People we've never met....

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Permalink Reply by Todd Zeller on February 20, 2009 at 4:23pm

convicting and true... I often have thought that because I don't have the "gift of greeting" someone else needs to do this.... nope! Someone recently said the first 5 minutes after service are NOT OURS. This is a great time to meet, chase down, look for, those I don't recognize and welcome them to the family. Simple, quick, easy!

May I change the way I think so people know I care!

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Miller on February 20, 2009 at 4:49pm

I'm still voting we do something official to recognize visitors every Sunday so we can easily spot folks and greet them. Ask them just to raise their hands so ushers can hand them a visitor card (this was done in a church I used to attend), then we all see them and during 'meet and greet' and afterwards, we all zero in on them.

Or ask them to stop by a room or table at the end to get a 'gift' of some sort (done by another church I used to go to).

Either way, no way we miss anyone. I'd be game for taking turns inviting visitors to lunch or something.

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Permalink Reply by Gary Tompkins on February 21, 2009 at 11:54am

I hear you, Scott. I actually don't like "the meet and greet" times because every time I try and meet someone I've not seen before we're only allowed to say our names before we have to be quiet again and go back to our seats. I would like a meet and greet time at the end of service so we can actually get to know each other and perhaps even go to lunch together.
As it is, the meet and greet doesn't allow me to do anything other than "meet and greet" and at the end of service I'm asked to go to out to talk and by then I've missed my chance to get to know the new folks as they usually leave right away because they don't know anybody. It's like a catch 22.

--gary

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Permalink Reply by Roy Fitzwater on February 23, 2009 at 5:54pm

I like Gary's idea of doing the greeting at the end to allow the conversation to go further, lead to lunch, etc. We'd have to figure out some mechanics like how to keep the prayer time going, but still allow people to interact in the sanctuary before walking out, visitors who leave early, etc. Maybe we could have the standard meet & greet at the beginning, and mention there will be additional time at the close of the service to continue conversations. Everything I'm reading these days says we don't single out new folks with a raised hand. Stopping outside for a "gift" requires them to do the work instead of us. Maybe we could talk about this at a future Leadership Community Meeting?

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Permalink Reply by Alyssa Stanbery on February 23, 2009 at 7:52pm

Hey you guys... just a teen perspective here, not speaking for everyone, but you know:). I love meeting new people, but I'm basically kinda new myself (we've been here only 2 years, not 12), and I don't know A LOT of people... It's really hard to pick out a face in the crowd who you've never seen before, because I haven't seen most! We have so many people attending.. I agree, making the newbies feel kinda stuck out there by raising their hands probably wouldn't be popular, but its a great idea!! and I really should get out there and greet people better myself. Especially as being a part of the worship team, people really kinda look up to us, and we should be setting the example. Maybe during the coffee break? You know, instead of getting in our groups to chit-chat, we should spread out and meet people we don't know, new or old. I thought that was the whole point of it actually.... but idk, I might be reading too much into it, because fellowship with other christian friends is really important too.

haha yeah I should probably stop talking now. Todd's told me I type too much, wouldn't want him to think he's totally right:P lol so yeah, I'll wrap it up. But you guys, be more open to greeting the teens, too, and talking to them. We can be pretty cool, I promise:).

That's all!:)

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Miller on February 24, 2009 at 10:36am

Alyssa,

Todd thinks everyone types to much, but so you know, he loves when you use 'reply to all' in your email correspondences.

Ok, with all love to Roy and Todd and others who don't like the idea of asking visitors to raise their hands...just contemplate the two options:

10 visitors on a given Sunday
1. We ask them to raise their hands so we can give them a visitor card. Most, even if uncomfortable, will do so. We'll all see them and bat 1,000 in greeting them. So a little discomfort for some, but success in meeting them all
2. We just leave it to intent to greet new faces. No one is made uncomfortable. We miss a couple folks at least.

I believe this is what we're looking at.

I have people every week on live teleclasses they paid for, and we take live Q&A via typed in submissions. But I also open the lines for live questions. Every time...an uncomfortable pause. Sometimes excruciating for me. Then someone stammers in. We have a great and lively discussion, and then more and more folks chime in.

Discomfort in a public setting is just a reality. But just because it exists...there is often still value in pushing through for a valued outcome.

We could have a similar discussion regarding folks coming forward for prayer at the end of the service...

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Permalink Reply by Scott Stearman on February 24, 2009 at 12:00pm

The church where Hermine and I were married was around 2500 in attendance. You'd see a new face on Sunday and ask them if they were visiting and many times find out that they'd been in that church for many years. Here's what they did to address this.

The greeters, who were trained for their position, would connect with everyone who came through the doors. When they found out someone was visiting, they simply told them that we want our regular attenders to meet them and so they'd put a simple little rose sticker on their lapel or shirt pocket or let the visitor place it themselves. When we saw someone wearing this we knew, because we'd been trained, that we needed to welcome them. It worked very well and was completely non threatening to everyone.

The rose wasn't some cheesy paper sticker. It was a high quality embroidered adhesive backed sticker like the Golden Bee uses down at the Broadmoor.

However, none of this will make a bit of difference if we aren't a friendly welcoming community. The greeters... first point of contact for a visitor have to be trained to do this well. We need to be trained and told more than once how important this is to do our part inside the worship center as well. Left to myself, I'm connecting with my friends and not paying attention to those around me who I don't know.

We really can fix this.

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Permalink Reply by Sarah Severance on February 24, 2009 at 12:04pm

Alyssa,
Remeber when I met you on my first day of worship team.. before I was "permitted" to sing before the church (just messing with ya Todd! ;) ) ... Well you and Emily were essentially the first people to come up to me and say hi! It meant a lot. You're amazing and I love you both!!

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Miller on February 25, 2009 at 8:52am

Scott,
The sticker...great idea! I second that vote!
What a cool thing to 'brand' as well. "Caring for the roses" or something.

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Permalink Reply by Kristy Simons on February 25, 2009 at 12:23pm

I dunno...the sticker feels a little weird. Why don't we just put a big V with a Sharpie on their forehead...HA. Honestly, it feels contrived...fake. This has been an issue that I have felt strongly about through the years...going through a variety of stages, first, I found it incredibly hard to break through into the social mainstream of this church. It felt like everybody was already so close they just didn't have time for anyone else. I used this opportunity for self-examination that Scott mentioned...looking how I could meet other's needs as apposed to constantly looking to be fed. It was a great experience...sometimes uncomfortable, but God really blessed it. After 5 years I've found that cozy place of familiar faces that are easy to look for every Sunday...or are looking for me. This is a great reminder of something God spoke strongly to my heart. A great idea to help the discomfort is to grab a friend and say "Hey, who's that? Lets go talk to them." Make it a team effort.

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Permalink Reply by Adina Henderson on February 25, 2009 at 1:42pm

Kristy, God is using you to repeat Himself. Didn't you hear it? Was it only me?

Seriously, IT'S A TEAM EFFORT. I'm not sure why I always think everything is up to me and me alone. Evidently I'm a little me-centered!

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Miller on February 25, 2009 at 2:45pm

Todd, Steve Leigh and Scott Stearman and I just had lunch. We talked about this. Our idea now is just to segment a section of chairs and instruct all visitors to sit there. Everyone good with that?
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Actually talked about the name tags. If most of our 'regulars' have name tags, then those without is somewhat of a tip off that would help.

And on that note, I sure like motivating everyone who does attend to use a name tag. I so often know faces, and then know some names, but don't always remember who is who.

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