Are you starting a church hospitality ministry, or wondering how to start a hospitality ministry in church?
Is your church hospitality program stuck?
A few weeks ago, a church setup a Church Hospitality Coaching Session.
The pastor organized one of their leadership committees that were taking on some new areas of responsibility, particularly in the area of church hospitality.
They were starting a new hospitality ministry in church.
Why did they do that?
The church was experiencing some new and fresh growth.
New visitors coming to their church for the first time.
Likewise, their current membership base was experiencing some spiritual growth leading to a personal excitement about the activity of God.
The combination of these two influences helped the church leadership team to see that they were not yet really prepared to receive new visitors in the way they wanted to.
They felt overwhelmed and stuck.
- Where do we start to organize our hospitality program?
- What are we supposed to do?
- What are we going to do?
It was a feeling of staring into the fog and not seeing much of anything clearly.
The problems appeared too big, too nebulous.
The pastor and leadership committee needed someone outside of their situation to chase some clouds away.
What did it take?
So, here is how we did a Church Hospitality Coaching Session for this particular church:
- Each of us had high-speed internet.
- Each of us had a video cam and microphone available for use with our computers.
- We connected. I saw them, they saw me.
Sometimes, we’ve simply done teleconference via a service I have.
They call in from their own phones to a conference calling number I have and we talk simply over the phone. There was no need for computers or video cameras.
Here is what we did:
For about 1 hour, we talked about issues that were on this hospitality committee’s collective mind.
It had the give and take of a conversation.
They went through a brainstorming process to find a their own solutions.
I simply facilitated a the conversation.
Along the way, I shared some of my experiences, but generally, they were developing answers to the questions I asked.
What did they get out of it?
In their process of talking out loud, they shared how they were
- Re-energized to find new solutions.
- Ready to implement some solutions they just thought of
- Full of hope that they can make effective changes in some of their processes.
How can you get yours?
I’ll get on the phone with you or your team for up to an hour or so, and you can tell me what’s the most troubling about your church’s hospitality ministry.
I’ll then give some coaching or advice specific to your exact situation to help break through the logjam.
Read more here: Single Coaching Session for Church Hospitality Teams.
Read more here on the 6 week: Get Started Coaching Program for Hospitality Directors
Can Pastors find time for Evangelism?
Great article. Praise God for technology. I use Skype all the time for business and ministry. I will forward this blog post to a couple Pastor friends who could use this type of consultation. May the Lord bless you as you reach out in this way, using your time and resources for God’s Church!
Well, I was recently asked to take over the greeting & 1st impressions ministry in my church. I believe that I was called to do this by God & am really excited. I did not realize what it all entailed though. Our church had no real formal training, so I get to make it all up as I go. So there’s not much that we need to “fix”, we just need to start doing things. The main thing we are focusing on right now is starting a welcome center, so hopefully visitors feel welcomed! 😉 I have no experience and some days I just don’t know where to start. I pray that God will lead us!
amanda, i totally relate! i am a pastoral intern this year and the first impressions ministry is my primary focus at the church. i see the ministry as outreach though some people on the team are not as passionate about it – it is just perhaps a way to serve the church. we also have some building layout issues in that there is no obvious or good place for a welcome/information booth, or space for engaging in conversation other than in the sanctuary or in the basement fellowship hall – our entry way is impossibly small. all that to say, i also am excited to see what God is going to do. i am sure the Lord will inspire me, draw greeters/ushers/hosts, and prepare the people He wants to meet at our church. We are creating an atmosphere of love, community, and focus on Jesus and the Lord will take it from there. Blessings.
Hi,
My wife and I are starting a new coordinating job at our church in the welcome rooom. We have been participating as greeter and welcome room attendants for several years but not in a leadership position.
We think that our church needs a boost in hospitality and are sure we are not reaching all visitors. We have lots of ideas that could be implemented. What might be our approach be without conveying that we know all the answers
@Ron:
Thanks for dropping by. I’d love to catch up by phone and see what I might be able to do. I’ll email you separately.
My most frustrating thing about our church hospitality ministry is apathy. Difficult to get people to ‘sign up’ to do it, and then when they do, many don’t do much more than the ‘hand out the bulletin and say hi’ thing!