Every Sunday guests are among us. This past Sunday, I was introduced to a mother-daughter duo who were visiting our church campus for worship and Bible study. Here are a few things we did right with these guests:

1. We escorted rather than pointed – The pastor’s wife escorted the daughter to her Bible study group. I took the mother and did the same with her. This is much more preferable than simply pointing and telling the guest, “Your group is down the hall and around the corner.” There’s a chance the guest could get lost or even wind up in the wrong classroom. It gave me time to talk with the lady as we walked to class.
2. We introduced the guests to people in the group – When I dropped off the mother to her Bible study group, I introduced her to the teacher and at least one other group member. You always want people in the group to interact with the guest as soon as possible, and personal introductions make that happen. The other alternative is to simply drop them off and hope for the best – and that’s a bad plan! I’ve actually had that happen to me, and it’s a poor way to connect guests to groups.
3. We sat with the guest in worship – My wife was in the Bible study group with the mother, and she (my wife, Tammy) volunteered to sit with the guest during worship. This gave my wife some time to connect further with the woman and her daughter. They were able to continue building bridges before and after the worship service. Again, preferable to just letting the guest attend worship and fend for themselves.

What are some other ways you’ve taken great care of the guests among you? To learn more about becoming a welcoming church, pick up a copy of Dr. Thom Rainer’s latest book “Becoming A Welcoming Church” – click here to jump to Amazon.com and the landing page for his book.

______________________________________________________________

Follow this blog by clicking here to jump to my home page where you can sign up with only your email address. I’ll send you a daily post to encourage and challenge you as a group leader.