All Leaders

  • 1.  Welcoming Visitors on Easter

    Posted 03-21-2024 02:08 PM

    Many churches will see new faces on Easter morning, or maybe people you've seen before but not for quite a while. 

    What role do lay leaders play in your congregation related to visitors? Do you have a welcome team? Do council members or Elders have a specific role? Do you follow up, and if so, how? What has worked for you, and what hasn't?

    Thanks for sharing any thoughts you have with the community. 



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    Dave Kuschel
    Assistant Vice President, Communications
    Concordia Plans
    St. Louis MO
    (314) 885-6725
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  • 2.  RE: Welcoming Visitors on Easter

    Posted 03-22-2024 11:45 AM

    At St Trinity Clarkston, we have a Greeters Program to welcome everyone as they enter the church doors. We also are using Nametags to identify who we are . Several members will also give a small tour of the building for new visitors



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    Richard Trudelle
    Richard
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Welcoming Visitors on Easter

    Posted 03-23-2024 02:17 PM
    At Christ Memorial, we have a welcome station to greet visitors. We also have ushers that keep an eye out for folks who may be visitors. We used to do name tags (pre-prepared and stored on a large rolling cart). We found the majority of members didn’t want to take the time to find their tags and it was impractical to maintain the cart as members came and went. I do believe name tags are a good thing, but probably just when folks fill them out each time they attend, recognizing most won’t fill one out. I think it really helpful if Elders wear them for members to identify them.

    We also have a shepherd ministry with which new members are assigned to them and they assist them in settling in with the church. Some members are longtime church members and have a keen sense of identifying visitors to the church and welcoming them.

    Our council does not play a role in interacting with visitors and members, that is a role for elders. Council solely focuses on the administrative and governance responsibilities.

    Jim Jaacks


    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Welcoming Visitors on Easter

    Posted 03-23-2024 12:21 PM

    We do have a welcome team.  They're responsible for ensuring there are greeters at the outer door plus the groups I'm about to mention.  We have people in the narthex that use iPads to check people in when they arrive.  Never went back to the notepads after COVID.  The iPads use Planning Center to record who came to church that day.  If this group identifies you as a visitor, there's a handoff to the elder of the day who will then take the visitors to our welcome desk (new process for us).  The individuals at the welcome desk will hand the visitors a few things about the church.  One of those items is a card to record name, phone number, email, etc.  The visitor should place that card in the offering plate or give it to someone from the church.  The elders will then reach out to the visitor the following week.

    How well does it work?  Not sure yet.  This process is fairly new.  Maybe a couple of months old.  Sometimes the elders have a card with contact info.  Sometimes they don't.  Some people are okay with the swarm and flurry of activity when they're recognized as a visitor.  Others are not okay with it.  You can see it in their face, or there's a lot of "no thank yous".  It's an attempt to follow the marketing tactic of 7 touch points to get someone to do what you want which is one of the tactics from the church growth movement.  

    With the CEOs (Christmas and Easter only), the goal is to be engaging and warm.  There are a dozen reasons why these Christians only come twice a year, but they're mostly familiar faces so we approach them a little differently.  Ultimately, the Holy Spirit is in charge, so we're just trying to reflect the light of Christ in what we do and how we do it with both of these groups.



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    Jay Moore
    Hope Lutheran Virginia Beach
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    Original Message


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