One common church hospitality question that I’m asked is for a recommended reading list of books related to church hospitality.
I’ve compiled this based on the reading that I’ve done. I originally wrote this post in 2010. Since then, great add ons have been released and I add them as bonus books
My Church Hospitality e-books:
1. Church Greeters 101
Church Greeters 101 is available in paperback and for the Kindle reader. You’ll learn about growing a greeting ministry from scratch:
- Organizing,
- Recruiting
- Training, and
- Keeping church greeters.
A big emphasis in this greeter book is on ongoing training of greeters and gives specific examples of greeter training meetings.
2. How to Welcome Church Visitors
How to Welcome Church Visitors is a downloadable ebook.
This is my first ebook on creating better first impressions.
It looks at the entire visitor experience of a first-time Church Visitor. Your purchase will get you a free hour of consulting time with me about your hospitality ministry if you choose to claim it.
The Remaining 8 of Top 10 Books on Church Hospitality
Beyond the First Visit – Gary McIntosh
If you have NEVER picked up a book on welcoming visitors, Beyond the First Visit: The Complete Guide to Connecting Guests to Your Church, Gary McIntosh can be a helpful introduction.
This book does have some strengths in looking at the visitor flow of your church.
- Attracting Visitors — Getting them to come.
- Welcoming Visitors — The art of Hospitality, dealing with first impressions and service.
Read my review of Beyond the First Visit.
Fusion – Nelson Searcy
Visitors are a gift from God. That was the greatest value I received from reading Fusion: Turning First-Time Guests into Fully-Engaged Members of Your Church by Nelson Searcy.
Searcy’s beginning point reminds us to recognize that under God’s sovereignty, every visitor is a gift to your church.
They didn’t show up by chance, but as a gift. These are “first time gifts full of unparalleled potential.”
How can we turn them into developing members?
“By sending that guest to you, God is giving you the privilege of cooperating with Him to move someone forward in their journey toward Jesus.”
The book is full of systems that Searcy was using when it was written. Even if the systems have changed, the transferable point to today’s era is the question: “What is your system to move people from first time guests to fully engaged members?”
Read my full book review of Fusion.
First Impressions – Mark Waltz
As I was updating this post I discovered I’ve not yet written a review of First Impressions: Creating Wow Experiences In Your Church, Mark Waltz
However, I have used a lot of the insights here to give shape to the hospitality seminars I give at local churches.
Waltz walks us through the entire hospitality process from all the intentional preparation ahead of time to beyond the weekend.
Most of the examples from a large mega-church experience.
You might be tempted to overlook this book when you don’t have parking lot teams, resource centers in your atrium or lobby nor the volunteer power of several large teams.
Don’t make that mistake. You will get great benefit from the conversation around systems, volunteers, and most of all, the impact a good experience can make.
Additional Books on Church Hospitality
- Serving as a Church Greeter, Leslie Parrott (Review )
- The Work of the Greeter, Paige Lanier Chargois
- Lasting Impressions: From Visiting to Belonging, Mark Waltz
- Ushering 101 , Buddy Bell
- Greeting 101 , Buddy Bell
Bonus Books
- Lead Like it Matters – Craig Grochel
- The Power of Connection in the Church – Steve Chesnut
- People are the Mission – Mark Waltz
These links in the above book titles are all affiliate links at Amazon. I get a small commission that Amazon sends me.
These are all books that I have read and find them very helpful in terms of visitor welcome.
For a more complete list of books, see the books tab above.
Let me ask you this?
Are there other church hospitality books that you would recommend?
Add them below and I invite you to give a reason for that recommendation.
Book Review: An Army of Ordinary People
Unreasonable Hospitality (The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect)
Author: Will Guidara
Not Christian but chock full of applicable lessons.
The Hospitality Commands by Alexander Strauch is the absolute best book I’ve ever read on hospitality. It touches both on hospitality in the church and the home.