Top Ten Quotes: Becoming a Welcoming Church

I gravitate to church guest services books like a moth to a flame. That’s why I was very excited to see Thom Rainer release not one, but two books in the genre last month. Becoming a Welcoming Church is a work for pastors and church leaders, and dives into the “how to” of guest services. We Want You Here is the book’s companion piece, meant to be a giveaway for church guests.

Today I want to tackle Becoming a Welcoming Church. Here are my top ten favorite quotes:

• The stand-and-greet time in the worship service was unfriendly and awkward…It seemed to be a ritual more for the members than the guests.
• The church might as well not have an information and welcome center if no one will be there to help guests.
• A dirty church communicates to the guest, “We really don’t care.”

• The first step in becoming a welcoming church may be the admission that your church may not really be a welcoming church.
• We church members are often clueless about what our guests are thinking and experiencing.
• Every guest should receive some type of follow-up within a short time, hopefully within twenty-four hours.
• Most guests go to your church website before they ever set foot on your church property. What they find on the website could very well determine if they will be your guests or not.
• “That church in everything it did – bad website, no signs inside or out, and no greeters around – sent me a clear message: ‘Guests are not welcome here.’ And if I had not been a Christian before I came to the church, I probably still would not be a Christian today.”
• If churches really care, they will always strive to be clean and safe. It’s not a matter of money; it’s a matter of commitment and execution.
• Guests have a particular trepidation as they enter a church facility. If they see outside greeters waiting for them, they become relaxed and encouraged.

Order Becoming a Welcoming Church.

See all posts in the Top Ten Quotes series.

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