A church can have greeters, signage, visitor parking, and gifts yet still miss real welcome. This first-time visit story shows how strong systems failed without a living vision. Use it with your team to renew purpose, notice new people, and invite them back. Finish with the Coaching Corner and a concrete next step.
Pastors can refresh their church’s vision for hospitality in less than five minutes. Learn how short reminders and sermon moments can reawaken your congregation to welcome guests with warmth and purpose—and discover new ways to strengthen your church hospitality team.
Have you been asked to give the welcome greeting at church? These five tips will help you prepare what to say, think like a first-time visitor, and keep your greeting personal and prayerful. Includes a short reflection guide to help you write your own welcome for Sunday.
Your church hospitality team helps guests experience the love of God through warm, genuine service. As you strengthen your hospitality program, consider these key focus areas and practical duties that shape a welcoming, caring church environment.
Discover practical examples of what greeters can say to first-time church visitors, from simple one-liners to heartfelt introductions. Use these real-life greetings and coaching tips to help your team create a warm first impression that helps guests feel noticed and valued.
The ministry of church ushers supports the entire hospitality system of your church. From greeting guests to managing the worship flow, ushers help people experience a meaningful encounter with God. Explore their biblical foundation, duties, and training ideas to strengthen your usher ministry.
Coaching pastors to build stronger hospitality ministries: why and how to evaluate your church’s welcome systems regularly so guests feel at home and teams stay mission-focused.
Every Sunday, I see commentary on Twitter about the joys at serving as a church greeter, complaints about experiences with rude church greeters, sarcasm aimed at unprepared greeters at church, and nervous greeters announcing how nervous they are. But if you can help your new church greeters know what to aim for, it might help them to rise to the occasion.
Churches of all size know the importance of your greeter volunteers. This might include the ushers, parking hosts, and connection center teams.
If you are a new church greeter, check out these ten quick tips to help you serve well your first day.
Videos can make for great discussion starters at your gatherings for hospitality workers or church greeters. Use as a discussion starter for your next church greeter training or hospitality training meeting. I enjoyed the humor and the painfully true characterizations.
How a church greeter left a wrong first impression on our family as we visited a local church for the second and third time. I felt myself making a mental note to not use that entry door. Yet, we continue to push through this and explore if this is a church we are called to serve in this stage of life.
As the hospitality ministry leader, it is important that you give constructive feedback or helpful tips to your church greeters on a regular basis.
This includes feedback on actions that have the potential to invade a guest's personal space.
I know first hand the uncomfortable awkwardness when church visitors show up 10 minutes early to get a seat and the sanctuary is empty except for a few musicians finishing a review rehearsal, and church members arriving up to 30 minutes late. Recently, a reader submitted a question via Ask EvangelismCoach, concerning a Sunday School …
You know that churches make all sorts of hospitality mistakes. You’ve probably experienced a few church hospitality errors first hand. Over the last few months, I’ve compiled this list of 20 complaints shared on Twitter. Read them and cringe.
Church greeters should not accidentally violate A person's sense of personal space.
Encourage your church greeters to set aside their personal preferences (e.g., "I'm a hugger") for a normal greeting that is customary and culturally appropriate to where your church is located
I’ve never attended a major golf championship until last week’s Honda Classic I was a first time guest in an environment I had never visited. We were invited guests of a golf fanatic who secured 2 tickets for our family (plus tickets for the 2 reluctant kids were free). I do play golf (about 1 …
How can you prepare your church greeters for an unexpected visitor with a therapeautic dog? Rev. Susan and I talk about an experience of the unexpected that occurred during a church visit. She took a therapeutic dog to church and experienced different kinds of reactions to the presence of a dog. From the pastor From …
Looking back over the past year, some particular blog posts rose to the top for 2013. Please consider sharing this post, or some of these with other believers in your network. In this post you’ll see some of the most popular posts of 2013 in
During a recent church visitor assimilation webinar (available now for purchase), we discussed some excellent resources on the assimilation process. One participant recommended a short book on hospitality ministry that was helpful to them. See You Next Week is a short text crammed full of ideas that could help your church get started in improving …
Some days, your church greeter volunteer will wake up in the morning with a not so helpful attitude. Check out these tweets:
I received a good question via email the other day. (Ask your question here). If you have a suggestion to help our reader, please add it to the comments below. How do I approach an usher who smokes and it smells on her? I am not the President of the usher board but would like …
I was recently asked to organize our almost nonexistent hospitality team at church. I was honored to be asked but honestly not sure where to start. I mean you just say hello to people right?!? Who knew there was so much more to what a greeting team actually does! Thank you so much for this …
If you are involved in recruiting and training of church greeters, you will likely run into a church greeter who says But I don’t know who the first time visitors are!!!! They may use that to avoid answering your call to recruit them for a given Sunday or for a given rotation on your schedule. …
A holy life will make the deepest impression. Lighthouses blow no horns, they just shine. “It is a great deal better to live a holy life than to talk about it. We are told to let our light shine, and if it does we won’t need to tell anybody it does. The light will be …
