Welcoming: It ain't Rocket Science...

I received this email today from someone new at our church (not pictured):

I've really enjoyed meeting some of the people at Christ Church, and I look forward to continuing to do so. There seems to be a strong sense of community, which I really appreciate. I can't tell you how refreshing it is to actually recognize people, and for them to remember my name!

That may be all you have to do, friends. Remember someone. If you are going to church this weekend, look around you and remember the name of someone who is new.

It ain't Rocket Science.

(I posted about a quote about welcoming ... HERE.)

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Advice to churches: 'Anyone new feels alone and stupid!'

Interviewer: In your visits to churches, how important were first impressions, say during the first 5 minutes of arriving? If the first impression was negative, did you sometimes find the overall experience overcame that?

Jim: VERY important- if ANYONE approached us (without it being their job) it was the exception rather than the rule. It hardly ever happened but when it did we NOTICED. Frankly the lack of that failed to change much else for us since we adapted to the environment and simply stopped expecting spontaneous, unsolicited, non-directed greetings. Here’s how people feel whenever they enter a new experience—alone and stupid. Churches need to “attack” those feelings by training Christians (the non-professional and non-highly motivated kinds) to simply say “hi” to someone who they have not noticed before. That one small action would do more to increase church attendance than any other single action currently being tried.

H/T Benjamin.

Pic is by Elektracute on Flickr