What I do
I was talking with a new pastor friend earlier today who really challenged me. One of the things that we talked about was what makes me tick, what gets me up in the morning and keeps me up at night. My answer was, “That is a good question.” Over a good portion of the past year I have been the First Impressions Coach at Journey Church. I gotta say that hospitality really fires me up. I enjoy making people feel welcome, making sure their needs/wants are met. This really comes from how God has gifted me and also some of the vocational positions I have held. The other thing that I am passionate about is outreach. This takes a wide array of forms, but at its heart is relationship. I dig meeting people and just being in relationship with them ( I am going to write something about this in a different post because it doesn’t fit here, so look out for that!).
I am by no means an expert on the subject of First Impressions/Hospitality, so please don’t take it that way. Over time, I’ll be including some of the things that my team does at Journey and things that my team doesn’t do at Journey. Honestly, the things that we don’t do are more important than the things that we do. I am convinced that what goes on outside of the auditorium (sanctuary, gym, theater, insert your congregational gathering place here) is as important, if not more important, than what goes on inside.
So, I guess all that to say, be on the lookout for a series of postings that deal with this area. I hope what I have learned and experimented with will encourage some of you to look differently at the way your church does things or make them better. Stay tuned…
Looking forward to hearing about some of the things Journey does for outreach inside the Church and outside.
And for fun I will toss a few things my Church is doing when people come into the Church building for first impressions:
—- Free donuts for all ( I like this one a lot…)
—- Smiling faces at every door with bulletins (you can’t sneak in and not get a smile and/or bulletin)
—- People at a well marked ‘information desk’ (for people who want more than a smile and a handout)
—- A coffee mug and information about the Church for first time guests. (so you have something to take home…. and put coffee in….)
—- The entire congregation is encouraged regularly to look for new faces and say ‘Hi’ and meet new people. (I think we do this fairly well)