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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The 10 Foot Rule
By EvangelismCoach
I’ve had plenty of experiences as a first time guest, where people will make eye contact with me, but not say a word.
Here what one book suggests a congregation practice to help increase the relational warmth of a church if this became part of it’s DNA.
My initial reaction though, is will this be too much?
Do you think this would be too pushy, or too friendly? Tell me what you think in the comments below
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Running a Training Meeting
By EvangelismCoach
Some of you have told me via email that you are feeling inspired to have regular training meetings for your greeters and all the members of your hospitality ministries.
One of the biggest problems that people are reporting to me is the lack of consistency in their hospitality ministries. One of the best ways to over come that is regular ongoing training.
In this video, I share my thoughts on what needs to happen in a training meeting.
I shot this little video while on the roof of my building. The cloud cover was causing me to squint perhaps a little too much, but I didn’t have much time left to re-shoot the video.
After seeing what I suggest, what do you suggest would be helpful to cover in a training meeting?
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Greeters Making a Home Visit
By EvangelismCoach
I received a question this week in my email:
To make a positive first visit to a church visitors home, our Evangelism Team wants to take a loaf of bread and have a meaningful conversation, do you have a script for Evangelism teams to assist in making a positive impact? Are there topics you want to stay away from? Thanks, Jimmie
In the video, I give my thoughts about this practice for churches that choose to use it.
The home visit after the first visit has been a staple of church growth tips for a long time, but since our culture has changed so much, we need to think about it here in 2009.
After watching the video, one thing I forgot to mention was to be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. It might be one of those kairos moments where the conversation can go into deep spiritual things. Other times, it might simply be a brief information visit.
Your teams need to be open to deciding on the moment how far to let the visit happen.
After watching the video, what do you think?
What advice would you give Jimmie?
Share with us your thoughts.
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Greeting with Sunday School Program
By EvangelismCoach
Some large churches have a giant Sunday school program. Lots of different classes to choose from. Lots more opportunity to greet first time visitors.
Learn from my experience about using greeters during Sunday School to make a great first impression.
After watching the video, share with us how you use greeters during your Sunday School time.
How do you use greeters in your Sunday school program?
Where else do you have greeters besides the front door?
I’d like to hear from you.
PS. I know that all you friendly proof readers [proof listeners?] will notice my goof between a suburban and urban church. It was an urban church.
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