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Feeling Welcomed At Church

RachelKeeth

RachelKeeth

Member
Do you feel it is important to make people feel welcomed at your church? If so what do you do to help people feel welcomed and as if you are happy to have them there?

I have been in churches where you can go there for a year and nobody tries to talk to you, greet you, or invite you over to there house. That church was a lot about popularity and if you were new or did not have a big name you were not welcomed.

I am happy to say that at my church now that people are always being welcomed. Just yesterday we had two new families visiting and people made sure they felt welcomed by greeting them, talking to them on a variety of subjects the whole time, being kind to their kids, and I think the doughnuts helped too. ;-) One of the families that was visiting already were saying how much they liked everything about the church and wanted to know about membership. I am always being amazed by my church, it is truly amazing.
 
We do alot of things to make them feel welcomed. A branch would offer lunch after church. Usually we play welcome songs for them and then ask them to introduce themselves to the church.

Visitation? Yes - we do visit visitors.
 
RachelKeeth said:
Do you feel it is important to make people feel welcomed at your church? If so what do you do to help people feel welcomed and as if you are happy to have them there?

I have been in churches where you can go there for a year and nobody tries to talk to you, greet you, or invite you over to there house. That church was a lot about popularity and if you were new or did not have a big name you were not welcomed.

I am happy to say that at my church now that people are always being welcomed. Just yesterday we had two new families visiting and people made sure they felt welcomed by greeting them, talking to them on a variety of subjects the whole time, being kind to their kids, and I think the doughnuts helped too. ;-) One of the families that was visiting already were saying how much they liked everything about the church and wanted to know about membership. I am always being amazed by my church, it is truly amazing.
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Rachel:

Good to be friendly, yes; best of all, get Christians motivated about Acts 2.42, which is what church meetings are all about.

Blessings.
 
We actually have a rather hospitable attitude toward visitors, considering how small a church we are. We have a schedule that designates a host family each week that will invite visitors and members who travel a significant distance over for lunch and to stay the afternoon so they can all come back for the evening service.
 
Knotical said:
We actually have a rather hospitable attitude toward visitors, considering how small a church we are. We have a schedule that designates a host family each week that will invite visitors and members who travel a significant distance over for lunch and to stay the afternoon so they can all come back for the evening service.
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K:

Well, this is very good.

I've still been around some churches over the years where there is more emphasis on food than doctrine. I kind of question this.
 
farouk said:
K:

Well, this is very good.

I've still been around some churches over the years where there is more emphasis on food than doctrine. I kind of question this.
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The food is just for physical sustenance. We are very careful about our theology and doctrines to be based on biblical truths.
 
Knotical said:
We actually have a rather hospitable attitude toward visitors, considering how small a church we are. We have a schedule that designates a host family each week that will invite visitors and members who travel a significant distance over for lunch and to stay the afternoon so they can all come back for the evening service.
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That is a great idea for churches that have an evening service!
 
RachelKeeth said:
...I have been in churches where you can go there for a year and nobody tries to talk to you, greet you, or invite you over to there house.
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Never experienced this. That's because I wouldn't hang around for a year waiting for someone to act friendly! In fact, when I was searching for a new church a while back, I attended a couple like this and they didn't even get a second look from me. Didn't matter in the least to me what their doctrine was when their actions showed that they had no love.

Sad thing is that the church I settled into has lately lost much of it's friendliness to newcomers now too. It's also very noticeable that at the same time they have also lost between 1/3 to 1/2 of their regular attendees. The pastor seems aware of the problem, but little is being done about it other than to talk about it.
 
Obadiah said:
Never experienced this. That's because I wouldn't hang around for a year waiting for someone to act friendly! In fact, when I was searching for a new church a while back, I attended a couple like this and they didn't even get a second look from me. Didn't matter in the least to me what their doctrine was when their actions showed that they had no love.

Sad thing is that the church I settled into has lately lost much of it's friendliness to newcomers now too. It's also very noticeable that at the same time they have also lost between 1/3 to 1/2 of their regular attendees. The pastor seems aware of the problem, but little is being done about it other than to talk about it.
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O:

Well, doctrine is very important, even if some of the folk are a bit ham-fisted.
 
Obadiah said:
Never experienced this. That's because I wouldn't hang around for a year waiting for someone to act friendly! In fact, when I was searching for a new church a while back, I attended a couple like this and they didn't even get a second look from me. Didn't matter in the least to me what their doctrine was when their actions showed that they had no love.

Sad thing is that the church I settled into has lately lost much of it's friendliness to newcomers now too. It's also very noticeable that at the same time they have also lost between 1/3 to 1/2 of their regular attendees. The pastor seems aware of the problem, but little is being done about it other than to talk about it.
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Yeah, we only stuck around so long because we could not find anything else and at least we were hearing a really good sermon every Sunday. I was thankful when we left though, even though the church we went to after that still had a lot of problems it was better than where we had been. I am so grateful for our church we are members at now, the Lord brought us to it when we needed it the most.
 
RachelKeeth said:
Yeah, we only stuck around so long because we could not find anything else and at least we were hearing a really good sermon every Sunday. I was thankful when we left though, even though the church we went to after that still had a lot of problems it was better than where we had been. I am so grateful for our church we are members at now, the Lord brought us to it when we needed it the most.
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Rachel:

...and maybe it needs you guys, too! it's a two-way street, right?

Blessings.
 
I am on the welcoming committee at my church.
We feel that many new people have made up their mind about coming back before the service even begins.
We are always working to keep our welcoming jobs up to par so to speak.
If they have children, we walk them to where they need to go, wait, and then walk them to the sanctuary and help them be seated.
We ask questions and try to introduce them to someone we feel they may have things in common.
It doesn't work that way all the time but we keep trying because we understand the importance of it.
We pray as a team, lifting each other up every week.
It is an important ministry and when we do it right, our church continues to grow.
 
Mom would rather not be 'welcomed' she would prefer to be just plain ol unnoticed....Dad was the opposite ... Sorting out which folks feel which way is a good job for Allen :)
 
reba said:
Mom would rather not be 'welcomed' she would prefer to be just plain ol unnoticed....Dad was the opposite ... Sorting out which folks feel which way is a good job for Allen :)
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Classik and mom seem to have something in common...however if they have sports team Classik would be a VIP rep
 
farouk said:
O:

Well, doctrine is very important, even if some of the folk are a bit ham-fisted.
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Agreed it's important. I never meant to imply it wasn't. Just meant to say that doctrine, etc without action to back it up is worthless to me. How important was the teaching of love for each other to Jesus? If a church can't show some level of love that is greater than can be found in a secular organization, to me that is lack of action and not the church I want to be part of. Just for the record, I also wouldn't give a second look to a church that teaches false doctrine, no matter how friendly and loving they were!
 
Sorry I have not been on in a few days. I ended up hitting my head not long after posting this thread and had to go to the ER after a few hours of being really sick from it. I ended up not having a concussion but I am still recovering, thankfully I can now do the computer without hurting my head more. I will try to catch up with the posts now.
 
RachelKeeth said:
Sorry I have not been on in a few days. I ended up hitting my head not long after posting this thread and had to go to the ER after a few hours of being really sick from it. I ended up not having a concussion but I am still recovering, thankfully I can now do the computer without hurting my head more. I will try to catch up with the posts now.
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Well ...

I guess that gives us a chance to welcome you back on the "feeling welcomed" thread, huh? :D
 
farouk said:
Rachel:

...and maybe it needs you guys, too! it's a two-way street, right?

Blessings.
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Yeah, we are doing a lot for the church. It was neat when we first started coming and our Pastor was just amazed by all the things we were able to help with. At the time one of the biggest was the website and he said for awhile they had been praying for someone who could help with it.
 
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