seven things every church “service welcome” needs to have

I cannot overstate this enough; you only have a few minutes to make a first impression on your new guests. Your website, your parking lot, and your kid’s check-in experience are all infamously critical to the first-time guest experience at your church. That’s not the end of the guest experience, though. Interestingly enough, it seems that the introduction at the beginning of a church service gets commonly overlooked when considering the first time guest experience.

let’s paint a quick picture of someone going to church for the first time in years

A family in their early thirties with two young children pull into the church parking lot. An amazing team of greeters makes them feel welcome and at home, instructing them where they should park their vehicle and pointing them in the direction of the kid’s check-in. Arriving at the check-in area, they are greeted by an incredible host that makes them feel comfortable and well-informed about the safety and activities regarding their children. That same check-in host introduces them to a first-time guest host who then gets the likely tired, but excited, parents a fresh cup of hot coffee on the house.

After a brief conversation, and answering questions, the host shows the new couple to their seats in the auditorium before the worship service begins. This couple sits in their seats, talking with the utmost positivity about how clearly communicated everything was, and how easy the process of going to church for the first time was. They see people their age, possibilities for friends in the future, and are essentially high on the thought that this could be their new church home. Up until this point, everything has gone swimmingly. The first time guest process should be a seamless experience that makes someone want to tell all their friends about how blown away they were by your church after all. Unfortunately, this is where most churches end the first time guest experience and really drop the ball.

All of this is wasted if the first few minutes of your service itself fails to take up the mantle of the guest experience that led to this point. For a first time guest, worship is weird. There’s just no other way to put it. This is especially true if you haven’t been to church in a while, or ever. There’s no way to tell when you’re supposed to sit or stand. The music is largely unfamiliar. Everyone’s waving their hands around like those inflatable balloon guys at car dealerships. People are clapping off beat. The whole audience looks way more emotional than you feel. However, the worst thing is the fact that you have no idea in the world where all this is headed. The first fifteen minutes of the worship experience is very discouraging and uncomfortable for many first time guests.

Obviously, you can’t build your entire worship experience for first-time guests altogether, because you have a thriving existing community of believers that need to be inspired and encouraged as well. However, there is something you can do to make sure your first-time guests love their first time in service while also making everyone else even more comfortable with inviting their family and friends to church. It’s as simple as this; design the “welcome” portion of your service for first-time guests specifically.

every service should have a welcome, and every welcome should include these seven things

#1 the length of your service

Going to church for the first time feels most similar to going to a theater production. Except, you get a program when you go to the theater telling you what’s coming up next. It is by no means unreasonable for a first-time guest to want a general idea of what’s happening next. You don’t need to print theater programs and list every song, verse, and video. However, your welcome should include a few details about what to expect in your service. For instance, let them know that you’re going to play two more songs, and then the pastor is coming out to preach.

Like it or not, someone coming to church for the first time doesn’t care that much about you or your church. So they’ve got the next meal for their kids on their mind rather than “next steps” on their spiritual journey. So it’s important that they know when this first experience of theirs is going to end. This is okay though; it’s really no different than a loading bar when you’re downloading an app or streaming a movie on Netflix. You have the patience to wait for the movie to start streaming, it’s just comforting to have an idea about when it’s going to finish loading.

#2 tell them what’s next

Going to church for the first time feels most similar to going to a theater production. Except, at you get a program when you go to the theater telling you what’s coming up next. It is by no means for unreasonable for a first-time guest to want a general idea of what’s happening next. You don’t need to print theater programs and list every song, verse, and video. However, your welcome should include a few details about what to expect in your service. For instance, let them know that you’re going to play two more songs, and then the pastor is coming out to preach.

#3 tell them when to sit or stand

I’ve been in hundreds of churches, and I still don’t know which way is up when it comes to sitting and standing. Please do everyone a favor, especially your first-time guests, and let the audience know when it is time to sit or stand. There’s nothing more awkward than the audience that is half seated and half standing because no one knows whether or not it’s a sit-down or stand-up moment. Your worship leader can do this in-between songs, or if you’re remaining standing throughout all of worship just let everyone know that in your welcome. Say something like, “We believe worship is a celebration, and I want to encourage you to stand with us while we sing to our awesome God and King this morning.”

#4 tell them what is expected regarding participation

Should they bring a bible? Do you encourage them to use a Bible app on their phone? Is there free wifi to help them accomplish this? Should they silence their phone? Do you want them sharing amazing quotes from the message, or photos from worship, on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter? These are all pertinent questions that should be answered during the welcome. This may seem like a lot of questions, but they can all be answered in about thirty seconds cumulatively.

Say something like, “If you’re new here, you may not know this, but we have free wifi available in our sanctuary, and we encourage you to use this to let your friends know what’s happening at church by sharing photos on Instagram and Facebook. Plus you can use our free wifi to access the Bible app on your iPhone. Also, just as a reminder, please silence your phones during church; we’re just reminding you because sometimes we forget too!”

#5 tell them that you’re going to be taking an offering

If you don’t go to church regularly, the offering can be a bit of a shocker. Be proud of the fact that you take an offering, and never shrink from challenging your church to generosity. However, make sure you’re up front with first-time guests about the fact that you’re taking an offering as a part of your service. As a part of the welcome, just let folks know that you’re going to take an offering after the message and you encourage them to participate in the blessed life.

#6 tell them why you want their information if you want them to fill out a guest card

In a world of email spam, door-to-door solicitors, and bill collectors, it’s not crazy for a first-time guest to feel strange about filling out a card and sharing their personal information with your church. So make sure you take a moment to tell everyone what you’re going to use their information for. Say something like, “If you’re here for the first time, we are so honored that you chose to worship with us today. Please fill out our ‘guest card’ that’s in the back of the seat in front of you. It only takes a few minutes, and it helps us let you in on some of the awesome stuff happening around here. We promise we won’t spam your email or come knocking on your door or anything crazy, but we would love to use this information to give you a call and ask you how church went this weekend.”

#7 your welcome should be done by someone who is personable, excited, and young

I know young is a very subjective term, but in our experience, first-time guests tend to respond better to younger hosts in general. This is mostly because your welcome isn’t necessarily a platform for authority, but instead a platform for excitement and vibrancy. (Bonus tip: This is a great place to start an excellent young communicator, already on your staff, with talking to large groups of people. I got my start doing this.) This person should be able to excite an audience of tired people during the first service on a Sunday morning, but also be articulate and well spoken in the process.

This post was actually inspired by a recent trip I took to Kingsway Church in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Pastor Bryon White has lead and cultivated an amazing worship environment and a phenomenal church. While visiting, the service welcome was so clear, concise, and useful as a first-time guest, that I was inspired to write a post about the topic to share with all of our brothers and sisters out there. If you’re ever in South Jersey, make sure you stop in at Kingsway Church; this place is incredible, and I know you’ll love it as much as we did.

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