I skipped church this past Sunday. As a staff member, this isn’t normal for me. I was giving my wife a weekend off and took my kids to their grandparents house. On Sunday morning, over breakfast, I had a conversation with my mom and dad about greeting on Sundays (They have been in ministry for over 30 years). As someone who thinks significantly about how our church handles first impressions, I loved talking about this with them. We were on the same page about it. To give you an idea of what I mean by “thinks significantly” I have am idea of where (down to the spot) the guest should be when open the door to say hi. They’re just far enough away that you can say hi and have them reach the door without a long awkward pause while waiting for them to finish walking up.
Our church is spending more effort at streamlining this part of our Sunday morning. Reason: it’s important. If a guest walks in and doesn’t know where the bathroom is, that’s a problem. If they don’t know where the kids ministry area is, that’s a problem. Where’s worship? Is there coffee? How do I find all this stuff? These are the questions that most people don’t even know they have. They will soon find out that they don’t know these things. It’s better for you to assume they don’t (since they’ve never been there) and help them. If you can eliminate those questions, you’ve eliminated distractions that would otherwise hinder them from engaging in the service. If you can help people engage, you’ve helped lead them into worship.[Tweet That]
That’s big!! It’s important. If the person who’s greeting isn’t helpful, friendly and approachable, that’s an issue. If the floors are dirty, that’s a distraction. If the kids ministry is a mess, parents won’t feel comfortable. When you begin thinking of it in this way, a lot of jobs that would otherwise be devalued, become highly valued. Who’s greeting? Who’s sweeping the floors and cleaning the toilets? Who’s doing PowerPoint (they’re the most important of all the people leading worship). All of the details, when handled rightly lead to big impact.[Tweet That]