All of these have come across my twitter feed in the last few months.
Which one of these church greeter experiences make you laugh out loud?
Which one of these observations of church greeters makes you cringe?
20 Crazy Church Greeter Comments
- I’m the greeter at church today. Is it bad if I greet everyone, then go back home to bed?
- Ok, went to church & this old guy (greeter) saw me w/my kids & was like where is their dad? He was so crusty, we were like really perv?
- I have a creeper at my mom’s church . . .the creepy greeter freak me out. I don’t even like going to her church now.
- When you randomly get signed up to be a greeter for your church mass? #ihatechurch
- If Walmart greeter is warmer and more authentic than ones at church there is a problem.
- To church today, had to be a greet, which I love to do every first Sunday. I like to greet people who come to my church
- Today my greeter at Church told me to suck it up and stop complaining about being sore.
- “Nice to meet you. Who the hell are you?” Greeter at church this morning
- That awkward moment when you’re holding hands with your dad walking into church & the greeter tells you what a good looking couple you make.
- I would not join your church if the greeter gave me a flyer to another church and told me I should check them out next week
- Sometimes I hate being the greeter at church.
- How fun, they asked me to be a greeter at my church!
- I’m not a happy greeter at church this morning. #donotmesswithme
- The greeter at church asked me how old I was and I told him I was 21 #mybirthdaybetterhurryup
- Let’s see. . . no formal education, no social skills, terribly frightened of human interaction. Let’s make you a church greeter
- Hate when people act a fool when we have visitor at church.
- Just remembered a greeter at church slipped me a note with his number in it. I guess I have to be polite…call & let him down easy.
- I walk into church and *greeter* hands me a blank card and a pencil. This probably will not end well.
- I’m the lector at church but the greeter!? I don’t think I can do it…
- Would rather be going to my game in 30 degree weather than being a greeter for church.
Share the Laugh:
20 really goofy things church greeters have said
Help your Church Greeters avoid such embarrassment
I’ve put together a set of DVDs for Church Greeter Training.
You can get the DVD or the downloads only
https://store.evangelismcoach.org/shop/church-greeter-training-webinars-2-pack/
We are welcomers and been doing well and happy in it for 7 years . We are a bit noisy we like to sing sometimes – praise and join in with the service. We are quite enthusiastic welcoming people but as a team leader we know we are their to welcome people primarily. Our original team leaders had been doing that for 12 years and were quite happy with us, no complaints in all that time although he called us the noisy team with a big smile on his face! We do one week in 4. Recently a new leader has taken over and we have been told not to sing while we are on welcome duty. We don’t do the Hallelujah chorus as such we just at times praise our God but not to the detriment of neglecting to welcome visitors. Our best friend in the team has resigned and we have a welcome team leaders meeting tomorrow with the Pastor. He thinks it ok but seems to want us to go along with this new leaders style. This person actually challenged us at the door about singing as well as other things at other times at the door and not in private. We are hurting and feeling frustrated by this. My wife said if we are to be in this same control she will resign too and I will join her. We are popular and outreaching and bring many new people to this church. Its a Bapticostal church about 250 attendees. we’ve been going there about 8 years. Today is virtually my 40th born again birthday 12th Feb 1978 I am 70 years old. Help….Thanks!
These are actual things church greeters have said. Many of these could be offensive if you were to use them when welcoming visitors in your church.
I think you should remove the part about “no formal education.” That is irrelevant and offensive.
Thank you for sharing i will start greeting at my church the 1st of the year so was just looking for some help new at this also will be over the greeters
I do wish that a greeting was pretty normal.
But the reality we face is that it is not. You mention a good theory of what reality should look like – but the difference between “should” and “is” is quite a long way apart.
Congregations that are full of life still are made up of people that seem to overlook the good task of saying hello to the stranger.
Thanks for sharing that resource.
Hi Chris,
I just re-read the list of 20 Crazy Church Greeter Comments. The one that stuck out this time was about “Wal-mart greeters being more warm and authentic”. That caused me to wonder what kind of training the Walmart greeters get. I Googled “Wal-mart training for greeters”. I found a lot of information – including a list of their training objectives, plus a list of things participants will learn in a one-day seminar. Most of the training sounds like things all greeters should know and do – whether it’s a big box store or a church building.
http://www.customerservicetrainingcenter.com/customer_service_training_wal-mart.htm
Greeting should stop being a special task and start being normal. When there is life, evangelism becomes normal. Serving and loving become normal and there’s no need for a special team or time frame to force the task to be preformed. “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men”
Lou,
Thanks for sharing. You’ve given me a good laugh today. . .
I was recently with a church that might fit that description pretty well. Wrong people in the wrong service with the wrong gift set. .
The comment that made me laugh was about the people with no social skills or who are shy – they don’t want to be greeters, yet they are signed up to be greeters. I know of a church that has a hospitality committee and the chair is not comfortable talking with new people. Therefore, the activities of the committee and welcoming process are very tepid due to the chair’s personal preferences and inhibitions. My point. It is important to select the right person who will be responsible for assigning greeters and the equipping of the greeters. One other comment: I have heard that some churches don’t want to hold equipping seminars for greeters; “It might cause the church members to get the feeling that we think they don’t have the skills or common sense to know how to greet.” Well……duhhhhhhh.
Thanks, Chris!