3 Traits of Church Hospitality Ministry Leader

What does it take to lead a volunteer ministry team in the area of church hospitality?

What makes for a great leader of a church hospitality team?

Or, what makes a great leader of the church greeter team?

From my readers, I regularly hear:

• How do I get greeters motivated?
• How do I get more volunteers to care about the vision?

If you are a leader of church hospitality committee, or the leader of the church greeter team, you have likely faced this problem.

Recently, our leadership team is reading The Way of the Shepherd: 7 Ancient Secrets to Managing Productive People.

In chapter 3, I picked up three really important principles from one of those secrets that could apply to leading a church hospitality team.

1.  Develop a sense of belonging.

There is a difference between recruiting a person to do a task, and getting a person on YOUR team.

You want people to feel part of your team.  You want people to be proud to serve in this ministry.

You want to be the type of leader that

• people can believe in and trust,
• volunteers want to contribute their best efforts
• your team proudly serves with their skills and loyalty.

That sense of belonging in an intangible characteristic that a great leader must develop in their team.

Be that type of leader that facilitates a sense of belonging.

2.  Constantly promote the values of your ministry.

You want people who take ownership of the values and purpose of your hospitality ministry.

The only way to do that is to be incessant in talking about the vision of your hospitality ministry.

Jesus constantly spoke about the Kingdom of God.

The lead pastor of a church I served in Richmond constantly reminded us that our purpose was to “gather the nations to worship Christ.”

What are your core values as a hospitality or greeter ministry?  For example

• Visitors are a gift from God
• Every visitor shall experience a genuine welcome
• Hospitality serves the evangelistic mission of the church.

As the leader of the team, it is your task to constantly reinforce your ministry values.

3.  Leave your mark on your team.

As a ministry team leader, you likely have a passion for hospitality ministry.

You care about the visitors who come to your church.  You want them to experience the best welcome possible.  You desire that every visitor God brings will be welcomed and find a home for their personal spiritual growth.

You carry the value of hospitality as one of the core values of your church.

At some point, you will need to train your replacement.

At some point, you might be called to another ministry, or even to another location.

When you leave, will you have left your mark on your team?

My father was a tremendous leader in his career field.  When I attended his retirement celebration, I listened to long term employees share their experiences of my dad.  I listened to their expressions of loyalty and dedication to the values my father demonstrated.

Recently, my father and I encountered several former employees.  Many commented how they miss my father’s leadership.  He had left his mark upon them (almost to the detriment of the next leader who had to work hard to establish their own leadership).

Be that type of leader who leaves their mark on their team.

Reignite Your First Impressions Ministry

We all want our church visitors to come back. But to get that to happen you need to improve your first impression ministries.

But where do you start?

Get these 7 Secrets to Effective Church Hospitality to give you starting points and ideas that you can implement this weekend.

Download it now

Coaching Corner

Each leader functions in a unique context with a different mix of volunteers.

• What steps can you take in the next 30 days to cultivate a sense of belonging in your ministry team? OR
• What steps can you take in your next training meeting to remind your greeter volunteers of your ministry values? OR
• What can you do this weekend to remind your volunteers about the value of their role?