Welcome to Church: How to Maximize Your Church Welcome Message

The goal of any church is to grow. As a church leader, you know this. Your church wants to reach as many people as possible with the love of God, and you want to encourage people to come back week after week, plug in to your ministries, and be an active member within your church and community. 

While much of this has to do with what your church offers and provides for its members and how discipleship works in your church body, it all starts in the same place–the church welcome. 

When people walk into the doors of your church for the first time, what is their impression? What is their overall experience like, from the time they come inside to the time they leave? How is your church body intentionally connecting with newcomers and ensuring they walk away feeling connected and welcomed? 

A lot goes into the overall impression first-time visitors have, so let’s dive into the overall experience, the actual welcome greeting, and some other church welcome ideas.

The Complete “Welcome to Our Church” Experience

This is about the complete experience–pulling into the parking lot, walking through the doors, finding seats, and leaving after the service. This “welcome to our church” experience will be unique for each individual church, and it may even be different for people visiting the same church based on their needs. A new family with young kids will have a different experience than an older couple without children, and someone who is ready to jump in and get involved will have a different experience than someone who wants to just slip in and out without connecting. 

What’s important for newcomers is for them to feel seen without feeling like too much attention is being put on them. Get creative in how you walk new visitors through the experience at your church, ensuring there is a close attention to detail and that they leave feeling known and cared for, if only for an hour-long Sunday service. 

The Parking Lot

Do you have a system for first-time guests in the parking lot? If you have a parking team and space available, consider designating certain spaces as visitor parking spots. Put a sign out front for visitors to put on their hazards, and a parking team volunteer can direct them to a primo parking spot. Recognize that not every first-time guest will identify themselves as such, so have your parking team be on the lookout for new vehicles or people they don’t recognize to help pinpoint visitors. 

The Church Welcome Team

Most churches have greeters or door holders, and they are often the first impression for many visitors. It’s simple enough to have some people stand outside and welcome everyone who comes through the doors. But if you can encourage your church welcome team to be on the lookout for new people, they can help direct them where they need to go before they even step foot inside. Have them keep their eyes open for people who look confused, a little lost, slightly tentative, or overly stressed. These are not always foolproof identifiers of new guests, but greeters can help ease the concerns of anyone (first-time guest or not) who may be stressed coming into church by offering a kind smile, a warm greeting, and directions if they need them. 

The New Family Check-In

If you don’t already have a system in place for checking in new families, that’s your priority this week! No one likes chaos or a lack of clarity when visiting a new place, but it is especially unsettling when it’s regarding their kids! Ensure you have a clear process and organized system for checking in new families and that you have competent and welcoming volunteers ready to welcome new kiddos and their parents to your church. Be sure the volunteers are getting all the necessary information about the parents and kids, including how to contact the parents during service if needed, and have your volunteers walk the families to their rooms so they are confident in where they are going, where their kids will be, and where they need to go to pick up the kids after service. 

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The Actual Welcome Greeting for Church

During the actual service, make sure you have an official welcome greeting for the church. This can be done by a worship leader, pastor, or other staff member or volunteer. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, but it’s important for the church to recognize first-time guests and officially say, “Welcome to church!” Tell your first-time visitors that you are glad they are there, that you’d love to meet them, and how they can get connected if they want to.

A lot of churches ask first-time guests to fill out some form of communication card or online registration so the church can stay in touch with them. If your church welcome process doesn’t have visitors fill something out on an app, maybe consider offering this option to streamline the process. 

Not every first-time guest will be overly willing to share their information, so if you can offer an incentive, you’re more likely to have people do it. Some churches will make a donation in honor of the guest, while others give a gift to visitors when they turn in their information cards. This isn’t essential, but if you feel like first-time visitors aren’t sharing their information, an incentive is a good way to encourage them to do so. 

Other Church Welcome Ideas

Ensuring multiple touchpoints for new visitors is the best way to ensure no one slips through the cracks. While you don’t want to bombard and overwhelm visitors, people are far more likely to come back if they feel like their presence was noticed and appreciated. Additionally, keep in mind that the win is that they come back a second time, and then a third time, and eventually get plugged into your church community. Keep that end goal in mind and ensure your interactions are following suit. Take your church welcome to the next level with these additional ideas.

Church Leader Introductions 

If you can, have each new member officially meet a member of the staff. Perhaps a staff member is the first person they meet–that’s great! But if they first interact with a volunteer, ensure that your volunteers know where to find staff members so they can provide an introduction. New families with young kids may want to meet the children’s pastor, families with teens might want to meet the youth pastor, and adults may want to meet the men’s or women’s pastors. Simply creating more intentional interactions can be a game-changer for someone who is trying to decide what church to commit their time to.

Consider What You Say

Nothing is more uncomfortable than a volunteer asking someone, “Is it your first time here?” only to find out that person has been attending the church for years. Train your staff and volunteers on how to interact with potential new guests. Saying something like, “Can I help you with anything?” or “Are you looking for something in particular?” can be more effective at making connections without making someone feel uncomfortable. 

Follow Up

If your first-time visitors fill out any sort of communication card, be sure to follow up with them. Don’t overdo it, but sending out a postcard, text, or email letting them know you’re glad they visited is a nice touch. If they come back again next week, be sure to tell them you’re glad they are back and ask them if they’re interested in joining a small group, getting involved, or connecting with other members in some way. 

Tithely Can Help 

Perfecting the church welcome for new visitors is more of a journey than a destination, as some things will work for a season and then won’t seem as effective during other times. Additionally, some approaches will resonate well with some visitors and not with others. Keep your heart for people as the driving force behind your church greetings and welcome, and you’re sure to connect with more people, love them well, and grow your church in the process. 

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If you need help setting up some processes to connect with your current members and first-time visitors, Tithely is here to help! Not only do we have online giving and text-to-give options to simplify tithes and offerings, but we also have options to create your own church app, manage your church membership, easy-to-use messaging options, church management software, and so much more. Get in touch with Tithely today, and let us help you maximize your church welcome, service, management, and more!