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.
If the guest is a first time visitor introduce them to another volunteer or regular attender who would be willing to show them around and help create connections.
The list looks very good.
Two cautions:
1. I like the item on “fresh breath” but would hate to see my Greeters use gum. They will inevitably forget to get rid of it before greeting. Nobody looks good chewing gum. You might want to mention the spray or “breath strips”.
2. Some of these duties are performed by our Ushers not the Greeters.
Hope these help.
For a first time visitor, have someone walk with them to the childcare area if they have children. No one likes someone pointing to where they should go. During this time, the greeter can talk about the church and find out more about the family.
Here’s my suggestion:
Incorporate the question “So, how long have you been attending (church name here)?” instead of simply offering your name. It’s more open ended and creates natural launch points for more conversation (at some point). I use this approach when encourgaing attenders to participate in our after-service refreshment time.
Just remember when you get up have in mind how im i going to dress this morning. Always dress with the fruit of the spirit.(Galatians5:22)
Here is a quote that helps “How can you have a day, if you dont bring the day.”
Detroit,MI
Fellowship Institutional Church
Have a problem with greeters chewing gum publicly right through their duties. How can we solve this problem? ( they’re the most senior ones at that!)I think it looks disgusting!
As to gum chewing, that is something that can likely be addressed in greeter training meetings.
When developing a list of duties and expectations, a prohibition on gum chewing while serving is the place to talk about it and set your practice.
The point above is how to make sure you have fresh breath — if your church greeter chooses gum, have your greeters get rid of it before starting.
As to the gum chewing…
One additional thought. I don’t think the average person really knows what they look like–even if they use a mirror. That’s why professors videotape preaching students and make us watch!!!!
If Chris’ suggestion on prohibition doesn’t do the job (or if their senior status is intimidating) you may want to have someone walk around with a video camera to catch them in the act and let them discover it for themselves. Chances are they may self-correct.
If breath is the issue, you might suggest (or even provide) breath strips. They’re efficient and no calories!!
Hope this helps.
Kevin
Thanks! I’ll try the videotaping! I think that should be quite effective!
Why not just keep some individually wrapped mints stocked by the name tags or greeter sign-in, maybe even a simple – last minute checklist?
1, Did you pray about who God may bring to you this morning?
2. Personal checks – clean cloths, clean me, neat hair (or shiny scalp), clean teeth, fresh breath, sparkly smile?
3. Go get ‘em!
John:
Excellent idea. . . . I’ll have to add that one in.
I’ve got a checklist in my book, so I’ll need to add yours in the next update.
I would make sure all greeters have registration/visitor’s cards on them.
I like the fresh breath reminder. Our bulletins are handed out by the ushers. I usually have one or two on hand for information purposes. We usually arrive a few minutes early for group prayer, but sometimes we just have to pray individual prayers and ask God to help us as we greet. I have also asked my greeters to use as little fragrance as possible. Some people have allergies to heavy perfumes and colognes.
Great ideas from all.
thanks a lot, i will add that to my check list, actually tomorrow, we will have a short orientation among the ushers of our church. i will present some tips in ushering…I name it “called to be an usher”
HEy Chris,
I recently was given responsibility over the greeters our assemble, we call them “Welcome Team,” here!! I realised that they were struggling in their service to the LORD until, I stumbled upon ChurchGreeterTraining.com.
I am learning a lot on how to help these sweet brethren. I had some ideas on the duties of a greeter and this one just sealed what I have.
We are soon going out on a team building exercise and will be sharing some thoughts to them including these ones.
Thanks Chris, for an exceptional job. God bless you.
For our church we were the same kind of shirt, to identified the greeters/ushers and for the breath? I believe “tic tac” work great! why because they are small enough to fit in your pocket and you do see the person chewing up and down like they have gum in their mouth. And they last a long time. “Fresh breath”. Thank you and God Bless…Rick