We were prepared to be the first time church visitor in our new home town of Port St. Lucie Florida.
The church planting team we are a part of has taken a holiday break, so our family was free on a Sunday morning to be that first time visitor and experience once again the challenge of being a new mover Christian family looking for a church home.
It is another visit in our series on church shopping.
We visited one church 6 times over the course of 3 months since our move to our new place in Florida.
It started off pretty good. They made a really good first impression.
But we dropped out.
We stopped going.
In the summer of 2014, our family moved to central Florida due to an expansion of our ministry’s vision and reach.
I wrote up our experience of the first church we visited. [Read more…]
A year ago, I posted this question to the EvangelismCoach.org Facebook page.
“Should we invite unsaved friends to church?” Give a Yes or No, and then give a reason.
The answers were pretty divided between Yes and No, with some strong opinions:
It’s not my point here to drift into a full theology of the nature of the church, but to focus on the vocabulary of the question: what do I mean when I use the word church in this question?
I mean the gathered assembly, whether it meets in a high school gym, music hall, or a beautiful church building with stain glass windows and movable chairs.
I worked through the book of Acts to see if I could draw principles about the early gatherings of Christians before the church was more organized.
Since many of you are new subscribers to our weekly newsletter, you may not know these exist in the archives. Dig around and check out the evidence yourself.
I invite my unsaved friends.
I’ve been inviting my unsaved friends to church for so long that it is part of my teaching. I teach on
Many of our church hospitality practices are based on the assumption that unsaved persons will be in our church, no matter how that visitor got there. I’ve never questioned it.
I know many people who came to Christ because a friend invited them to church. Here is one story. After a few weeks of hearing the preaching of the word, my friend surrendered his life to Christ. It is possible that without that invitation, he may have remained lost. It is possible that God could have brought him salvation by some other method. My friend was invited to church and came to faith in Christ.
If the church is responsible for evangelism, then it seems that some of it’s meetings will be intentionally evangelistic.
It also seems to me that the church would teach and train church members for evangelism where they live.
We see Paul’s concern for the unbeliever in the midst of the assembly.
First Corinthians 14:23 Paul wants the assembly of the church to be sensitive to the unbeliever in their midst:
Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers. So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind?
But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!” – 1 Corinthians 14:22-25
Paul assumes that there exists a possibility of unbelievers in the midst of the assembly.
There is no indication of how that unbeliever got there, nor is that the point of text.
But what is clear is a concern for the visitor. That reflects a strong ethic that should reflect in your church hospitality practices.
Answer this question in the comments below.
For what reasons should we invite the unsaved to our church?
One consistent question on church hospitality processes that I receive is how to follow up on your first time church visitors. Questions like:
Another question I’ve received is related to the data management side of handling visitor contact information.
How can church management software help our visitors become new members?
Today’s guest post answers that question. It is from Leah Merrill, Software Analyst for Capterra, where she specializes in helping church administrators find church management software. [Read more…]
I was an associate pastor in a small church. We had to carefully manage every dime received through the offering plate.
During lean seasons, we had to question every expense in the budget.
Sometimes we’d question the value of spending money on coffee and snacks after the morning service. Our pastor prided himself on his thrifty Scottish heritage and often looked for ways to not spend money if there was no value received.
Should our church have spent precious gifts from our members on little food items to have a small fellowship time after church?
Was it worth the effort to buy napkins, cups, plates?
Did making coffee make any difference?
Did the pastry matter? [Read more…]
What do you want your church visitors to think when they experience your church?
Last night, I taught in a church that is planting two more churches here in 2013.
This is a young congregation, under 4 years old, already raising money and training leaders for future church plants.
I asked them the same question as they set the DNA for their future churches.
So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind?
But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all,as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”
1 Corinthians 14:23-25
What follows is not the text of my challenge to them, but the basic summary.
It’s not a theological treatise on tongues and prophesy either. Rather, it’s a reminder that we should be sensitive to the visitor that God brings to the church.
Paul expresses a concern for the church visitor that attends one of the gathering of Corinth.
If a visitor comes in and all are doing their own thing, speaking in tongues, wouldn’t they think you are just a little weird? Would it freak them out enough to never come back?
But if a visitor comes in and hears the word of God proclaimed in a clear manner in an orderly way, they might declare that “God is in your midst.”
Which response would you rather have from a visitor in your midst?
Paul has a concern for the visitor and it should be our concern.
Recently, a reader submitted a question via Ask Evangelismcoach about how to identify church visitors in a large church:
What are some ideas for identifying visitors?
We are a 2500 member church and many of us don’t know the difference between a visitor and someone who is a member who we just have never met?
I have heard of using name tags, colored coffee cups(ugh!), asking visitors to stand during worship…
I spend time talking with people I do not know/recognize but they end up being members, not visitors. Any suggestions?
In 2012, our family was once again out of town for Christmas, visiting family.
For the last 5 years, we have not had a Christmas Eve service in our own church, but near where my parents reside.
We’ve had a few rough first time Christmas Eve church visits, but this year was different.
Through a friend’s recommendation (itself a recommendation from one of their friends), we tried another local church in the area, about 15 minutes from where my parents live.
We checked out the church website ahead of time to find the location and directions. Their website was current, up to date, and the locations were easy to find. From the look of their facebook page, they are engaged in active community service.
The church meets in a public high school building for two morning services. We choose the 9.30am service. It was their Christmas celebration since they don’t have a gathering spot for an off-schedule Christmas Eve service.
I guess that there were about 400-500 people in attendance that morning, and it was a racially diverse crowd.
The Children’s ministry was closed for the day as some of them had a role in the music portion of the service. Some of the children’s ministry workers were there to share that information and guide us to the auditorium.
The music was good and high quality, covering four different genres for the multi-racial audience, and included traditional Christmas carols jazzed up in contemporary arrangements.
The sermon was simple yet profound, and easily accessible by believers and seekers alike. The pastor did a great job in explaining biblical terms when needed.
Overall, the experience of Sunday with this church has inspired me to return for a second visit, and bring a friend from this area who is looking for a church.
This church has many awesome processes with regards to their welcome experience.
This church has chosen to use parking attendants to help facilitate the rapid entry and parking of cars. I found this helpful as a first time visitor.
Since they meet in a high school, the only exterior signage was signboards directing people towards children’s ministry and the church. This was easily navigable and easy to find.
Greeters wore lanyards with church badges on them. In a church of this size, this helps designate “official people” approachable for questions if needed. The door greeters smiled and passed the bulletins, and the ones we interacted with seem genuinely excited to have been part of their church.
The church had placed ushers at major intersections in the auditorium to help guide people to seating and address any questions as needed. Again, most wore a lanyard with a church badge making them easy to identify.
The church had grown to such size that we could stay anonymous as possible and feel comfortable. Greeters and ushers are there if had questions or wanted to make small talk. If we were in a smaller church of under 150 people, I think we would have felt uncomfortable if small talk with folks was not an option. In a large crowd, we didn’t miss it or want it.
The church uses a connection card system for visitor contact information, and the pastor was clear about how to fill it out and take it to the welcome center for a free book. I liked his phrase:
If this is your first time here, or first time in a long time. . . ..
It wasn’t obligatory for us to fill out. Later, when I turned it in, the teaching pastor was at that tent making small talk with people.
When it came time for Scripture reading, ushers were called upon to pass out Bibles to people who didn’t have one with them. While that was going on, the pastor mentioned that if you don’t have one at home, consider that Bible a gift from the church and you are free to take it home.
At the end of the service, the church made prayer teams available in the space up front. I appreciated how they were introduced:
All of us carry some huge burdens at time and we’d like someone to pray for us. Even if this is your first time here, our teams are here to pray with you if you wish. If you want some confidential prayer, simply come up here and seek out a team.
Then the service was dismissed. We didn’t have to wait for prayer ministry to complete. It was presented as an option. The keyword that caught my attention was “confidential.” That shows tremendous sensitivity for church visitors.
Since they are a portable church without a physical location, their welcome center and coffee stand were under separate tents in an outdoor courtyard. Since this is South Central FL, the air temperature was cooperative with this kind of arrangement. The pastor who taught that morning was there making small talk with guests.
I didn’t feel underwhelmed by anything, nor was I aware of looking for something I couldn’t find. For the most part, I think this church has a great welcome experience.
While it is true that no one engaged us in conversation, we didn’t expect it in a church of this size. The size of the crowd was large enough that we didn’t feel like stuck out at visitors.
Yet the church was clear about simple ways we could engage in small talk if we wanted to: visit the welcome center.
My only suggestion for this church would be a small banner hanging on the tent that was welcome center to clearly designate that tent as the welcome center.
I spent time talking with my family on the drive home. All of them remember prior Christmas Eve services and this one is the best so far of the last five years. They each talked about the music and the general feeling excitement.
As such, since we will be in town again this coming Sunday, we’ll make a second visit, and bring a friend and her husband with us.
Recently, I was asked the following question via Ask The EvangelismCoach.
I’ve posted this to the community Facebook Page, but wanted to give you all a chance to help pitch in. I hope to do this on a more regular basis.
“How do we greet late comers?
Do we need to mention that worship service has started?”
The basic principle that guides all your hospitality ministry is respect for the person coming late.
I have been in some churches where ushers close the sanctuary doors when the service starts, and then reopen them at certain points for latecomers.
Typically, they politely mention that the service has started. It’s an explanation for the shut doors and the pause before entering. They mention that in a few minutes, they will let people in at an upcoming point in the service. It is part of their custom and practice.
I have been in some churches where people come in and go out at all points of the service. Ushers seat them at any time. The causal nature of these churches don’t really require an explanation about how the service has already started.
Above all, the key point is respect for the latecomer and finding ways to communicate respect and honor.
We certainly don’t want to communicate: “Your are LATE!”
Add your comments below to help answer Ed’s question.
What would you say to Ed?
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