Help Our Guests Feel Welcome
If I took a survey among Northside members, I bet most would say we are a friendly congregation. To prove my point, in a recent survey, almost every church out of the more than 1,000 surveyed considered itself friendly. That included those in danger of closing down.
In his book, Beyond the First Visit, Gary McIntosh says: “If you were to have surveyed the visitors who attended those same churches, you might have been given an opposite perception.
“Often church visitors report that churches are cold, unwelcoming, and not very friendly. How is it that two people can experience the same event and feel so differently about it? How can members believe their church is friendly, while newcomers experience an unfriendly atmosphere? The answer is perception. People who attend a church regularly look at the issue of friendliness from the inside out. [Italics mine] From their perspective, they are experiencing a friendly atmosphere. They know other people and other people know them—by name. When they have a personal need, their friends take notice and respond with appropriate action. Their perception is that the church is a friendly place.
“In contrast, visitors view the issue of friendliness from the outside in. They are experiencing a totally new atmosphere. They may not know other people and other people may not know them. If they have needs, they are rarely noticed, let alone responded to with appropriate action. So visitors may perceive the church as an unfriendly place.
“Such different perceptions remind us that beauty is in the eye of the beholder or, in this case, friendliness is in the eye of the beholder. Another way to say it is perception is reality. We may think our church is friendly, but it is only friendly to the degree that those visiting our church perceive it to be so.
“We must get ready for company! Company’s coming to our church every Sunday, and what visitors perceive in our welcome will influence their feelings and response to church and the Lord.”
Northside, I encourage you to put yourself in our guests’ shoes and think about how welcome we are making them feel. When we get together, find someone you don’t know and meet them. They may be Northside members you have never met or they may be guests.
One way I like to greet someone I don’t know is to just say, “Hi. My name is Mark. I don’t think I’ve met you.” That introduction works for anyone (at least anyone named Mark) and will keep you from embarrassing yourself.
If you help our guests feel welcome, there’s a good chance they’ll visit again. And if they visit again, there’s a good chance they’ll become a part of our church family. Studies show that 85% of those who visit a church more than once eventually become members.
This may surprise you, but over the past four Sundays, more than 100 guests from the Wichita area signed our Welcome Books! Did you meet any of them?
Let’s help our guests feel welcome. Maybe they’ll want to join our family!