Churches offer welcoming tips
By Michael Wacht
LAKELAND — The third series of national
television commercials featuring the United Methodist Church will
begin airing three weeks before Easter. It’s part of the
denomination’s four-year Igniting Ministry media campaign, which
kicked off last September.
To help churches participate in the campaign,
clergy and laity across the country offered tips on how to be more
welcoming to new people. Delia Halverson, a member of Cypress Lake
United Methodist Church and secretary of the Florida Conference’s
Discipleship Ministry team, compiled a list of some of those
suggestions.
 Welcoming guests should be a sincere gesture
with no underlying motives, according to the Rev. Bill Brewer, pastor
of Alva United Methodist Church in Alva, Fla. “Welcoming is for
welcoming, not to get people to return, not to get them to join your
church, not even to get them to know Jesus Christ, but is simply to
let visitors experience the hospitality of the kingdom,” Brewer
said. “If your welcome is sincere, chances are they will come back.”
Use greeters, the most common welcoming tool.
Position them at the doors or in the sanctuary and supplement them
with a welcome or information table in the church’s narthex.
Help greeters stand out. Greeters at Centerville
United Methodist Church in Virginia wear stoles. Greeters at First
United Methodist Church, Oviedo, Fla., wear “Ask Me” buttons to
make it clear they are available to answer questions and give
directions. The church also has “pew greeters” throughout the
sanctuary.
Make the worship service more welcoming.
Hobson United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tenn., adopted a “dress-down”
policy. People are encouraged to come as they are, and the pastor
makes a point of dressing casually. “It’s not enough to say to
poor folks, ‘Come as you are,’ but we make everyone comfortable by
letting our leaders dress down,” one member said. “Some of our
older members still wear their Sunday best, and that’s accepted,
too.”
Nashville’s Belmont United Methodist Church
has members from more than 36 different countries. That diversity is
reflected in the church’s liturgy, anthems, calls to worship and
other musical pieces. Members are invited to dress in their native
attire.
Help visitors and new members become more
comfortable with the order of worship. One church distributes a
practice tape of familiar songs, responses and creeds to newcomers and
encourages them to borrow a tape and practice at home.
Move the congregational greeting time to the
end or near the end of the worship service. Members of two churches
said this facilitated conversations with newcomers after the service.
Another church recommended people holding hands during the final hymn
or chorus.
Make the sanctuary more comfortable. One
church’s ushers seat families with children near the front, so the
children can see what’s going on. Another church has removed the
back few rows of pews and replaced them with rocking chairs for
parents with children or older people who cannot sit in pews.
Invite newcomers to a meal. “Something about
eating together makes it easier to talk and get to know one another,”
said one member of Nashville’s Hobson church, which serves a free
fellowship meal each week after worship.
Grace United Methodist Church in Alamogordo,
N.M., holds a Shared Table every Saturday at noon. The free meal
attracts as many as 150, most of whom are not church members.
Larry Beman, a member at Avon United Methodist
Church, Avon, N.Y., says his church holds newcomers’ lunches at
members’ homes as a way to welcome visitors and answer questions
they may have.
Have the pastor or a member of the church
staff make contact with visitors during the week through letters,
cards or phone calls. A member of Grace United Methodist Church in
Cape Coral, Fla., said this is also an opportunity to get feedback
about the church.
The Igniting Ministry ads will be seen on 13
cable networks, including CNN, Headline News, TBS, TNT, the Weather
Channel and Fox Sports. A schedule is listed on the Igniting Ministry
Web site, http://www.ignitingministry.org.
The ad that will air is called “Dream” and
is the first Easter spot produced for the campaign. It is part of the
“Love Letters” expression.
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