Ensuring church visitors feel welcome is essential for faith leaders. A church that is welcoming and open is likely to lead visitors to return or share their experience, which in turn can help your congregation grow.
Here are some suggestions to help you welcome visitors at church and make them feel at home.
Maintain Your Signage
The process of welcoming visitors to church begins even before they enter the building. Ensure that your church’s exterior is clearly marked. Visible and well-maintained signage will help newcomers easily find your church as well as available parking.
Create a Church Welcome Team
Ask for volunteers to be a part of a welcome team to build personal connections with visitors. These should be volunteers who are warm, enthusiastic, and eager to help. They are representatives of your church, so how they engage with guests is incredibly important.
Station your greeters at entrances and exits to ensure that new worshippers are put at ease and are aware of whom to approach with any questions. Greeters for Sunday School or children’s ministry can also help parents and children feel comfortable.
Additionally, consider other areas where greeters can provide support. For example, add parking lot attendants to help direct traffic and guide visitors.
Share A Gift With New Worshippers
A small gift or token can be an excellent way to show new visitors that they are part of the community and encourage them to return. A gift can be something small: a keychain, a water bottle, branded journal, or Bible. It will help keep your institution top of mind, and it is an easy way to show a little extra appreciation.
Additionally, you can offer visitor information packets containing details about your church. This provides newcomers with a quick reference to help them get acquainted with your community.
Offer Great Childcare
Many individuals are reluctant to come to church because of the difficulty of finding childcare. While some children are content to be in church and may even enjoy services, young children may have more fun in a children’s ministry at your church.
Finding reliable teachers and volunteers to spend time with kids, do activities, teach, and play games can go a long way towards making the church experience positive for the whole family.
Keep Your Church Neat and Well-Decorated
This may sound simple, but keeping your church and ministry rooms clean and organized is important in making visitors feel welcome. Make sure spaces that guests will frequently use are clean and free of clutter and debris. Consider doing a deep cleaning during busy times of the year, like Easter or Christmas. Likewise, welcoming decor, such as appropriate art, new paint, or wallpaper, can go a long way in creating an inviting space.
Don’t forget about the exterior of your church. Make sure your parking lot and landscaping are well maintained, as these are the first things people will see when visiting.
Related Post: Church Facility Maintenance Tips
Follow Up with Church Visitors
There are a number of different ways you can follow up with new visitors:
- Personalized emails
- Handwritten notes
- Welcome packets
- Phone calls
- Text messages
- Invitations to events and small groups
If you provide a guest card, you can for ask visitors for their contact information and their preferred method of contact.
Make Sure Your Website Provides a Good Experience
While the essence of a great church service almost certainly must occur in person, your church’s website is, for many, the face of your church. Given the amount of time people spend online finding new businesses and institutions, including churches, it is important to have an attractive web presence.
Here are some tips to help make your website stand out to visitors and guests:
- Convey all essential information about your church: location, worship times, events, etc.
- Add videos or testimonials from members can go a long way towards putting a human face to your place of worship.
- Have a page that has information about your church leadership so guests can get to know them.
- Include videos of your latest messages or sermons so visitors have a glimpse of what they can expect when they attend a service.
Ensuring visitors feel welcome will go a long way towards encouraging them to come back to your church. Here are some tips for following up with church visitors.
Looking for more ways to create a transformative worship experience that inspires your church community? Read our blog post on strategies to improve the worship experience for your visitors and members.
