Welcoming Visitors To Church

Walking into a church building for the first time can be a daunting prospect. Even for a mature believer, perhaps on holiday somewhere, it can be a difficult thing to walk into an unfamiliar church service.

Recenlty this story was related to me. A lady walks in to a small church in London. She sits down at the back. Before the service no-one speaks to her. At the end of the service as she gets up to leave; meanwhile a deacon approaches the pastor before he has even left the pulpit and the members begin to chat among themselves. Seeing the lady about to leave without anyone having said, "Hello," let alone given a proper welcome the pastor excuses himself from the deacon, shimmies through the congregation and dashes to the church door where he is able to great the lady, and then introduce her to another member of the church who she talks with for 10 minutes or more before she eventually leaves. What is wrong with this picture?

Meanwhile the same week a couple arrive at another London church for the first time. They are greated at the door and pointed down to the main hall. Before they have sat down they are greated again and before the service starts they are engaged in brief friendly conversation, asking a few questions and explaining where to find songs words. At the end of the service, as people sit quietly considering what has taken place in the service the pastor makes his way up to the door of the church. After chatting with someone else the couple make their way towards the door where they are greated by the pastor and invited to stay. Fully intending to spend some time directly with them once others have been greated at the door, the pastor goes into to the refreshment hall and isn't able to chat with either husband or wife, because both have been engaged in conversation by different members of the church. What is right with this picture?

Which church is most likely to see the visitor(s) again? Which church most exhibits the gospel in it's natural response to visitors?

What happens the moment you walk in to a church and the moment the service ends can play a massive role in how someone responds to the message that has been preached. The message can be removed from their minds by an unfriendly, uncertain attitude to strangers and leave people thinking, 'Well that was interesting but I'm not going there again,' or, 'Not sure I agree with what was said, but there is something here that I like.' As James says, "Faith without works is dead." However good your doctrine is, if it doesn't work out in your lives then your gospel will be discreditted. To have great doctrine but to have foresaken the love you had at first is a recipee for church closure. The great work of Jesus on the cross was to be foresaken by God so that we can be adopted into the family of God. Jesus in the parable of the sheep and the goats tells us the evidence of faith is the welcoming and blessing of his people. We're told that some by entertaining strangers have unwittingly entertained angels! As God in the gospel welcomes us into glory as his loved children, the outworking of the gospel in our lives, and so especially our churches ought to be a selfless, warm, welcoming environment. If that is missing then there is something missing in your faith.

But welcoming and fostering a welcoming atmosphere is about more than simply saying "Hello". It is about more than having people on 'welcome team' or 'stewarding' rota. It is about Christians together understanding the welcome they have received in the gospel. That though we were excluded from the people of God, through Christ's exclusion we have now been welcomed, with all our faults and failings, right into God's heart. That together we are the family of God, with God's love lavished upon them. If this reality has changed our hearts then we are able to look beyond our own problems and desires on Sunday morning and begin to welcome the foreigner and stranger and "sinner" into the community of God's people. Not smothering them with greedy and slightly manic eyes, desperately trying to persuade them to come next week too! But making them welcome, helping them relax, giving them space, showing them there is a place here and friendship here if they are willing to respond to the offer. This is the atmosphere of the gospel that needs to soak through the church.

There are of course practical issues. It is important to have people at the door to show an immediately friendly face and give any necessary directions and answer any presenting questions. But it is as necessay to have people not 'on duty' who are able to say at least a brief, "Hello," rather than leaving them there to stew for 5 minutes before the service starts. It is important that the preacher is allowed to get to the door quickly so that he can personally great any visitors. It is equally important to allow people to leave quickly if they really do want/need to go!

Assuming people stay after the service (please do provide an opportunity for this) then people need to be ready to chat. Think of a few questions you can ask beyond, "What's your name," and, "Where do you live." It may be appropriate to ask, "If you don't mind, can I ask what brought you to church today?" This may even open an opportunity to share some of your testimony of God's goodness to you. Other questions you could ask are, "Have you read much of the Bible?" And the follow up, "What did you think?" Even, "What did you think of the service/sermon?" Be ready to give your own answers if you get a one-word answer back with no return question. There's no need to be pushy, or feel we need to unload the whole gospel on them. But we also mustn't be afraid to talk about spiritual matters with them. They have come to church after all!

One final practicallity of welcoming people. The initial welcome is often actually the easy bit. The great question, it seems to me, is how the church responds when someone has been coming for a month or two. Everyone knows their name, what they do and where they are from, and no-one speaks to them anymore. When they came first they were welcomed. Now they get no more than a friendly smile. Deliberately think of things to talk about with them. Pray for them and be interested in their lives. "How was your week?" "Did you get that job?" "Have you been reading your Bible; what part; have you found it useful?" "What are you praying towards at the moment?" "Are you going away in the summer?" And so on. Invite them out for a meal - or better still over to your house. Share with them, not only the gospel, but your life as well.

Christ gave all of himself for us, so let us give ourselves to the new face. When the gospel preached is matched by the atmosphere of the gospel lived the way is opened in God's grace for lives to be transformed and churches to grow, all to the glory of God.