by Marc S. Botts, Editor 02 Apr 2003

A firm handshake and a warm smile can be such simple gestures, yet many church leaders are finding they can also be powerful tools for getting newcomers to make return visits.

Visitors are more likely to return to a church, leaders say, if they are genuinely welcomed. Churches, large and small, are recruiting ministry volunteers to man the doors, parking lots and welcome centers to greet people and provide information.

"First impressions people have of a church are so important and that will determine whether or not they come back or turn right around and leave," said Don Trammel, minister of administration and outreach at West Jackson Street Baptist Church in Tupelo, Miss. "It’s vitally important that they get a good, friendly greeting or welcome. That’s vitally important."

West Jackson, with an average Sunday school attendance of 550 and a worship attendance of 750, divides its greeters ministry into three segments: door greeters, welcome center greeters and ministry department greeters.

Door greeters welcome and assist all guests and members who enter the facilities. They open doors and give directions. The welcome center greeters help newcomers fill out guest information cards and escort them to Sunday school departments, where the third group meets them.

The church developed a rotation of available greeters and set up a schedule Greeters work 30 minutes before and 15 minutes after the start of services.

Typically, visitors either come early or they sneak in five to 10 minutes after the start of services, said Rev. Greg Rickel, rector at St. James Episcopal Church in Austin, Texas.

"They’re not going to come on time. We have to be ready for that," Rickel said. "If we’re not there to greet them when they get there early, then we’ve really missed our chance and if we think, ‘as soon as the service starts I’m going to go sit down,’ we’ve missed it too because there is going to be a lot of them show up after that."

Rickel said he implemented his program soon after arriving at the church two years ago and said it was one reason the church has grown.

"It’s grown fast. But there is a key to this that I’m constantly repeating and I think this church has caught on to," he said. "That is, ‘because we have a greeters ministry, that does not mean the rest of you are off the hook.’ We really all are greeters. None of us are not part of this ministry. These are just the people who are going to facilitate it."

He said his congregation has embraced the ministry because visitors have embraced the church.

"They really take that seriously. It is rare that we don’t get visitors who say this is one of the most welcoming places they’ve ever been and there is a lot of pride about that. That’s important, there’s no doubt about it. All aspects of it are," he said.

At Sherwood Oaks Christian Church in Bloomington, Ind., which boasts a Sunday attendance of about 2,800, the greeter ministry is a key element in outreach.

Alan Phillips, minister of pastoral care at Sherwood Oaks, said the ministry not only helps bring people into the church, it can be used as a tool to get them connected once they join.

"It doesn’t take a lot of training and a lot of people know what it’s like to be new and they like to be greeted. In fact, when we have new members, part of their welcome is I call them up and ask if they would like to be greeters. It’s a good way to get to know people also. If it’s someone’s job, it even gives them more permission to smile, extend a hand and that kind of stuff.

"I find it a really, really good entrance into the church community because then the people are empowered (by being) greeters. They’re supposed to say hello, meet people and shake hands. It really works out well."

Rickel uses the ministry to help connect newcomers to church membership. Because his congregation is small enough, 280 in attendance, he extends the greeting process to include a quarterly dinner at his home "We’re doing one April 24 and I’m sending out over 100 invitations," he said. "These are all the people that have come through that have been visitors. Many of them are first time. Out of that, probably, we’ll have 40 or 50 who will show up. Many of them just pass through and are not going to come."

He said newcomers are less intimidated in this setting and more open to learning more about the church.

"At that dinner, we spend some time talking about the history of St. James and we talk about ways they might get involved," he said.

Rickel said it provides guests with an opportunity to ask questions of him, other church leaders and fellow newcomers.