The Institute For American Church Growth asked over 10,000 people this question: “What was responsible for your coming to Christ and this church?”

Their replies were:

• I had a special need – 3%
• I just walked in – 3%
• I liked the minister – 6%
• I visited there – 1%
• I liked the Bible classes – 5%
• I attended a gospel meeting – 0.5%
• I liked the programs – 3%
• A friend or relative invited me – 79%

Source: lost, but it’s been in files for a while.

So, who are you inviting to church this weekend?

Are you prepared for to receive new church visitors at Christmas time?

I want to give you 5 areas to consider improving your church welcome for your first time visitors when the come this Christmas Season.

1.  Train Greeters

Greeters can provide a warm handshake, helpful information and walk a guest to classes or the sanctuary if needed.

Greeting is more than just a hello.  It is a first impression.

I’ve got some free church greeter training videos here.

Or, purchase this DVD or Download video done in September 2011 to train greeters as a refresher.

Why is this important? Read these tweets and you get the idea.

Greeter at church- “How’s college? Have they kicked you out yet?” Not sure what this says about me.  –Twitter User

The greeter at church always flirts with me………uncomfortable!! — Twitter User

Way to go folks. Brought a visitor to church. Overheard “well that ain’t no way to dress for church.” — Twitter User

2. Cast a Hospitality Vision

Being friendly to your church visitor means that the church family is listening, inviting, encouraging, and caring.

Help your church get that vision for hospitality by casting it  when you can in sermons, meetings, and Sunday school classes. (Audio download from the store).

Church Visitors should be greeted by someone around them, not just the greeter at the door.

Particularly the lonely ones who may be away from family this time of year.

3. Church Visitors Welcome Packet.

Prepare Welcome Packets for your guest.

Read How to Prepare a welcome packet, perpetually one of the 10 ten articles on this website each year.

Include current information on upcoming programs and an invitation to meet with the pastor.

4.  Have a reception after the service.

Have a coffee/snack reception after the service.

This allows time for

• conversations with your church visitors to occur,
• for prayer to happen, and
• for your guests to meet with the pastors.

Beverages:

Make the coffee fresh and of appropriate strength. It shouldn’t be reheated from last night’s fellowship event nor should it be so weak as to taste like colored water.

While it doesn’t take a lot of skill to make coffee, making it right is the challenge.  Coffee drinkers know a good cup of coffee, and a bad cup will leave a bad taste.

Don’t forget to make enough – sometimes the pot gets drained before visitors have had a chance to get to the urn.

Offer alternatives such as teas, juice, ice cold water. If you choose to use bottled water, offer a recycle container for empty bottles.

Food:

Whatever snack items are offered, make sure they are fresh.

Stale sweets, or frozen items that had been thawed simply taste cheap and do not make a great first impression.

Consider common food allergies and either avoid those (like nuts) or provide an appropriate sign.

In our health conscious time, provide healthy options for those that don’t want sugary cookies or sticky sweets.

5.  Post visit Welcome Letter

Assuming you got church visitor contact information during the worship service, you’ll want to send them a nice follow up letter.

Be sure to include an invitation to return to the next worship service, as well as some upcoming event or service.

Don’t bother with “we are here to serve you, if you need anything.”

Instead, invite them to join you on a mission or upcoming event.

For example, “We believe in serving our neighborhood and being the best church for the community.  This month on [date] we’re going to serve the homeless and invite you to join us on that mission.”

Next steps

What are some areas that you would add?

Please share them in the comments below.

Most churches experience an influx of church visitors at Christmas time.

• Some are out of town guests.
• Other church visitors seek out the Christmas traditions of their youth.
• Others are awakening to their spiritual thirst.

Churches have special activities that are geared at increasing the number of personal invitations that members give.

While your attendance may swell at Christmas time, the critical question is

• How can you get your church visitors to come back after visiting your church this Christmas season?

Here are four factors to keep in mind.

1. A excellent and meaningful Christmas worship experience.

Make sure all your Christmas season events and worship services are done with excellence and quality.

Don’t let sloppiness or a lacksidasical attitude hinder your visitors experience of the Christmas season.

Think about your worship experiences and ask “Is this helping our visitors and members experience God and hear God’s truth?”

If a visitor doesn’t have a sense of encountering God during their visit, it’s highly unlikely they will return.  Instead, they’ll simply wonder “What’s the point of that?”

2.  Well done hospitality that reflects Christmas cheer.

Remove the unnecessary barriers to a return visit.

• Make sure your greeters are smiling at Christmas.   Read 10 Tips for Greeters.
• Make sure your facility is cleaned up and well decorated.
• Make sure your processes of getting from parking lot to pew are frictionless.
• Make sure your bulletins are easy to follow.

And most of all, make sure your members people say hello to the visitors.

There is lots of other information on this website about church hospitality.

Create the best experience possible at Christmas.

You can’t make a long term influence for Christ on a church visitor if they don’t come back to your church.

3.  Use the Advent time build momentum for your January sermon series.

The four weeks of advent is also a great time to start promoting your post Christmas sermon series.

Pick a topic that is relevant to life.

Do a six week  sermon series connected with the launch of new small groups.

These are great avenues to invite people back to church after the Christmas season is over.

Small groups allow for relationships to form, which increases the possibility your visitor will become a regular attender.

4.  Get visitor contact information.

There are many ways to get contact information.

I recommend the use of contact cards.   (Read and listen: How to Get Church Visitor Contact Information).  In our congregation, we are small enough to recognize first time vistiors. We hand them first time visitor cards.

Drop a note or Christmas card in the mail.

Invite them to other Christmas specials.  Remind your visitors they can bring a friend.

Also, use the card to remind your church visitors of the upcoming January series.

Even drop a little gift in the mail like a $5 gift card or gas card.

Some churches still make a personal visit within 24-48 hours.

Find ways to show honor to your visitor and invite them to return for January’s sermon series.

You can’t follow up if you don’t get any contact information.

Let me ask you this?

What specifically are you doing to be intentional about inviting your church visitors to return after Christmas?

Please share in the comments below.

Christmas is an ideal time to attract people into your church

• by hosting Advent activities,
• reaching out into the community, and
• making your church more inviting.

Don’t miss the opportunities to introduce people to Christ this Christmas.

As you celebrate and announce the birth of Christ, don’t forget to also proclaim the resurrection of Christ. After all, that is the reason Jesus came.

Your church can make an eternal difference in the life of your visitors, if you can help them come back on a regular basis.

Several of you are already rehearsing your Christmas musicals, setting dates for your parties, and getting the ball rolling on your community service projects during December.

If you haven’t started, now is the time to begin planning your events to reach the first time visitor who will come this time of year.

Are you ready for a Christmas increase in First time church visitors?

A study in the late 1990s showed that three out of four Americans attend church some time during Christmas, and almost 30 percent attend church more frequently during the holidays.

They will be

• family members from out of town,
• people thinking about making a change in the coming year after Christmas
• seekers longing for the familiarity of Christmas traditions they grew up with
• curiosity driven consumers seeking the comforts of beautiful Christmas music

How one church failed it’s first time Christmas visitors

Don’t be like this church I visited — read here to get some ideas on how to fail your visitors.

A Christmas Eve Tale (My first time visit failure)

This was a disappointing experience.

Even though I was an out of town guest, this church lacked the foresight to connect with any of it’s guests.

Sloppy music, hard to find, and no one said hello made for an uninviting Christmas experience.

Prepare to receive your Christmas church visitors

Over the next few posts, I’ll share some ideas on Christmas outreaches, but let’s start this one with an intentional review of your hospitality systems.

Wise church leaders will do some advance preparation related to hospitality in expectation of new church visitors at Christmas. A regular review of your systems is a good way to make sure things flow smoothly. You know that Inertia and inefficiency always creep in.

Whether that is you as

• Senior Pastor
• Head of the Greeter / Ushers.
• The leader of your church hospitality ministry
• Chair of the committee that oversees your church welcome ministry.

Your systems and processes are 1 of at least 4 Variables in Church Hospitality.

Wise hospitality ministry leaders will

• Review their facility navigation
• Review their current facility appearance.
• Review their church visitor follow-up process.
• Review their status of current hospitality ministries
• Review their current church greeter process / volunteers
• Review their process to how they get church visitor contact information.

Doing this kind of review will often reveal a bunch of

• We need to fix this.
• We ought-a
• We should have . . .

Free Church Hospitality Assessment Download

Other Evangelism Coach resources to :

• Ebook: How to Welcome Church Visitors
• Ebook: Church Greeters 101
• Audio: Church Hospitality Systems Review
• Audio: Cast a vision for Church Hospitality

Read more for your Christmas planning

• Guest Post: Seeing Christmas stories through eyes of ministry
• How to Welcome Visitors During the Christmas Season

In the USA, back to school season is in full swing.

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:

http://www.evangelismcoach.org/store/back-to-school-season-greeter-training/

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I had an interesting experience the other night at one of those huge superstores.

I was the first time visitor to that store and felt completely lost and out of place.

What words might you accidentally use to make your first time church visitor feel clueless or ignorant?

What words does “everybody” know that  might not make any sense to a first time visitor?

• Kings Club
• Awanas
• Prime Time
• Eagles Group
• The Beverly Room.
• Narthex
• Sexton
• Supralapsarian
• Ontological

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

Puzzled why your church visitors don’t come back?

• Maybe your members talk to each other and ignore the first time visitor.
• Maybe your volunteers are not serving the needs of visitors.
• Maybe your first time visitors don’t feel welcomed.

In this audio sample from the Create a Culture of Hospitality MP3 download, I share other evidences that your church hospitality is not working.

Church hospitality systems break down where there is lack of vision for welcoming the visitors that God brings you.  Proper vision casting will help your whole church increase it’s impact.

“Your emphasis on prayer will make a big impact for us!” C. Parsons

“So many fantastic ideas on how to be more welcoming” – R. Wade.

“Practical suggestions to address vital issues”

Listen to this Audio Sample

The Rest of the Talk.

In this 79 minute audio MP3, pastors, hospitality ministry leaders, and volunteers will learn:

• 4 Reasons Church Visitors Don’t Return and Which Ones You Can Fix
• Evidence of Poor Church Hospitality Practices
• Meeting the Expectations of Your Church Visitors
• The Importance of Initiative in Greeting Church Visitors
• What to do when the worship service is over.
• 14 Ways to Cast a Hospitality Vision
• How to Pray With Your Church Visitors
• 7 Next Steps for the Next 30 days.

There was SO much in this recording. The biggest thing for me was hearing the importance of what our church can do when the service is over to initiate conversation with newcomers. You also gave us practical ideas that we could easily implement.

We have got quite good systems in place for before the service, but its after the service that we really need to work on. Thanks for pointing out some ideas for what we might do – Renda W, New Zealand.

Format: MP3 audio download (70 MB)

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I am a church strengthening consultant for the Montana Baptist Convention.

Our analysis of several churches showed that the “friendship” factor was low and was costing them the retention and assimilation of first time guests who were passing through their churches without a second visit.

I used your book to teach these churches how to organize and train a greeter team.

The information was well received. We will be doing a further analysis of these five churches by sending a “test” guest to each church to see if they have processed the material adequately.

Thanks for contributing excellent material for us to use in our training of these five Baptist churches.

~Mark Langley

MTSBC Church Strengthening Group

Purchase your ebook copy here:  How to Welcome Church Visitors

The problem that many of our churches face is that church visitors do not come back for the second or third time.

Churches need to get the core values of church hospitality:

• Visitors are a gift from God.
• We have the privilege of influencing their journey to faith.
• We can lead them to Christ.
• We can help them find a place to serve.

But that is if our church

• welcomes visitors,
• loves the church visitor,
• serves the first time church guest, and
• works at including them in the Body and help them to grow.

We don’t want to make it unnecessarily uncomfortable for our guests.

We don’t want our behavior to make our guests decide not to come back.

They might be offended by the claims of Jesus Christ, but that is different from the unnecessary offense that our members might create against visitors who come for the very first time.

Growing effective hospitality ministry is one way that we can improve our congregation and one way that we might help improve our visitor retention rate.

Four avenues of praying for your church’s hospitality ministry

I want to give you four avenues of praying with regards to hospitality.

These are  four ways or four directions to pray for an increase in hospitality in your church.

1.  At the hospitality committee level

Spend time at your team level or your committee level praying for the work of hospitality in your congregation.

Take time during your committee meetings or take time at a particular time during the day where your leadership team prays that your church would get hold of God’s heart for the visitor.

Pray that your team would be able to be successful in casting that vision to greeters and to the congregation.

Pray that you would be able to find creative ways to meet the practical needs of the visitors who come.

Praying for the volunteers that serve in the ministry to have God’s heart for the visitor and that they would be blessed through their acts of service.

2.  Praying for your church

More specifically,  pray for your church and its members.

Pray that they would indeed welcome the visitors that God sends.

Pray that they would have the eyes to see the visitors in their midst.

Pray that they would get the vision of hospitality as the pastor casts it.

Pray that they won’t put up unnecessary stumbling blocks or barriers to visitors.

Pray they would get the vision as you do training meetings for your members.

A few days ago, I spent some time coaching with a pastor who took a sabbatical.  As he visited other churches, he began to realize the power of hospitality and now he wants to communicate that to the members of his congregation that they may be able to get that.

But part of casting that vision involves praying ahead of time.

3.  Pray for the invitations that your church members make

Perhaps you are launching a sermon series or you have got special events that are coming up and you are encouraging your members to invite.

Here are 10 ways that you can pray for those invitations.

4.  Pray for your visitors

You can pray that they would experience the message and worship.

Pray that that they would encounter the Presence of God in the midst of all of that.

Pray that they would hear the message of the sermon and that they would grow one step closer to God.

Pray that they would experience the warmth of your congregation, that they would experience the sacred Presence of God as they go through the worship service, that they would be drawn to come back for a second or third visit.

Prayer is the spiritual work

Those are four avenues to saturate your hospitality ministries in prayer.

Prayer is ultimately a spiritual work.

Hospitality is ultimately a spiritual work.

The conversion to faith in Christ and the journey of conversion is also a spiritual work that is facilitated by the work of prayer.

I would encourage your teams to dedicated some time to pray, not simply open your meetings in prayer, but to labor in prayer asking God to bring people to faith in your congregation.

Next step

Gather your team and spend the next 30 days in prayer for the hospitality ministries of your church.

Agree to pray at the same time each day.

Send your team a reminder email or text message near the appointment time.   Use some scripture verses on hospitality to shape your prayer.

Pray and watch what God will do.