How to Welcome a New Pastor (and Guests)
A guide for making your church more warm and welcoming.
So, your church is getting a new pastor! Wonderful. This is a great time to learn how to welcome him and his family.
Church signs. The first thing that the new pastor will recognize as he drives down the road is the church sign. Let’s put up one that will be noticed and can be read.
My dream sign would be a 3D sculpture of the church logo with a spinning globe of the world, internally lighted, with real gas flames surrounding it. And of course, the church name, phone number, and website in letters large enough to be easily read at a speed of 10 miles per hour over the posted speed limit in front of your church.
Distinctive architecture or landmarks like giant lighthouses or giant crosses work great over the long run when everyone identifies you by that symbol, but they don’t help our new pastor arriving for the first time.
Parking. The new pastor has seen the sign and the clearly marked church entrance, and he has pulled into the parking lot.
But too many parking lots are not marked. So, even though you may have always parked east-west, you know what a mess it ends up being when someone parks north-south or diagonal.
Spend the money to mark the parking spaces with paint, including the handicapped area and maybe a “drop off” zone. If the church is located alongside a main highway, offering “truck parking” would be a great service to those with large vehicles.
I contend that you need a “Pastor Parking” spot only if your pastor is trying to cover more than one church on a Sabbath.
Landscaping. This does not have to be elaborate, but it does need to be clean and orderly. It is wonderful that the grass was mowed yesterday, but an extra 10 minutes to blow the cut grass off the sidewalks would make a world of difference. Weeds in the flower beds, hedges not trimmed — we see these things for so long they become invisible to us. They speak of sloppiness and apathy to those seeing them for the first time, including your new pastor. Pray for the Lord to give you the eyes of the first-time guest. Little things like peeling paint convey huge meaning.
The Entryway. Have you seen those big stores with three entryways? They all provide clear directions for what you find through that door, either Market, Household Goods, or Outdoor Living. Some churches also have multiple entrances but no clear sign for which door is the main entrance.
If your church is large enough to have multiple entrances, you need a greeter team at each door. Even the “back door” where people are taking children or food should have a greeter for the “regulars” who enter that way.
The other thing that successful businesses offer is glass doors, which conveys a message of “open.” In contrast, the subtle message that solid wooden doors give off is “Members only. Not open to the public.” Let’s make sure we convey the “open” message.
The Lobby. You may not be able to do much about your lobby or narthex (a big church word for “lobby”). But let’s go over a few things it would be nice to see. If I were building a new church, the lobby would be one-third the size of the main meeting room (sometimes called the sanctuary). The lobby would have space for that mingling that happens as people come in and church ends. I would set an area off to the side with couches and comfortable seating for people to gather for conversation. It is great to have a reception desk, but keep most of the greeters in front of the desk. Avoid barriers that separate people in this area. The lobby is the main area for your greeter team.
Greeters. Every church I have ever been to has thought that they had greeters. Unfortunately, most have just had “bulletin dispensers.” You will need someone to pass out bulletins, but the greeter is so much more than that. Although we are several steps down the path of “first impressions,” this is a big one. It is the first interaction with a live person, so make sure that it really is a “live” person. Train the greeters repeatedly on how to greet. Take turns training with everyone in the congregation, so that everyone gets the training multiple times, and you will find those who really excel at this position.
Good greeters don’t pretend to make people feel welcome. They do make people feel welcomed. They use words like “join us” instead of “visit us” when interacting. They are aware of the activity in the lobby. Although they are constantly greeting people they know, they have a special affinity for those who may be coming through the door for the first time.
Have a Sabbath School class right there in the lobby for your greeters to stand on the fringe of. This is also a great place to invite those who come too late to join in the regular class without interrupting. This is one of the uses for that nice sitting area on the side of the lobby.
Information. When I walk through the door of a large store, I can look up and see a sign that tells me which way to go to find the restrooms. Seldom do I go into a church where there is a sign pointing out where things are. Your new pastor and other guests have just been driving, and many will need the restroom before they need a bulletin. Are there signs pointing where the children’s classrooms are, where the kitchen is, and maybe even where the meeting hall is, although that usually is self-evident?
Have a great church bulletin. Put some thought into how it is laid out. Don’t overload it with “data.” Remember that there are people who won’t know what some of those acronyms stand for, nor do they speak the specialized “churchese” that multiple generations have grown up with. “The AYC is going to GYC for a presentation to the NAD to take to the GC” won’t mean much to our guests.
A well thought-out welcome packet is essential to help educate our new pastor and first-time guests about who we are, what we believe, why we believe it, where we are headed, and how we are going to get there.
If you have some sort of gift for first-time guests, like a water bottle or a book bag with the church’s name on it, then everyone who sees someone with one of those will know that this is a first-time guest and act accordingly. Include a card in the welcome pack that guests can fill out with their contact information. Offer a second, different gift if it is returned all filled out.
Large-screen televisions make great “digital bulletin boards” to remind people of upcoming events, or even where we are in the flow of today’s service.
Name tags. You know the name of your new pastor, but he knows almost no one’s name and will still be struggling to remember who is who 10 weeks from now. Name tags for everyone make the conversation flow at a more comfortable level. When the greeter is introducing himself, the person behind the information desk is printing the name tags as the people (guests and regulars) respond to the welcome.
Multiple greetings. The pastor may know at least one person who goes to this church. Don’t let his friends hog all the time. Resist the thought, “Oh, he is with his friends, so I won’t interrupt.” He needs interaction with many members or he may get the impression that this is a cold church.
Use the right words. The difference between visitors and guests is that visitors come to visit and then leave. Guests come to stay with you for a while. Let’s make sure and refer to them as guests and treat them as guests. Every interaction is geared toward them staying, not leaving.
While we are on semantics, let’s replace “potluck” with “fellowship meal.” Christians don’t put any credibility in “luck” and have an even lower regard for “pot,” and the term “potluck” just speaks of a haphazard, thrown-together occasion. “Fellowship meal” speaks first and foremost of fellowship as the main reason for the get-together, which it should be. Terms like “the lost” and “non-Adventist” should not be used.
Accompany them, don’t just point. Give the new pastor and guests a quick tour if there is time. Show them where the different classes are and where the restrooms are located. Accompany them to Bible class if appropriate. Introduce them to everyone you can along the way.
Fellowship meal. Especially accompany them through the lunch line (you do have lunch for guests, right?). It is horrible to have a church say, “Let’s allow our guests go through line first.” Guests do appreciate the attention, but they don’t know where everything is or even which way the line goes around the table. The best way is for someone to accompany the new pastor and his family through line.
Go first and keep a running commentary of the local traditions: Is it a vegetarian meal? Do we have it every week or just special times? Are special dietary items marked? Will we pick up our forks at the end of the line? Are condiments on the tables? Is the dessert table a separate trip? How about drinks? Is there a specific place we should sit? Or avoid sitting? All these things are routine for you but brand-new to our new pastor and guests.
At one church, my wife and I once went through line first and no one came and sat with us at our table. We ate our meal alone, wondering whether everyone was afraid of us.
Invite them to your house. There is a good chance they have plans for the day, but it is just as likely that they are wondering what they will do for the rest of the day. Weather conditions will dictate what options are best for the situation, as well as whether they have a change of clothes. Be flexible, but even if today won’t work, strive to set a time to have them over. Write down the information so they have it later, including clear directions and what times may work best.
Go visit them. Most towns have a “Welcome Wagon”-type service, and you can take that information about the new town along, but this is primarily your church reaching out to them, letting them know how glad you were to have them in church last week. Arrange a work bee to help them move in if needed. Be respectful of privacy if they don’t want church members looking over all their stuff as the van gets unloaded.
Give them almost the same treatment next week. The welcome packet won’t be necessary, but the multiple introductions and invitations always are.
I am sure that you have grasped that we are writing about much more than a new pastor. While these ideas are great, the new pastor has developed a thick enough skin over the years that he will be just fine if it doesn’t unfold so smoothly. But other people coming through your church door for the first time do not know what to expect and may not have the experience to deal with even one perceived rejection.
Give everyone the same treatment. Every first-time guest should get this treatment, not just the new pastor.
Keep practicing, keep educating, until you get it right. You want to be the “friendliest church in town,” not “the most pretentious.” Practicing means developing a mindset of how a first-time guest interacts with what is going on.
There has been some bad press about how “seeker-friendly” churches water down the “true message.” The reality is that the basic gospel is the most seeker-friendly message available. I am not asking churches to be “seeker driven” but to be “seeker sensitive.” Look at everything we do through the lens of the first-time guest. You will never go wrong by lifting up Jesus. Let’s do church not just for us but for those who may be looking to join us.
Pastor Craig and Deanna Wiles have just transferred to a district in the U.S. state of Missouri, where they were warmly welcomed.