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You are here: Home / Archives for Outreach & Mission

Outreach & Mission

6 Ways to Welcome Visitors at Your Church This Christmas Eve

Alissa Ellett Leave a Comment

Welcoming visitors effectively to church on Christmas Eve takes a good deal of forethought and a multi-faceted approach. Here’s our list to help you!

christmas eve visitors 101

During the holidays more visitors come through the doors of the church than any other time of the year. It’s a great opportunity to welcome them with greater intention.

We’ve put together a list of five easy ways to help newcomers feel cared for and acknowledged.

We hope our ideas help to create a culture of welcome and hospitality within your community this season and throughout the year.

How are you welcoming newcomers this Christmas Eve? Tell us in the comments below!

christmas eve 2013

Have name tags. On a table near the entrance to the sanctuary, set out name tags and markers. Calling each other by name creates a sense of community and belonging. This helps visitors as well as those who’ve been in the pew for decades.

Make clear what your church stands for. Put in writing what your mission statement is and how your church includes the marginalized. This is important in order for all of us to feel safe and know if we’re a part of the faith family.

Say hello, Pastor. If a personal greeting from the pastor isn’t possible, create a team of leaders who keep an eye out for those who are new. Don’t assume it’s someone’s first time; it might not be. If you say something to indicate you think it’s their first time when it isn’t, things get awkward for you and them. Say hello, tell them you’re happy to see them.

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Have quality refreshments. This goes for any worship service, in my opinion. If you have yummy stuff out, make it good. Most people have become familiar with boutique coffee and high-quality bakes. So, throw out the coffee in a giant can that goes beyond earthiness into muddiness. Also, offer tasty allergy-free options, too.

Additionally, think of families who would rather not have their kid on their way down from a sugar high as they drive home. Perhaps put out some festive cranberry granola instead of sugar cookies, for example.

Provide information for biblical passages. When reading scripture, describe where the text is located in the Bible. Additionally, give context for the passage. Consequently, people are more likely to feel there isn’t insider knowledge they don’t have. This is helpful for all of us, whether newcomers or long-time members.

Leaders, introduce yourselves up front. Have those who are up front speaking in any capacity give their name and role in the church. Do this whether the person is giving announcements, singing, or preaching. This helps visitors get to know who’s who. And it makes getting involved easier for them, too.

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Hospitality as Community Culture

Welcoming visitors to church is more than checking boxes. Hospitality is for all of us. When we live out our faith through care with intention, we actually help those who are already regular attendees feel more connected, too.

Furthermore, we communicate our common humanity, our personhood as individuals, and worthiness as children of Creation. We hope you discover ways to welcome visitors to church this Christmas Eve as an expression of your unique faith community and continue them the whole year through.

Do you have more ideas? How are you welcoming visitors this Christmas Eve? Don’t forget to share with us in the comments!

10 Ways to Maximize Your Children’s Ministry Growth in the New Year

Alissa Ellett Leave a Comment

Finding ways to improve and grow in your children’s ministry in the new year is such an exciting process. How are you hoping to grow this year? Perhaps it’s in doing more service in the community. Or, maybe teaching the children more about the Bible. It could be to help foster family friendships or figure out ways of welcoming children into worship. There’s so much possibility for what God will do! And there are things you can be doing to facilitate it. So, we’ve put together a list of ten ways to help you get strategic in mapping out how your children’s will grow in the new year.

children's ministry growth

FREE DOWNLOAD We put this list together in a fun graphical PDF that you can download for free (you can see a preview of it at the bottom of this post). Just click this link to get your FREE PDF.

Strategic Planning for Children’s Ministry Growth

Assess the last year. Look back over the year and decide what went well and why. Then discern what you’d like to do again and what you’d like to shift in the coming year.

Reflect on your church’s mission statement. Use the beginning of the year to connect to the purpose of your church in your community and in the world. This helps to root what it is you are doing and can give you a broader understanding of why.

Create this year’s mission statement for your ministry. Once you’ve considered where you’ve been and where you are, alone or together with leaders, decide on your mission statement for the coming year. It’s what all your ministry choices will hang on. It becomes the guiding standard for what and why you do what you do. For example, “To teach children about God’s creative love in the world.”

children's ministry growth

Define your strategy. Define the broad way you plan to do this. For example, “To create a safe and engaging learning environment where children discover God’s love.”

Set objectives you’d like to achieve. Take time to discuss what specific things you’d like to see improve this coming year. For example, “Clear a space outdoors for children to explore. Create opportunities for children to see and appreciate diversity. Spend more time with children’s families.”

Outline initiatives that will accomplish your objectives. Here, get specific about what you will do to accomplish these things by creating measurable goals. For example, “Plant shrubs that will attract hummingbirds. Buy gardening tools and bug boxes for children to use in their outdoor space. Work together on a service project with the church across town. Plan time twice per month for a leader to check in and/or hang out with a child and their family.”

children's ministry growth

Focus On What Matters

Make relationships top priority. Plan to foster deep relationships in the new year. For example, allow for quality time, create social media groups, send text check-ins to parents and/or kids, attend activities and performances. Kids who feel important and known, as well as their families, will be far more likely to be a part of the church consistently, invite friends, and remain connected to their faith in God.

Invite leaders to invest in the ministry. Contrary to common assumption, volunteers don’t want to hear how little is required of them to be involved with your ministry. Creating a deep desire in people to come alongside a ministry requires them to feel like what they will be doing matters and affects the kids they work with. Knowing it’s a big commitment actually communicates this and motivates even really busy volunteers to invest time and energy.

children's ministry growth

Thank your volunteers often. Mail thank you cards. Host dinner. Bake them cookies. Recognize them in church. Leave them notes of gratitude in their classrooms. Keeping morale and commitment up comes from doing relatively simple things. Feeling appreciated and seen is a major motivator for anyone, and especially for your volunteers.

Declutter. Do less with more intention. Think about planning fewer events and improve the ones you do. Additionally, consider hosting fewer meetings and discuss content that really needs direct, significant input from leaders. Get very clear about what you hope for and steer clear of distractions.

We hope this list has been helpful in helping you imagine ways you can make way for children’s ministry growth in your church. Tell us how you’re getting ready to facilitate God’s work in the new year in the comments below! And don’t forget to download your free download below!

13 Foolproof Ways of Welcoming Visitors to Church This Holiday Season

Alissa Ellett Leave a Comment

Welcoming visitors to church can feel like a no-brainer. Just be friendly, right? I’ve worked in churches for over ten years. And all of that time was spent building ministries and communities from the ground up. And I went to seminary, where you sit around talking about this stuff. Welcoming visitors to church effectively takes a good deal of forethought and a multi-faceted approach. During the holidays more visitors come through the doors of the church. It’s a great time to begin welcoming them with greater intention. We hope our ideas help to create a culture of welcome and hospitality within your community this season and throughout the year.

FREE DOWNLOADABLE PDF: Grab a free 2-page PDF that you can share at your next staff meeting by clicking here.

Welcoming Visitors to Church During Worship

Make info easily available on Sundays. Make it easy for people to find information about the church. In a beautiful and consistently branded way, make it simple for people to understand how to get connected. Make the website obvious in slides and on marketing materials. Perhaps place a welcome booth at the entrance to the sanctuary. Alternatively, create a kiosk with flyers for each ministry.

Provide something for people to do. Visitors heading to a new church often carry with them some anxiety. And looking new with nothing to do can make that even worse. One way this is solved is having paper bulletins available during worship; reading it offers them a way to fill their time before worship. Additionally, having a coloring poster or coloring sheets out makes for a great activity.

Welcoming Visitors at Church 6

Have name tags. On a table near the entrance to the sanctuary, set out name tags and markers. Calling each other by name creates a sense of community and belonging. This helps visitors as well as those who’ve been in the pew for decades.

Provide information for biblical passages. When reading scripture, describe where the text is located in the Bible. Additionally, give context for the passage. Consequently, people are more likely to feel there isn’t insider knowledge they don’t have. This is helpful for all of us, whether new or long-time members.

Welcoming Visitors to Church through Relationships

Plan a January event. Give visitors a reason to return to the church after the holidays. Make this an event that doesn’t require any responsibility from those who may be new. For example, plan a soup and bread night. Or perhaps do a service project. Alternatively, host a pub theology night at a local brewery or family play date at a neighborhood park. Providing childcare for some of these events is a must to remove a common barrier for families.

Welcoming Visitors to Church 4

Leaders, introduce yourselves up front. Have those who are up front speaking on Sunday give their name and role in the church. This helps visitors get to know who’s who. And it makes getting involved easier for them.

Say hello, Pastor. A pastor saying hello can help a visitor feel important. If a greeting from the pastor isn’t possible, create a team of leaders who will keep an eye out for those who are new. Say hello, tell them you’re happy they came. And tell them to feel free to find you if they have any questions.

Train children’s ministry leaders. Often parents feel frazzled when they arrive at church. Whether volunteers or staff, make sure to train nursery and Sunday school leaders to be patient and friendly. Specifically, remember children’s names and what they like, even if it means taking note to reference. Furthermore, if parents drop their kids off, try having coffee and tasty treats available at the sign-in table. Small efforts go a long way.

Welcoming Visitors to Church on Sundays and Beyond

Welcoming Visitors at Church 7

Make clear what your church stands for. Put in writing what your mission statement is and how your church includes the marginalized. This is important in order for all of us to feel safe and know if we’re a part of the faith family.

Have a plan. Decide what to do the first three times a person visits your church. For example, take a loaf of bread with a note to the visitor’s home. Include the website and pastor’s phone number. Then, have the pastor call and invite them out for coffee or lunch. Next, have someone in their neighborhood invite them to check out their small group. This follow-up makes a big difference and rarely happens at churches.

Welcoming Visitors at Church 5

Be present online. Keep the church’s website up to date. Be sure to post holiday service times prominently on the homepage. Post regularly on social media. Moreover, bring someone on to be in charge of maintaining the church’s online presence, whether an employee or volunteer.

Provide clear signage. Make clear on church grounds where people need to go. For example, include things like the nursery and Sunday school, the sanctuary entrance, adult Sunday school and coffee.  Also, create small signs at the refreshments area that are welcoming and beautiful. Details with intention make a large impact.

Offer good quality refreshments. Imagine how we treat guests when they come to our home. We give them some of our favorites, some of the best. Do the same in welcoming visitors to church. For example, buy high-quality coffee and perhaps delicious locally-made pastries. We feel cared for and important when someone invests in us in this way, and it’s no different for those who are new to a church.

Welcoming Visitors at Church 3

Hospitality as Community Culture

Welcoming visitors to church is more than checking boxes. Hospitality is for all of us. When we live out our faith through care with intention, we actually help those who are already regular attendees feel more connected, too. Furthermore, we communicate our common humanity, our personhood as individuals and worthiness as children of Creation. We hope you discover ways to welcome visitors to church this holiday season as an expression of your unique faith community and the whole year through.

Do you have more ideas? Share below in the comments!

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