Make Your Small Church More Visitor Friendly

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Is your small church visitor-friendly? Are you looking for ideas to give a more positive first impression? Guest writer Pastor Don Sargent shares his experiences and impressions while in a season of opportunity to visit several churches.

Over the years as a Pastor, I have gained a lot of insight from various Christian books and conferences about how to maximize the friendliness and welcoming feel of your church. 

My experience includes:

• Conferences targeting church friendliness
• Evaluations
• A secret shopper-type visitor program
• Countless seminars
• Research about the trends in making our churches more visitor-friendly. 

I have encouraged the members of the churches that I have served in to be more friendly, establish visitor’s centers, have good handouts, better signage, post greeters in several spots, etc. I shared my newly acquired knowledge with passion and urgency as I felt it was an important issue.

First Impressions Are Formed Within 10 Minutes

One statistic I recently read said, “Visitors make up their minds about whether they will return to a new church in the first ten minutes of their visit.”

I will admit the first time I read that fact, I bawked a little! Surely they are exaggerating, you know, for shock value! It sounded so unrealistic, and it was a bit upsetting.

A few years ago, the Lord put me in a season of waiting. I was in between ministries and seemingly in limbo, but our Lord never does anything by accident. There was definitely a purpose in the waiting!

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:

Ecclesiastes 3:1

This was God’s time for me to get a different view of ministry, A View From The Pew. Now, how often does a Pastor get to be a first-time visitor in a church? I was able to sit back and see a church’s ministry from a stranger’s viewpoint. All the knowledge I had in my head would now be put to the test right from the pew!

Most First Impressions Start Online

So the adventure began. I started by choosing which church I would attend. Like most first-time visitors, I decided to go online to search for area churches. I checked out several websites. A key fact to remember is the majority of a person’s first contact with your church is through your online presence. What are they going to find?

When I found a church that was foundationally what I was looking for, I checked out the address and service times and made my plan.

Now, please know I was raised in the faith in a strong Christian household. (Born on a Monday and brought to church the next Sunday!) I have been attending ever since. I received the Lord as my Savior at age four and have been very active in church life ever since. It’s my second home, and I feel very comfortable there. 

I don’t say this to boast but to let you know just how uncomfortable I felt that Sunday as I went to that church. Now I was going to be a first-time visitor, not a guest speaker, not the Pastor, not a teacher or youth leader. As a regular person going through those doors, I felt nervous. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and I wasn’t at all sure what to do when I got there! 

I started to think about what it might be like as a new visitor. If someone like me, who was so used to being at church, would feel like this, how would someone new to the whole church experience feel? Okay, God, I’m starting to see your point here!

Make A Good First Impression Outside

Remember what our grandmothers always told us, “You only have one time to make a good first impression!”

That is a solid truth. The outside of your church building and parking lot can have much to say about how you feel about visitors. I found many churches were very welcoming in their signage and parking. They had attractive entrances, well-kept yards, and greeters outside. 

I also experienced churches where it was difficult to navigate which door to use, nobody outside to point the way, and crowds of people who all knew where they were going but didn’t seem to care to share any of that information with me, the lone visitor!

Whether you are a larger church or a small church congregation, it is important to let people know they are welcome at your church! Make this a priority and put time and effort into it. Be purposeful about planning it. 

Fresh Eyes Can See Things We Overlook

We have all heard countless people say, “Oh, our church is really friendly.” They are convinced people feel welcome there.

Consider the fact that the people who are saying this are people who have been attending your church for a long time. They are already connected and feel like part of the family.

We need fresh eyes to answer the question, “How do first-time visitors feel?” 

Before this season of observation, I would have said the exact same thing about our church, “Oh, our church is really friendly.“ But this experience truly opened my eyes. There is so much more we can be doing in this area, all of us- not just the appointed greeters. It is the whole church family’s responsibility!

First-Time Impressions Of A Visiting Pastor

Point of reference, if you are going to have official greeters at the door, please be sure they are trained and informed about what goes on at your church and where everything is!

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Here are a few of the good, bad, and ugly highlights from two of my first-time visits.

Scenario #1

• At one very popular church in our town, there was plenty of parking. Literally, it was a sea of pavement. However, there was not one sign or designated parking area for visitors or a parking attendant to be found. I made an educated guess about where to park. 

• I observed several families going in a side door. I entered and was routinely greeted by someone stationed at the door. Then, I was basically pushed along by the crowd to the sanctuary.
• Once seated in the sanctuary, the rows filled in around me. No one offered greetings, introductions, or even small talk. I was sitting in a mass of people, but ‘I felt like I was sitting alone!
• Another church had multiple style services happening simultaneously in different parts of the building. When I asked the greeter at the door where to find this specific service, she had no idea about the specific services or how to find them. She had to search for someone who did. 

Scenario #2

• I entered the doors to the lobby and discovered all the regular church attendees hung out there before the service, making small talk, recapping their week, making lunch plans with friends, etc.
• I took this as a good sign that the church family liked each other and were happy to be there. But as an outsider, I felt very uncomfortable. I literally had to push my way through a crowd to reach the sanctuary!
• After the service, I wanted to stop at the Visitor’s Center to pick up some information, but it was surrounded by church people visiting again. I couldn’t get to it. This didn’t feel very welcoming.

Visible Good Signage Is Important

Remember, a new church can be difficult to navigate. Show people where to go!

This was something a consultant pointed out to me years ago. Prior to that, I must admit I hadn’t really paid much attention to it. Now on the other side of my experience, I can say- PLEASE, tell me where! Help me know where to go!!! 

Signage Tips For Your Small Church

• Create a simple sign that marks the main entrance to your church. 
• Display signs for the restrooms, children’s nursery, and classrooms. 
• If you have a Visitor’s Center/Area make sure the sign is unobstructed by people and clearly visible. 
• If you offer free coffee and refreshments, have a sign by your food that says so. Make it a fun sign with welcoming language.

No one likes to feel lost, and of course, as a man, I was not about to ask for directions!

The Worship Service

As a seasoned Christian, many of the elements of a worship service are familiar and comfortable, but I experienced difficulty in some churches because I didn’t know what to do next or what was expected of me.

For example, some churches enjoy a time in the service where everybody shakes hands and welcomes each other with a smile! Most churches think this is a testament to how friendly they are, not realizing many times this is an exercise that can ostracize a visitor!

One church I attended had a time of vigorous band-shaking thing. People left their seats and traveled about, chit-chatting with this one and that, reconnecting with friends from the week before, hugging, smiling, and laughing. They thought their church had so much brotherly love. All the while, this first-time visitor stood awkwardly at my seat, being completely ignored and sometimes stared at. This experience did not feel very welcoming. 

Visitor Gifts & Brochures

Some churches debate whether or not to give a visitor a gift. Church leaders ponder what kind of church information visitors need. 

I must say, general kindness and connection with people at your church will certainly override any mug or candy you give away. Someone who is personally willing to invite me to some of the other ministries at your church will speak volumes compared to a piece of paper you shove into someone’s hand!

Small Churches Can Become More Visitor Friendly

We can do many things to improve the experience of our first-time visitors. Some are practical, and some are just shifts in the mindset of how we approach our First Impressions ministry at our small churches.

I highly recommend your pastor, board, or church leaders visit another church. Allow God to use the opportunity to open your eyes and, more importantly, your hearts. Pray for the Lord to help your small church become a place of welcoming and an opportunity to demonstrate His love to our visitors.

I must say the view from the pew is far different than a view from the stage or the pulpit. Being the consummate churchgoer can sometimes blind us to the stumbling blocks that can exist for our visitors. 

We become so comfortable in our churches we can almost forget about the mission God has called us to.

Top Tips For Great Visitor Experience

• Start with your online presence. Is the information current? 
• Encourage genuine smiles and greetings; take time to answer visitor questions.
• Have good signage
• If you greet people during your service, assign people to be sure every visitor gets their hand shaken.
• Greet visitors sitting alone. Better yet, invite them to sit with you!
• Encourage regular members to keep the Visitor area clear and open for visitors.
• Remember, general kindness and connection with people at your church will certainly override any mug or candy you give away.

Let’s not become so inward-focused that we make our small churches into social clubs rather than being the family of God we are called to be to the world around us!

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. … And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:12,17

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