How To Make Visitors To Your Church Feel Welcome

For several years, my husband and I continued to attend a church we knew we should leave simply because we hated to go through the ritual of trying to fit into a new church and make new friends there.

Finally, we took a list of several local churches from the yellow pages of the phone book and visited each of them in turn. Some seemed to have a special knack for making visitors feel welcome while others were so cold and formal that we left feeling just as much strangers as before we had come in. How does your church measure up?

If it needs a bit of improvement, here are some tips for making visitors feel at home whether they come alone, or with a friend.

1. Always have someone at the door to greet visitors.

Several of the churches we visited had no greeters at the door, or anywhere else for that matter. We went into the church, sat down and joined in the singing, listened to a sermon, and left. Not one person shook our hands or even bothered to say hello. People weren't going out of their way to avoid us. They were just involved with their own groups of friends and didn't consider it up to them to greet newcomers to the church.

The church we finally decided to attend regularly had a greeter at the door who welcomed us in a manner that made us feel like he was actually happy to see us. He made sure we had a bulletin for the morning service, and didn't leave us until he had learned our names, led us to a seat, and introduced us to the people who would be sitting next to us. We were impressed.

2. Follow up on visitors to your church.

This is probably the most important part of making sure that visitors come back again, and hopefully, decide to become a permanent part of your fellowship. We have attended a few churches where no follow up of any kind was made. Several, who made sure we signed the guest book, sent a letter the week after our visit thanking us for attending their services and inviting us to return again. Others had a committee of two or three members who called on us and made a real effort to get acquainted. Be sure you follow up on your visitors or you are likely to lose them.

3. Make sure you have some church members who will go out of their way to be hospitable.

Some people find it easy to be hospitable. More often, in today's society, people gather into little cliques and ignore those who are not members of their particular clique. They are not really inhospitable, just heedless of the need for hospitality. (Maybe a sermon or two on the subject will cause them to give it some thought.)

Even though a church may have a long list of activities in their Sunday bulletin, walking into a meeting where you don't know anyone can be daunting. That's where your church can use all the hospitable people it can get. Encourage them to seek out those who are not a part of a particular group and see that they find a place to belong. Sometimes, this involves issuing personal invitations to these people to join them and their friends at some church activity, or for lunch after church, or perhaps a visit in their home.

4. Cherish those people in your church who already minister to everyone, including visitors

It isn't necessary to neglect the people who are already members of your church in order to make visitors feel at home.

A simple wave from across the sanctuary can say, "Hi friends. We're glad you're here today."

Visitors usually expect to receive some attention when they first start to attend a new church. What is really special is to find people in that church who continue that attention and friendliness after the newness of being a visitor wears off.

An older man in the church we now attend goes out of his way to stop by our pew and visit with us for a minute or two every Sunday morning before the service begins. If he comes in late, he still makes a point of tapping my husband lightly on the shoulder as he walks up the aisle to join his wife several seats in front of us. Just a slight gesture like that makes us feel as though we are now really a a part of our new church.

As someone who has been both a newcomer and an old timer in a church. I think the above suggestions may help point out some areas where your church might be able to improve the chances of making a new visitor feel welcome. If any particular area is being neglected in your church, why not take it upon yourself to give it some personal attention. Who knows, you may just end up meeting the new best friend you ever had.