you get to know them without acting too pushy? Maybe it’s better just not to say anything at all.

Church leaders, we guarantee that many of your church folks have struggled through similar self-talks when faced with meeting a “new” person at your church. It’s an uncomfortable situation that many churchy people are not prepared to handle, but it’s an important encounter they must be prepared for when you want to create a truly hospitable, welcoming environment for church visitors.

We believe strongly that good hospitality is the primary catalyst for a church searcher’s decision to return for a second visit.

Over the next several blogs, then, we are going to help you prepare your members to be active participants in your hospitality ministry. It starts with on-the-job training that is so good and so subtle, your members will pick up these three techniques without realizing it:

1.     Acknowledge your visitors first and last. Before the first chord is struck; before the first prayer is offered; before the first candle is lit, welcome your visitors. When you say simply, “Good morning. Welcome to Christ’s Church. We are so glad you are visiting with us. Today we are going to …,” it puts everyone on notice that greeting visitors and making them feel included is a top priority for you, and therefore for everyone. Then, at the end of each service, invite visitors to meet you, your leadership, or some volunteers. It sounds like: “We’re so glad all of our guest visitors shared this time with us today. I’ll (we’ll) be in the east corner of the Gathering Area and I hope you’ll come by and introduce yourselves.” This sends the clear message to regulars that visitor hospitality doesn’t end when the service is finished.

2.    Model good introductions. Help regular attenders learn to make the first move with a visitor. Each person who leads worship, makes announcements, reads, prays, or preaches has to show them how it’s done. For example:

• To get people to greet others warmly, each person leading a part of the service must make it a habit to say a warm, “Good morning,” “Welcome,” or even “Hey y’all.”
• To get regular attenders to introduce themselves to visitors first, every up-front person has to follow their welcome with: “I’m ______ and I am the ______ here at Christ’s Church.”
• If your church has an intentional meet and greet time, first tell the congregation what to do, and then show them how to do it by finding someone you don’t know and introducing yourself first.

Do these three simple things repeatedly in front of your attenders and they will become habits for them, too.

3.       Guide visitors to a welcoming place. Think about it – everyone in your congregation has a familiar, comfortable place – but not visitors. Make an area available and name it at every service as the place where visitors can go to ask questions, get information, have some refreshment, connect with a pastor, meet members of your hospitality team, and mingle with other guests. The important thing is to make it available the entire time – before, during, and after services. And it must be tended by friendly, knowledgeable people. You want every visitor to leave their experience with you with a positive connection.

Most churches rely on member volunteers at the front doors and welcome center to carry the church’s hospitality load. You can make sure your regular churchy folks become effective Welcoming Ministers, too, by immersing them in the culture of hospitable leadership that you model every time.  

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Next Week – The Only Question to Ever Ask a Church Visitor

Some volunteer hosts overdo visitor hospitality with a slick speed-dating system. Others prefer a hands-off, cold-fish, you-can-ask-for-help-when-you-need-it approach. Neither approach creates a culture of hospitality that doesn’t feel forced to first-time visitors. In our next blog, we’ll suggest one sure-fire, easy-to-engage-with, conversation-starting question that your front-line volunteers can ask and any visitor will receive safely.