The topic of church hospitality is coming up more often as I speak with church leaders, sessions, and elder boards. As congregations continue to shrink, and more churches close each year, leaders are looking for ways to combat this trend. How can we bring new people in? How can we ensure they want to come back? How do we make sure our back door isn’t as wide open as our front door?

Hospitality is an area that churches often assume they’ve got covered. Think about it, you’ve already got a visitors table, a greeter at the door and a welcome card in ever pew. When asked, most church congregations would describe themselves as welcoming and friendly. But if that’s really true then why is your church struggling to keep your new people? Why are visitors not coming back?

The answer: The hospitality approach from the past 20 years just doesn’t cut it any more…

In a recent interview on the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast, Christine Birch (Connections Director at Connexus Church) said:

“…PEOPLE MAYBE ASSUME IN A SMALL CHURCH THAT COMMUNITY WILL JUST HAPPEN, BUT NO MATTER THE SIZE OF CHURCH, IT TAKES HUSTLE AND IT TAKES INTENTIONAL-ITY. I THINK FIRST THING, NO MATTER WHAT YOUR SIZE IS, WE JUST HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE POSTURING OURSELVES SO THAT A NEW GUEST FEELS FIRST OF ALL EXPECTED AND THEN ACCEPTED ONCE THEY HAVE IDENTIFIED THEMSELVES. FROM AN EXPECTED POINT OF VIEW, WHAT ARE YOU DOING INTENTIONALLY TO LET GUESTS KNOW THAT YOU WERE HOPING THEY'D BE THERE TODAY, … THEN ACCEPTED ARE YOU FOSTERING A CULTURE WHERE PEOPLE, REGARDLESS OF THEIR BACKGROUND OR THEIR FAITH JOURNEY, WHETHER IT EXISTS OR NOT, DO THEY FEEL LIKE MAYBE SOMEDAY I COULD FEEL AT HOME HERE?”

These two questions:

Do your guests feel expected?

Do guests your feel accepted?

These two questions change the conversation when it comes to church hospitality.

Make them feel Expected

Consider how you make first time guests feel welcome and EXPECTED by asking:

• Are the signs outside our building easy to follow? Will they direct guests to the appropriate door? Is the parking lot easy to navigate?

• Where are your greeters positioned? Can they open the door to people as they arrive?

• Do greeters at the door have the correct information and know how to direct or guide first timers around the building?

These questions might seem a little simple, but check out these quotes from ministry leaders in local Kitchener / Waterloo Churches:

“a couple years ago I began to noticed new families with kids sitting upstairs in the sanctuary, after asking a few questions I realized that none of our greeters were directing them or even encouraging them to visit our Sunday school rooms because none of the greeters knew where these rooms were! There was even one Sunday that a new guest asked about programing for children and the response they got was “I think these kids rooms are upstairs, but I’m not sure”” - Christian Education Worker from Kitchener-Waterloo

“when people arrive to our church on a Sunday morning they have to climb about 15 steps to get to the top where the greeting team is waiting to shake their hand… I guess it can be a bit intimidating” - church member in Kitchener-Waterloo

Make them feel Accepted

Once you’ve considered all of the ways you can make first time guests feel expected, now comes the more difficult challenge - making them feel accepted and truly welcome in your building. Remember, many new visitors, and especially male, millennial and gen-z visitors, will feel uneasy or anxious about coming into a church building for the first time. Preconceived ideas about the church will have them on high alert. So how can you help people feel accepted?

Consider these questions:

• Do greeters engage visitors with more than just a friendly hand shake and simple “good morning”?

• Do you have friendly church members who may look out for and even sit with new visitors for their first time?

• Is your service structure insider focused? Are their words or phrases in your service or bulletin that should be defined or explained for new people?

• Will visitors feel under dressed when they attend your service? Or even worse will they feel judged for their attire?

• Can you provide a small gift to encourage guests to come to your welcome table after the service?

• Is your congregation truly welcoming or simply tolerant towards new visitors?

Once you’ve considered these questions have a conversation with your leader board or session and brainstorm ways you can make new visitors feel truly welcome in your church.

Want to go even deeper into this topic? Here’s three things you can do:

1) Listen to the full Podcast Episode by using the link below

2) Start a conversation wherever you see this posted

3) Shoot me an email, I’d love to chat about it.

Lets find ways to make people feel expected and accepted together!

Links

Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast Ep. 232 with Christine Birch