3 Quick Fixes to your Church Greeter Ministry
By EvangelismCoach
I’ve recently been coaching some churches that have purchased a copy of Church Greeters 101.
In each case, I’ve talked with a relatively new volunteer in charge of the Church Greeters Ministry.
Often this volunteer is looking for new ideas to improve the existing greeter ministry in their church. They see that their greeters are
- showing up late
- not fulfilling their roles
- apathetic in their hello.
Here are a 3 quick start ideas:
1. Cast the Vision for Church Greeters.
When church greeters see their task as only “Saying hello to people walking in the door on a Sunday morning,” it’s pretty easy to consider the role as unimportant. They don’t see the big picture their role plays in the over all welcome experience.
If you are the greeter ministry leader, regularly help your greeters see the big picture of church hospitality and how it helps people grow in journey with Christ.
Action step: What can you do in the next 7 days to cast a vision?
2. Appreciate your Church Greeters.
We have all experienced the impact of appreciation and encouragement. A regular thank you or action of appreciation often remotivates volunteers and honors them for their work.
- Send a thank-you note.
- Smile.
- Send a Christmas greeting card or similar at another holiday.
- Spontaneously say “thank-you” during a chance or planned meeting or gathering.
- Ask a greeter for their input about a program or evaluation.
- Utilize a suggestion box. Carefully consider their suggestions!
I try to send hand written thank you notes to people who support this ministry and have been told several times how appreciated those notes are.
Action Step: Who do you need to say thank you to? Go do it within the next 7 days.
3. Email Quick Tips to your Church Greeters
Some of your greeter volunteers don’t necessarily know what is expected of them and may feel nervous about serving. They may also feel embarrassed about asking you what to do, so help minimize that potential nervousness by emailing some quick tips to your greeters when reminding them of their upcoming service.
Some churches are choosing to create a series of 12 emails they send out to all their greeter volunteers, one per month with some quick tips.
Here is one example:
Read: 10 Tips for Church Greeters.
Action step: Use the share feature below on the 10 Tips for Church Greeters article and share it with your church greeter team, facebook, and linked in.
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Store: Greeter Training Webinar
By EvangelismCoach
Churches are putting the finishing touches on all the new programs that’ll launch this fall:
- New Sermon Series
- New Small Groups
- New Sunday School Classes
- New Outreach Events
Many are planning for new visitors, and putting the final fresh touches on their hospitality ministries.
But here is the question:
- Does your greeter ministry feel stale and unmotivated?
- Are your new volunteer greeters eager to do a great job?
- Do you think your greeters are nervous about knowing what to do?
- Are you running out of time to organize a training event for your greeting team?
- Can’t get your volunteers together during this busy end of summer travel season?
I’ve recorded an on-line training event for your greeter volunteers to help you give that last minute training. It’s now available for purchase in the store.
Read more at our main site:
http://www.evangelismcoach.org/store/back-to-school-season-greeter-training/
Image source: Unknown
Who:
- Greeter Volunteers,
- Hospitality Coordinators
- Ushers
- Potential Volunteers for Hospitality teams.
When: Instant Access to download the video and handout
Duration: 1 hour, 20min or so
Cost: $9.97 for instant access to the download.
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Video: What does a church greeter do?
By EvangelismCoach
Listen in as I’m interviewed on
- I’m a first time church greeter: What do I do?
- What is the most important thing for a church greeter?
- What 4 actions are important for a church greeter to remember?
- What should I say to a first time church visitor?
- What can I do after the service?
- Does my role as a greeter really matter?
For more greeter videos, look for the free church greeter videos link at
Church Greeter Training Videos at ChurchGreeterTraining.com
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Video: Greeters and Ushers Praying for People who need it
By EvangelismCoach
In this video, I shared an experience that I had with a church greeter / usher during a worship time at a conference. The experience impacted me deeply, even though it occurred in 1997.
(Feed Readers: you may need to click through to see the video).
Church Greeters and Ushers should notice people
The key point here is that some church greeters or ushers may alert for situations like the one described in the video.
Even if they are not comfortable offering to pray with people, they should be able to find someone on your church’s prayer ministry team to accomplish the same action.
Let me ask you this?
Do you think this is a good skill for greeters, or do you accomplish this same practice through other ways?
Do you think greeters and ushers should play this kind of role?
I invite your comments.
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Church Greeters have more impact than they think
By EvangelismCoach
Below are snippets from chapter 2 of my ebook: Church Greeters 101.
Do people remember this about visiting your church?
One night over dinner, I heard this story firsthand from a Hispanic immigrant who had experienced the transforming grace of Christ. He had begun looking for a church for his family. He told me:
I had only been a Christian for six months. We moved from [another city] and began to look for a Spanish language church. I didn’t find any for a few weeks, so my wife and I decided to attend an English language congregation.
We arrived and sat down in the pews, clearly the stranger. We didn’t speak English at the time, so we really had no clue as to what was happening. When the service was over, all the people began leaving.
We stood around, and guess what? No one talked to us.
The only thing my friend only remembers about that church six years later is that no one said hello.
Imagine your experience if you walked into a church for the first time and no one greeted you.
If you were the first time visitor, imagine no one answering your questions about where is the rest room, or where do you take your children. Imagine no one to point out who to talk to with the spiritual need that drew you to church today. Imagine the feeling of noticing the congregation seems to ignore you.
If you were a regular attender or member, imagine that you have had a really awful week. Imagine no one is at the door to even notice the burden you carry and offer to pray with you. Imagine that no one even notices that your countenance that suggests you have come to church with a need.
Imagine for a moment that a life crisis has hit and you have not been physically or emotionally able to attend church for a few weeks. Imagine that no one notices that you have been ‘missing.’
Imagine walking into such a church. It would feel cold. You would feel out of place, and you would likely feel that no one cares. If this was your first visit, you would not likely return for a second or third time.
Before any worship service begins, the work of your effective greeters helps your first time visitors and members feel welcome into the house of God.
Why bother?
Some churches I’ve consulted with can’t seem to recruit enough volunteers, people drop out after one or two weeks, some don’t ever want to do it again, and some church haven’t even started a greeting ministry. I hear stuff like
- I can’t find anyone to do it.
- There are not enough volunteers.
- I don’t know how to talk to a visitor.
- Getting volunteers to take the plunge.
- We don’t do it because it’s everyone’s job.
- People say yes, but don’t show up for duty.
- I’m afraid that we will mess up God’s work in someone’s life.
With all the challenges to recruiting and training greeters, we come to the question of why bother? Why put up with the organizational efforts and human resources it takes to manage such a challenge? Why spend hours of volunteer effort and energy to recruit, train, and equip greeters?
It’s not enough to say ‘we’ve always done it this way.’ In the last two churches I served, the ministry of greeters was an operating assumption. One can’t keep programs in perpetuity simply because you have been doing them. Churches should know why they have such programs and why they should continue to have hours of energy invested in recruiting, training, and developing a greeters and a greeting ministry.
Why bother?
No church wants to unintentionally give a visitor or member
a bad experience, nor feelings of being unwanted or unwelcomed.
No church wants to be rude
and hinder a family’s journey of faith to Christ.
The potential long reach of a hello
Here is one from a family who dropped out of church over 40 years ago because no one said hello:
Over a good meal one night with an irreligious married couple, we spoke of church life, faith, Christ, and other topics. They both attended church 3 times a week growing up, but once they married and relocated to another city, they quit going.
They hadn’t been to church regularly for nearly 40 years and faith is no longer important to them. Their children weren’t church goers and grew up without any real knowledge of the grace of God.
I asked, ‘Why did you stop going?’
“When we were newly married,” they replied, “we relocated hundreds of miles away from our home town, away from family, friends, and our support network.
“We visited a few churches of our brand and not one person said hello or took interest in us.”
Did you catch that? A generation of children grew up into adulthood in an irreligious household because the parents couldn’t find a church where they felt welcomed. One child became a Christian later in life, thanks to the saving grace of Christ.
Greeters have more impact than they think.
Greeters serve in quiet but vital roles. They make sure the church is ready for the service. They make sure to greet members and visitors and all the children as they arrive. Ushers help people to their seat and answer any last minute questions that visitors may have thought of.
Greeters and ushers may continue to serve during the worship service, helping the latecomers get situated, or even ministering to those who may have quietly stepped out into the hall to find some space.
As people leave the worship experience, greeters are there to give a final greeting and an invitation to return again.
First impressions are not about right doctrine, but about the emotional and relational experiences that a person has with your congregation.
Potential Spiritual Impact
I received this note in my email. The writer is a high school friend and refers to events nearly 20 years ago when she was forced to go to church as a very troubled teenager. She reflects on influences that helped her come to her own faith in Christ as an adult.
It started with my parents forcing me into the car and forcing me out of the car every single Sunday. I sat on the back table and didn’t participate or anything….really because I could NOT believe in something I couldn’t see.
Yet there was this one guy who kept coming up, every single week, to say hi, give me a hug, etc…..and even though I thought it was strange, I thought there must be something at work here…so I started listening more….then I actually started praying….then I actually started looking forward to the youth group and the fellowship with my peers. . .
Then I started seeing people who really believed and were not only believers, but were willing to share, no matter how long it took, with someone totally outside the sphere of believers….totally awesome….so……thank you.
Did you notice the power of a greeter in her story and journey to faith? She experienced a greeting and kindness that eventually influenced her into finding faith in Christ.
Order your copy of Church Greeters 101 here.
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Greeting During Passing The Peace
By EvangelismCoach
Not all churches use the “passing of the peace” handshake fest, but some do.
Here is a church that did, but still overlooked the visitors — a family of 6 — in their midst.
If you are training your church greeters, how can you help your greeters use this time to connect briefly with first time visitors?
Share your thoughts in the comment field
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How to Personally Recruit Church Greeters
By EvangelismCoach
Sample from the book, “Church Greeter 101″ being released October 8.
In my last congregation in Richmond, there was a gentleman who was always greeting visitors, and always bringing visitors.
He seemed to always be introducing people on Sundays and making sure they had their practical needs met.
He was a natural greeter.
He started serving at the entry door to our church and greeting everyone walking in the door. It’s easy for him to do so.
He was an easy one to recruit.
What to look for
People can be trained, but if you are just starting a greeting ministry or recruiting new greeters for your current ministry, start with the ‘easy ones.’
As you do recruiting, keep in mind that you may not want to simply accept ‘whosoever will.’
You want people who love this ministry of hospitality.
Look for a level of spiritual maturity.
Set some standards and challenge people to reach for them. Look for those who show natural warmth towards people, particularly your visitors. Look for those who clearly have an other oriented mindset.
I would suggest that you don’t only recruit those who have proven themselves as leaders in your congregation. Search for those who you think have potential as well. This will help you train up future leaders, perhaps train your replacement, and spread the joy of ministry around. You don’t want to overload existing leaders.
You will want to recruit those of good character and reputation. Visitors may know your greeters from seeing them around the town. Visitors might form an impression of your church based on where your greeter was seen a few days before. I can’t tell you how many laypeople have told me how important that is. In small towns, this may be more important than in larger more anonymous cities.
You’ll want people who have a history of modelling kindness and show a level of friendliness that seems pretty natural. You’ll also want to think about those whose hygiene habits make recruiting easy.
Specialized areas such as security and parking lot volunteers may need specialists with particular training in security or medicine.
If your church uses spiritual gifts inventories as part of the ministry, look for those who have the gift mix of a greeter.
These will give you a potential pool of volunteers to start with.
How to Personally Recruit New Greeters
Smaller churches may want to focus on the personal recruitment rather than relying on the bulletins and newsletters. I’ve talked with several coordinators that say announcements don’t work as effectively as personal contact in their ministry context.
Larger churches may find personal recruitment a time challenge, but sometimes the greeting coordinator will still notice someone with potential. This will supplement the normal recruiting channels they have.
1. Find the easy ones.
The first step in personal recruitment is to personally notice people who have a natural passion for saying hello.
Look for those who take the initiative to meet the stranger, who always seem to be approaching people, who seem to find small talk easy — these are the easiest ones to recruit.
2. Take them out for a cup of coffee
The second step for personal recruitment is to go beyond the Sunday morning hallway hopeful ask. Offer to take them out for a cup of coffee (or have a dessert at your house, whatever way you do stuff like this). Get out of the church environment and into a place where you can talk 1-1.
Share some of the ministry vision of hospitality and greeting. Share your vision of what you hope the greeting ministry will be and how important you feel it is to the work of the ministry. You’ll be able to communicate your passion as you talk about why you love this work, why you feel it’s important. This obviously goes way beyond the typical hallway hopeful ask: ‘can you be a greeter next week?’
During that kind of conversation, you’ll pick up on body language and verbal clues that will tell you if your invitee is catching on to the vision. You can adjust on the fly as you need.
3. Make a clear ask.
Thirdly, give them a clear ask. Ask them serve regularly in your ministry, but give them time to pray about your invitation. Present two options of how to serve in your greeting ministry (more than an initial two and that will likely give too many choices and thus no decision).
Some people will say yes right away, others will appreciate the space to pray and consider all the other obligations and scheduling that happens in their life. Call them back after a few days and ask them if they have decided.
During your conversation, you may detect a hesitation. Sometimes that is rooted in not being sure what to do and being a little embarrassed over not knowing what to say or how to act. Make sure you mention that you offer training to help them grow in their skill and comfort factor. This will help the potentially nervous greeter get on board with your work by answering an unspoken objection that is likely there.
Let me ask you this.
How do you personally recruit greeters for your ministry?
(I’m not talking about impersonal steps like announcements or begging from the front, depending on your perspective).
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Church Greeter Case Study: A 4 Legged Visitor
By EvangelismCoach
Rev. Susan and I talk about an experience of the unexpected that occurred during a church visit.
She took a therapeutic dog to church and experienced different kinds of reactions to the presence of a dog.
Watch this church greeter video case study and then add your comments to the field below.
How can you prepare your church greeters for a situation like this?
In the comments below, how can you prepare your church greeters for surprise situations?
Share with us your thoughts
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Possible Greeter Training Meeting Agenda
By EvangelismCoach
One of our users has given me a potential outline for a greeter training meeting. She’s filled out details that are unique to her church, but here are some of the major movements:
- Hospitality Vision
- What is Church Hospitality?
- The difference between Hospitality and Evangelism
- 4 Factors of Effective Hospitality
- Goals of our Hospitality Ministry: Visitors
- Goals of our Hospitality Ministry: Members and Regular Attenders
- Greeter Duties
- Greeter Positions and Locations
- How to Welcome People
- 10 Tips for Greeters
- 20 Dangers to Avoid
- Fall Schedule of Events
- 4 Greeting Scenarios
Are there slides or details you would add? What have you found helpful to do in your greeter training events?
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Duties of Church Greeter
By EvangelismCoach
How many of you have generated a checklist of greeter duties?
In greeter training, this list of duties can be very helpful. Feel free to add your own or not include what may not apply to your context. These are geared toward entry greeters or staff of hospitality tables that many churches use.
Note: Some of this will seem common sense. The goal is not to develop “policy” that you enforce, but simply to raise issues to think about. Policies are no fun when the seem to regulate common sense.
Self-Preparation
- Dress in what is appropriate for your church context.
- Dress neatly in what is appropriate for your church. If people dress up for church, then greeters should do the same. If it’s business casual, so be it. Don’t be too informal, as visitors will partly form their impression of the church.
- Fresh Breath (mints or gum are helpful, or those spray thingys).
- Deodorant — particularly if you like to hug those whom you know.
- Prayer — Ask God to help you greet everyone and that all who visit may discover Him.
Note: if you use gum to freshen your breath, get rid of it properly before starting your work as a church greeter / usher. . Public gum chewing while serving is a frowned upon action in many places.
Before the Service
- Check the entry area (foyer, narthex) for cleanliness and tidiness.
- Fix what needs to be straightened up.
- Locate bulletins or programs if you use them.
- Make sure doors are unlocked and opened.
- Be sure that you are familiar with answers to common questions like ‘where is the bathroom?’
- Locate your information packets if greeters distribute them.
As people enter
- Greet people in an appropriate fashion for your context.
- Handshakes are typical, but be sensitive to closed postures of those who don’t like handshakes.
- Greet everyone.
- Greet people by name if you have met them.
- Greet the children too!
- Smile.
- Depending on the pace of people entering, you might inquire, “How’s the family?” or “How are you doing?”
Noticing visitors
- Look for people you don’t recognize.
- Offer your name and see if they offer theirs.
- Handshakes are typical, but be sensitive to the closed posture of guests
- Don’t lavish too much attention on first time visitors. Take your cue from the visitor.
- Smile.
- Offer to answer questions they may have.
- If there are children with the visitor, offer information about what your church does, or point them to the one who can share that information in depth (like the hospitality center).
After the Service
- Greet people by name as you can.
- Thank visitors for coming.
- Seek out those who don’t look connected
- Offer to pray for needs that have been mentioned.
Let me ask you this:
What would you add to this list?
Add your comments below.
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