Image by sarowen via FlickrWhen I first moved to Scottsdale, I visited several churches. Also when I was traveling around the country I went to a different church every week. I enjoyed seeing all the different ways people do church. One thing really, really stands out for me. A church can be intentional in their outreach in terms of programs and mission trips but when it comes to properly greeting new people, 90 percent are dismal failures. Certainly every church has an official greeter at the door to say welcome. Many churches have "welcome centers" where you can pick up info on all the ministry programs. One church even had a "welcome lounge" where people can go after the service to meet with a few staff members. At some churches, the pastor tries to seek out new people after the service. All these things are good but not good enough.
When you think about it, a church should not have "official greeters" because it should be the responsibility of everyone to greet people they don't know. I know as a church grows, this gets harder and harder to do but there is really no reason we shouldn't be aware of people around us who we don't know and then go and talk to them.
I've been to great family churches where when it comes time in the service to greet the person next to you, people get out of there seats, walk past ten people they don't know to give a hug to their friends who they see in church every week. That just does not make sense to me and if you are new, it is highly offensive to go to a church and be ignored. Is this radical thinking on my part? I've even had a pastor insinuate I was nuts for thinking this way! Bottom line, it really bugs me to go to a church and be totally ignored.
To correct the problem, I think, from the pulpit, the pastor should encourage people to greet someone they don't know every week. I'm not talking about just saying "Hi" I mean chatting with someone to try and get to know them a little bit so they can feel welcome.
Now I will admit that I am someone who is easy to ignore. I was working at a small Baptist church in Maryville, Washington. I was talking with the church secretary and she invited me and said she guaranteed me that I would not be ignored is I showed up on Sunday. Well, I took her up on our bet and I made it past the door greeters and into my seat before anyone came over to say "Hi". So I lost the bet.
It was a small church and what they did at each and every service was pretty cool. At the beginning of the service someone from the audience would introduce the guest they just met to the full congregation and they would give you a gift bag. What was in the bag? They had a brochure about the church, two CD's of the pastor's best sermons and a little bag of homemade cookies. From someone who had been on the road for three months, getting those cookies meant a lot to me. I really felt like I was welcomed and that people actually cared that I was there. I think that is what greeting is all about. Do your guests feel that someone actually cares they visited your church?
Hi Dan, We spend so much time talking with all in the church that sometimes we do not get started on time. It is usually the Chaplins that take so much time talking. When we are asked for prayer requests then there is more talking with each other. We also do a lot of hugging with our greating. After the service we have a snack in one of the rooms. And a lot of fellowship. We go to church on NASWI. When you and Lynn get a chance to come this way we will take you to our chuch. You will not be passed by.
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