6 Ways to Create a Guest-Friendly Worship Service
How can you position your church for increased attendance and growth? John Zehring, author of Get Your Church Ready to Grow, suggests six strategies that…
Browsing: Visitors
Articles
Welcoming Change Begins with You
Simple habits of congregational life, such as always sitting in the same pew or greeting the same people after worship, might seem normal and innocuous.…
4 Reasons Visitors Do Not Return
Lewis Center Director F. Douglas Powe says it’s important not only to attract visitors, but to create a space where they will want to stay.…
Pet Peeves of a Church Visitor
Churches need their most positive, smiling, warmest personalities on their front lines, says Greg Atkinson. Your parking lot team, greeters, ushers, and welcome desk volunteers…
What’s Your Goal for Visitor Follow-Up?
Lovett H. Weems, Jr. says the traditional approach to visitor follow-up aimed at moving people quickly toward membership may not fit well in an era…
How Best to Use Overflow Worship Space on Easter
Tom Berlin describes strategies for encouraging your regular attenders to worship in overflow spaces outside the sanctuary when additional seating is needed on Easter so…
Is Your Coffee Hour Chaotic Enough?
Researcher Kirk Hadaway has discovered that coffee hour in rapidly growing Episcopal churches is different than in the average congregation. It tends to be more…
Making Outsiders Feel like Insiders
Growing churches are churches that have learned that God intends for us to be a people for others. The church needs more than its pastor…
The Over-Stuffed Bulletin
Do you remember those prank peanut cans? You would buy one at a novelty store, and then give it to one of your friends. When…
Can New People Navigate Your Worship?
Many churches have a way of doing things that doesn’t allow for new people to connect. Without even knowing it, we exclude those we truly…
The Greeter Gauntlet
I have visited churches where I approach the front doors and am immediately met by my first greeter. The eager greeter hands me a bulletin…
Your Building Has More Signs Than You Think
Your building has way more signs than you think it does: The locked front door, the boxes piled up in corners that assault the newcomer’s…
Ten Best Practice Tips for Hospitality Teams
1. Remembering names is important! We all know the value of calling a person by name. We all know how good it feels when someone…
What’s Wrong With This Picture?
Last summer I joined a large group of extended family and friends at the beach. There were, on and off, about twenty-five to thirty of…
Host Bridge Events to Reach New People
One of the disciplines of a disciple of Jesus Christ is to establish relationships with people we do not know — the unconnected — therefore…
The Ten Minute Rule
The first impression guests leave with determines whether they will be back. So what is it that goes into a good first impression? We interviewed…
Do New People at Your Church Need a GPS?
Have you ever asked for directions? The practice was much more common in pre-GPS days. As a pastor in small towns and rural areas of…
Thinking Like a Host
From beginning to end, the Bible teaches us how to be hospitable. Throughout the Old and New Testaments, we find stories of people acting as…
Five Must-Know Facts about First-Time Guests
Healthy and growing churches pay close attention to the people they count as members, as well as those people who are not yet a part…
An Open Letter to Churches Seeking New Members
My husband and I moved to the city a few years ago and have been “between churches” ever since. We’ve been to visit quite a…
