Church Greeters at the Front Door

At the church we currently attend, there are plenty of people who use public transportation to visit church:

• buses,
• taxis,
• their own feet.

We normally take a public bus to church, which conveniently drops us at the entrance to our congregation, and so we walk through the parking lot to make it to the entrance.

I received a fresh reminder of the value of church greeters at the front door.

Running late — used a taxi

One morning, we took a taxi to church since we were running late. A taxi is about 3x more expensive than a bus – but much more efficient on a Sunday morning when it’s not raining.

The taxi driver arrived at the church, pulled into the parking lot, and stopped the car under the covered awning near the entrance.

As we were paying the cab fare and expressing our thanks to the friendly driver, a trained church greeter opened the door for us and said

“Welcome to [name of church here.]”

This made us feel like we were stepping into a 5 star hotel with valet service.

This kind and thoughtful gesture took the edge off of our stress at running late.

Parallels to your church

Some church campuses may have a covered driveway where people can get out of the car if it is raining.

Perhaps your church has a van bringing seniors from a local resident home.

Maybe some drivers drop off family members before parking the car and coming back to the building.

Consider having a church greeter who opens the taxi door, or door for any car unloading its passengers at the entry door before the driver goes and parks the car.

That greeter can

• Open the passenger doors as a sign of honor to members and guests.
• Give a great smile and warm hello and perhaps a hand shake.
• Mints or gum.  Enough said.
• If it’s raining, offer provide a church umbrella so the driver get back from parking the car.

A valet – type greeter can be a wonderful blessing there at the door.

Just a thought.

Do you lead your greeter ministry?

I’ve written a book for leaders of church greeter ministry.  Click on these links to read more (at Amazon).

• Church Greeters 101 in Paperback
• Church Greeters 101 for Kindle

You can get the 2 DVD Combo Set of Greeter Training DVDs from the store

Also, see this tutorial on fixing your greeter ministry.