6 Goals of a Church Greeter

Every Sunday, I see posts on Twitter/X that range from joy to frustration when it comes to church greeters.

• Joy at serving as a church greeter.
• Complaints about experiences with rude church greeters.
• Sarcasm aimed at unprepared greeters at church.
• Nervous greeters announcing how nervous they are.
• Comments that are generally inappropriate for church greeters to make.
• Others share stories of awkward, unprepared, or even rude experiences.
• And every now and then, someone admits they’re nervous about greeting for the first time.

Here are a few real-life examples people have shared online:

“Being a greeter is the best job in church!”
“So I’m hung over and supposed to be the greeter at church today—this will be fun.”
“The first thing the greeter said to me was, ‘Sorry, all the cute guys were at the first service.'”
“Walked into a new church and the greeter said, ‘Oh, you didn’t bring a boyfriend?'”
“Tomorrow I’m a greeter at my church for the first time ever. Yikes.”

These stories remind us that not every greeter knows what makes a good first impression.
Many volunteers genuinely want to help, but they need practical tips on making a great first impression, and some skills on how to welcome people.

That’s why I appreciate this article by Brandon Cox, originally published on Faith Village (link now inactive). With his permission, I’m sharing it here. Brandon outlines six practical goals for church greeters that can help your team welcome guests with warmth and wisdom each Sunday.

No matter what your philosophy of Sundays in the life of your church looks like, it’s always biblical and beneficial to show love to people who are walking through the doors for the first or second time. In fact, it’s crucial. It’s very easy to come across as either disingenuous with an “in your face” approach, but it’s equally easy to seem uncaring by our silence.

No matter what your philosophy of Sundays in the life of your church looks like, it’s always biblical and beneficial to show love to people who are walking through the doors for the first or second time. In fact, it’s crucial. It’s very easy to come across as either disingenuous with an “in your face” approach, but it’s equally easy to seem uncaring by our silence.

As you help believers learn how to show love to new guests, here are some important principles to communicate:

1. You are the first loving touch every guest will meet, which sets the stage for people to be open to life change. People will be more or less receptive to the teaching depending on how they were made to feel on the way in.
2. Most guests will decide in the first few minutes if they will return, even before the music starts. It’s easy to walk into church if you’re there every week, but do you remember what it was like walking in for the first time, when you didn’t think you’d know anyone and wondered if anyone would want to know you?
3. Your biggest goals are to 1.) eliminate awkwardness and 2.) encourage people. We worship together in a movie theater, so we have the advantage of knowing that people already know what it’s like to walk into a theater, but they’re still asking themselves questions like: Am I following their rules? Am I dressed appropriately? Will I be able to find the bathroom without asking?
4. You are a tour guide who takes people to their destination, not a travel agent who sends them there. Walking parents and kids all the way to the next volunteer in the kids’ worship room is far better than pointing a finger and saying, “It’s down there on the right.” Walk with people and ask them questions on the way. Be genuinely interested in their lives.
5. You can have a ministry of encouragement and even offer to have a brief prayer with people. Obviously, some first-time guests may not be comfortable with such forwardness, but sometimes it may be highly appropriate to pray with guests before they enter the auditorium, especially if you’ve sensed a spiritual need in them. Keep it brief and don’t make things awkward, but communicate that you care.
6. Everybody ought to receive a smile, a word of welcome, a loving touch (such as a handshake), and a bulletin on their way in. A smile disarms people and boosts their confidence. A word of welcome is common courtesy. A loving touch, such as a handshake or a brief hug, might be the only loving touch that guest receives this week. And a bulletin, at least in our case, is like a map for what’s going on and allows the guest to respond to the message and request more information.

Brandon Cox was the Lead Pastor of Grace Hills Church, in northwest Arkansas when he wrote this. He is now a Communications Consultant, based in Northwest Arkansas.

CC Feature Image Image • Kevin Dooley on Flickr
The Original post appeared here at Faith Village (link to original source broken)

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