A Visitor Friendly Church

January 03, 2017 | By Chuck

I've noticed almost every business I enter I hear some kind of welcoming remark from the employees. From the place that I get my haircut to my dentist office to several local restaurants and businesses, they all want me and everyone else to feel welcome. Let's be honest. We are more likely to return to a store or restaurant if they are friendly to us. If we feel the staff or employees were not friendly or really didn't care if we were there or not, chances are we won't return. The same is true in the church. Sadly, people leave church buildings across the United States every Sunday frustrated because the congregation they just visited wasn't visitor friendly. One of the most heartbreaking comments I can hear as a minister is, "the congregation where you preach is not friendly". That statement is both frustrating and hurtful because I know our congregation to be full of friendly and loving people. But, are we visitor friendly? We are more than friendly, loving and encouraging to our own church family but what about those showing up for the first time? We must train ourselves to look for the unfamiliar faces in our church building each Sunday and make it a point to speak to them. Being a visitor friendly church is about making our visitors feel welcome when they join us for worship. "Do to others as you would have them do to you."(Lk.6:31)