Someone has Prayed for Your Visitor

Your visitor may be a stranger to you, but not to God. Someone who cares has been asking God for this person to go to church. These prayers may have been prayed for years and even decades. Now the visitor's entrance into your church is God answering those prayers. You, now, have been chosen by God to do your part to welcome him. Complete the process and make the visitor feel at home. Do your part in the answer of these prayers.

Ice Cube with a Red Cherry in it.

I see a visitor as an ice cube with a red cherry in it. The ice represents his resistances and obstacles toward God and religion. It is your job to melt away those resistances by making him feel accepted and welcome in your church. Your friendship melts these away, so the gospel can reach into his cherry heart. This is essence why we greet. It is far more than a smile and a handshake. It is preparing people to receive the gospel in a comfortable setting.

Who Would Jesus Want to Meet?

If Jesus came to your church, who would He most want to meet? I think He would want to meet the new visitor. The new visitor has made the most effort to enter into a place he has never been. He is a stranger among people he does not know. He is in a church service that could make him very uncomfortable. I think Jesus would go to the new visitor and make him feel welcome. Otherwise, the visitor may not come back again to hear the gospel.

"Hi, my name is _____."

This is the universal approach to meet people. Once you tell them your name, wait for or ask for their name. Make this your approach. When you do, you will gain a confidence in meeting people wherever you are. It will be the magic door that opens your life to the lives of others. "Hi, my name is ___."

Your Extra Effort is Appreciated

A young man wrote this, "A lady came up to me to meet me from across the room. It made me feel warm and welcomed." Yes, your extra effort is appreciated by those who receive it.

Country Club or Outpost?

Is your church a Christian Country Club of a Missionary Outpost? The key to changing the club into a missionary outpost is outgoing friendship that captivates the visitor and thereby lures them to Christ.

The Dedicated Greeter

It is not the talented greeter that God choses to make a difference. It is the dedicated greeter. Over time one dedicated greeter can reach out to hundreds of people and make a significant difference in many lives.

Inspiring your Greeters

Greeters need to be inspired to take greeting to a new level. They need to be shown that their role of friendship is a vital part of evangelism to their church. When they realize this, they greet with a greater dedication.

Suppose You Forgot Their Name?

It has happened to all of us. We are talking to someone and have forgotten their name. Don’t put up a front and pretend to know their name. Right in the beginning say, “Remind me of your name again.” If you wait to the end of the conversation and ask, you disappoint the other person. You make them feel like you have tried to fool them. Ask in the beginning and avoid the embarrassment.

The #2 Most Important Thing

Meeting new people is the #2 most important thing you can do on Sunday. It is new people that will grow your church. Don’t look first for your friends. Look first for the new people and introduce yourself to them. Make them feel at home and they will want to return. Your friends will return whether you talk to them or not. But the new people may not and you will have lost an opportunity to share the gospel.

Greeting that Gets Results

Most greeters are not trained in how to greet. They are recruited and then left on their own. But good greeting is knowing how to approach people in a way that gets results. The ideas presented here will give an approach that gets results. When people use them, they are more confident and reassured in greeting people.

The First Eye Contact Opportunity

You see a friend a short distance away. You can tell your paths are not going to cross. Yet you still want to signal “Hello”. It is important when you make the first eye contact together, you must wave to them. If you wait for the second eye contact, they may have decided from the first contact, you are not interested in them. Therefore, they do not take the second look and you have lost your opportunity. Visually greet them on your first eye contact together.

Small Step Forward

Most greeters pick a position and hold it tight like a wooden Indian. They make people come to them. I think this is cold. When I can, I take a small step forward towards them as I reach out my hand with a smile. To me it is showing a little more care on my part. Take a small step towards them and make them feel more important.

Befriend, Don’t Recruit

Don’t make the mistake of trying to Recruit your visitor to your church programs. It makes them feel they are an object that you are going to use. Instead, become their friend. Get to know them as people. They are more likely to return where they have made friends who enjoy knowing them.

Love for the Lost

Greeting is evangelism inside the church. It is act of making people feel at home so that they return again and again to hear the gospel. The engine that drives good and consistent greeters is the desire to reach the lost. If this engine is weak in your ranks, so is your ability to get and retain greeters. Let your volunteers know what is happening in the lives of your new people. It will motivate them to reach out even more.

More Vibrant

Sue from Morristown, NJ wrote after hosting a Master Greeter Seminar, “Our church has grown and has become a more vibrant and welcoming place for our visitors and for us!” Yes, when your greeters work together reaching out to new people, even the regulars get a new excitement.

Is your Church Street Friendly?

Would I know what time to arrive for your church services, if I drove by your church? It seems so basic, but it is often overlooked. I have friends who travel across the country very frequently. They tell me, “We will not go to a church that does not display its service times. We don’t want to be embarrassed by walking in late.” Look at your church like an outsider would look at it.

I Didn’t Want to Hear

“Rich, you have to keep reminding people of these points. They quickly lapse back into their old habits,” the Pastor told me. It was not the words I wanted to hear. I expected my words to stick and new habits to develop in those I have trained. I can only say to us all. Keep reminding your people of the principles of greeting. Do it in newsletters, bulletins, appreciation dinners, emails, blogs, etc. The results in the lives of your new people is worth it.

Calculating the Number of Visitors

If you multiply your average Sunday attendance by 150%, you have the minimum number of visitors coming to your church in one year. So, if your average attendance is 200, you have about 300 visitors a year.

“Please Talk to Me”

No one talked to Kari even after two Sundays of visiting the church. The third week she even wore a sign which read, “I am new in this church. Please talk to me.” It made no difference. She was still ignored. She left the church that morning in tears. Today Kari is the Council President in that church in Flower Mound, Texas. One of her chief aims is to not let the same bad experience happen to any other visitor in her church.

“I’m in”

Gene saw my picture on the cover of the November issue of "Christian News Northwest." He brought it with him to a committee both of us attended and showed it to the other members. Then he said, “The first Sunday I attended here, Rich introduced himself and asked me my name. The second Sunday I attended, he greeted me by my name. He made me feel like I was ‘IN.’”

Do you get the picture of how a person feels going to a new church? They feel like an outsider until someone in that church knows and greets them by their name. Then they feel like they are on the “inside” of the church.

Turning Seconds into Spiritual Profit

As I sit here working on my computer, I can look to my left and read the names of the new people I met in church last Sunday. Beside each name is a brief description or a note to help me remember them. If I had just the name, they would be very difficult to recall. But with a description or note it is easy. I am not only reviewing the names, I am praying for them. It excites me to want to see them again next Sunday. And I know from experience that they will be impressed that someone at this new church remembered their name. All of this is accomplished because I turn my head and look at the names beside my computer. I am turning seconds into profit for the Lord.

Insomnia verses Embarrassment verses Warm Enthusiasm

Have you been greeted by a person whom you thought may have insomnia? This is a bland-faced person who sticks out his limp hand and mutters with a feeling of dry ice, “Hi.”
Immediately you feel like you have been greeted into a deep freeze.

Then there is the person who grabs you and swings you around like a sack of potatoes and saying so that everyone can hear, “Greta, it is so good to see you!” You just want to be released so you can evaporate away and end the embarrassment.

A greeter needs to be sensitive to people. Show a warm enthusiasm that matches the guest’s mood. Don’t overpower them. The goal is to make them feel comfortable and special.

Cruise Ship Greeter

In April 08 I was invited to the Cayman Islands for a wedding. I knew Grand Cayman was a regular stop for cruise ships. I wanted to greet the passengers and give them the gospel in the form of a Prayer Card. My Prayer Card is the size of a business card and has a prayer for Help on one side and a prayer for Salvation on the second side. When my friend, Eric, was on a cruise, he would hand a card to his new friends. He said two of them began to shed tears as they read the Prayer Card. I wanted to hand each person from the ship this card, but I discovered I had to overcome several obstacles. When the passengers descend onto the dock they are barraged by vendors barking out for their paid tours and destinations. I had no chance of competing with them. If I tried to hand out cards on the city sidewalks, I would be ignored as a piece of stinky cheese like I saw happening to other vendors. Maybe I could say to the tourists walking by, “Thanks for coming to Georgetown” and hand them a card they might be more receptive. But if they asked me a question about where to find such-and-such, I would have no answer because I was a tourist myself. How was I going to greet these hundreds of people and give them the gospel? After observing this situation for more than a day I came up with a possible solution. The next day I would meet the passengers at the end of their visit as they reloaded the ships. There are no vendors around at that time. I would not have to answer any questions about the island. I would simply say with a smile, “Thanks for coming to the Cayman Islands” and hand them my gift of a Prayer Card. They are carrying bags of souvenirs and would drop my gift inside and look at it later. Armed and ready to follow my strategic plan I went to the docks the next day only to discover one more obstacle. The Cruise Ships don’t come in on the weekends. I had to leave for home before Monday came again and didn’t get to implement my plan.

I write this for two purposes. One, if you live in a place where cruise ships land, you might implement this approach. Or, two, if you live in such a place and would accommodate me, I would consider coming to you. I, separately, or we, together, could reach out each day to hundreds of people from all around the world by a simple greeting and a simple Prayer Card. If you learned it, you and your church could develop a ministry for Christ that would reach around the world from your own hometown. Consider this.

God Bless my Critic

I have a critic. He is in my church. He does not believe in what I do as a greeter. He thinks he knows more and knows better. He won’t even listen to my ideas. In fact, to him I do less than others and am a detriment to others. He even included his feelings about me (without using my name) in a memo to others. When I first learned this, it upset me deeply. I could hardly think with a clear mind. However, from the beginning I committed myself to not gossip about him and not tell others about his actions against me. Furthermore, I was committed to keep unity in the church. If I told others, it would cause a fraction between people and I didn’t want that. My reputation is not more important than church unity. I made it my goal to ask God to bless him.

I now thank God for my critic. I have come to learn that a critic can cripple you or inspire you. Because of him I am more convinced of what God has taught me about greeting. I am more assured than ever. For being faithful to His ways, I believe God has rewarded me . I have received more publicity than I have ever thought possible. My ministry has been publicized worldwide without any effort on my part. I have received more requests for Seminars. More orders have poured in. I have received more ideas on how to make this ministry better and bigger. So now I say, “God bless my critic!”

Giving Something Special

Last Sunday, Dec 16, our church presented its annual “Singing Christmas Tree.” We have presented this for thirty years, but this was the first time of doing it on Sunday morning. The “Tree” provides its own greeters, so I was not scheduled to be a door greeter. Therefore, I took the opportunity to create what people want from time to time. They want Festivity! I believe this is a special part of being a greeter. Provide a good time for those you greet. As I walked throughout the narthex I gave out chocolate caramels and wished each a “Merry Christmas!” People loved it. People love chocolate. They thanked me. (Afterwards, I realized this simple act allowed me to greet many more people than normal.) As greeters we can help make our church a fun place. When they have a fun church, they tell others about it. Give them Festivity and it gives them something about your church to attract their nonchristian friends.

"This Man is for Real"

On the front page of the Christian News Northwest was my picture with an article on the “Master Greeter.” This paper has a subscription of 34,000 and is delivered to churches, stores, etc. A man attending the Cannon Beach Conference Center saw my picture and read the article. He turned to his friends and said, “This man is for real. I had attended his church once and he introduced himself and asked my name. When I returned about 6 months later, he greeted me by my name.” Eric told me this story last Sunday. He has not been in my church for several years, but I went up to him and greeted him again by name. That is when he excitedly told me the above story. Does learning visitor’s names have an impact?

Why?

Finding quality information on Greeting on the internet is almost nil. Therefore, I have created this blog to share my thoughts and experiences to educate and inspire fellow greeters.