The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.

Matthew 16:1

Enemies who would argue with each other overcame their differences to seek Jesus.

But their approach was not like someone who is propelled by true spiritual thirst.

Rather, they came to test him, to find something they could use against him.

I was not hostile to Jesus, just indifferent

Before I met Jesus personally, I didn’t know much about Him.  I was not hostile to Him.  I was not opposed to him.

I was pretty indifferent.

I knew only that he was born every December 25, and died sometime in March, April, or May of the following year.

That’s because our family only attended church on Christmas Eve and Easter.

I tried to put the facts together every now and then, but the reality is, I had no clue.

I was not hostile to faith.  I was just indifferent.

That was my level of spiritual thirst.

Spiritual Hostility creates Spiritual Blindness

The Pharisees and Sadducees were different than me.

They were opposed to Jesus.  They couldn’t see the signs he performed:

• Healings
• Exorcisms
• Mass Feedings

They wanted a different sign from heaven.  They were blind to the ones in front of them. They were spiritually blind.

Do I know people like this?

Are there people around me for whom I’m praying that are hostile to Christ?  I can think of a few names.

Jesus allowed them to come to him

This is grace and mercy in action.

Jesus allows these opponents to seek His presence anyway.  He hears their petition.  He didn’t drive them away.

But knowing their hearts and knowing what was best for them, he flat out gave them a “no.”

He knew they were spiritually blind, that they wouldn’t listen.

In his omniscience, he answers, but answers with a “No.”

They lacked true spiritual thirst.

Different levels of Spiritual Thirst

“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.” (John 7:37b)

Jesus plainly taught that if anyone wants a relationship with God, it can be obtained.

This claim to a relationship is specifically addressed only to those who are spiritually thirsty.

That thirst is the starting point of a person’s quest to seek God.

That thirst is the restlessness of the human heart that drives one to Jesus.

We can fight against it — like the Pharisees or Sadducees.

We can be indifferent to spiritual thirst – like I was.

Or we can know we are thirsty and start seeking Jesus in Spirit and in Truth.

Coaching corner

The best starting place for identifying spiritual thirst is to reflect on your own.  You can also look for biblical examples.

• What was your spiritual thirst that first drew you to seek Christ?
• Read Ecclesiastes Chapter 2.  See what spiritual thirsts you can identify in first 12 verses.
• Review the people who sought out salvation from Jesus.  Speculate on what their spiritual thirst was.

Or, what makes a great leader of the church greeter team?

From my readers, I regularly hear:

• How do I get greeters motivated?
• How do I get more volunteers to care about the vision?

If you are a leader of church hospitality committee, or the leader of the church greeter team, you have likely faced this problem.

What does it take to lead a volunteer ministry team in the area of church hospitality?

Recently, our leadership team is reading The Way of the Shepherd: 7 Ancient Secrets to Managing Productive People.

In chapter 3, I picked up three really important principles from one of those secrets that could apply to leading a church hospitality team.

1.  Develop a sense of belonging.

There is a difference between recruiting a person to do a task, and getting a person on YOUR team.

You want people to feel part of your team.  You want people to be proud to serve in this ministry.

You want to be the type of leader that

• people can believe in and trust,
• volunteers want to contribute their best efforts
• your team proudly serves with their skills and loyalty.

That sense of belonging in an intangible characteristic that a great leader must develop in their team.

Be that type of leader that facilitates a sense of belonging.

2.  Constantly promote the values of your ministry.

You want people who take ownership of the values and purpose of your hospitality ministry.

The only way to do that is to be incessant in talking about the vision of your hospitality ministry.

Jesus constantly spoke about the Kingdom of God.

The lead pastor of a church I served in Richmond constantly reminded us that our purpose was to “gather the nations to worship Christ.”

What are your core values as a hospitality or greeter ministry?  For example

• Visitors are a gift from God
• Every visitor shall experience a genuine welcome
• Hospitality serves the evangelistic mission of the church.

As the leader of the team, it is your task to constantly reinforce your ministry values.

3.  Leave your mark on your team.

As a ministry team leader, you likely have a passion for hospitality ministry.

You care about the visitors who come to your church.  You want them to experience the best welcome possible.  You desire that every visitor God brings will be welcomed and find a home for their personal spiritual growth.

You carry the value of hospitality as one of the core values of your church.

At some point, you will need to train your replacement.

At some point, you might be called to another ministry, or even to another location.

When you leave, will you have left your mark on your team?

My father was a tremendous leader in his career field.  When I attended his retirement celebration, I listened to long term employees share their experiences of my dad.  I listened to their expressions of loyalty and dedication to the values my father demonstrated.

Recently, my father and I encountered several former employees.  Many commented how they miss my father’s leadership.  He had left his mark upon them (almost to the detriment of the next leader who had to work hard to establish their own leadership).

Be that type of leader who leaves their mark on their team.

Coaching Corner

Each leader functions in a unique context with a different mix of volunteers.

• What steps can you take in the next 30 days to cultivate a sense of belonging in your ministry team? OR
• What steps can you take in your next training meeting to remind your greeter volunteers of your ministry values? OR
• What can you do this weekend to remind your volunteers about the value of their role?

Do you prefer to warn the stranger of their sin by open air evangelism?

Do you prefer to wait until some one asks you for the reason you believe?

Or maybe you prefer to invite people to your church where they can find a community of believers to help them grow in their discovery of Christ.

If you’re the preaching pastor, is your style to connect every sermon to the gospel?

There are many different styles of evangelism, but only ONE gospel.

There are different approaches to sharing that gospel, but only ONE gospel.

So my preferred style of sharing my faith doesn’t diminish other styles, as long as we get to sharing the gospel of Christ along the way.

My style of personal evangelism

1.  Watch for the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

Allow the Spirit of God to indicate where He as at work and join Him in that dance of cooperation.

It might be a nudge, a supernatural awareness, a word of knowledge, a sense of spiritual “highlighter” over a person or situation.

2.  Watch for evidence of spiritual thirst.

Spiritual thirst is what opens the doors to great spiritual conversations.

I write about this elsewhere on the blog, so follow this link to the spiritual thirst tutorial

3.  Discern your place in the evangelistic journey.

The conversion process is not always instant or dramatic like the Apostle Paul’s.

Often there is a journey of awakening, gathering evidence, reflecting on information learned, doing some reading, and talking out loud with friends about what one is learning of God.

It is a process of sowing, watering, cultivating, tending, weeding, and preparing a fruit for harvest.

Determine where you might be:

• Sowing a seed
• Watering what God is already doing.
• Harvesting a seed that God has prepared.

4.  Discern and suggest a next step of growth.

You might be having a great spiritual conversation around the topic of their spiritual thirst.

People are not always ready to repent and place their faith in Jesus.

It is easy to discern if the Holy Spirit is bringing conviction of sin.

Other times, it seems like the person is only gathering information.

So in a particular conversation, you might suggest an appropriate next step:

• Prayer
• Invitation to Church
• Invitation to another conversation
• Share the gospel in a nutshell.
• Share an aspect of your personal journey to faith.

There are plenty of next steps and I know that God will often guide you into suggesting the right one.

You can do this

Personal evangelism doesn’t have to be hard.

Sharing your faith doesn’t have to be overly complicated.

Boiling down a process of evangelism that has worked for me for over 20 years has led to countless conversations, an uncountable number of new disciples, and baptisms of new believers.

I’m a living testimony that evangelism doesn’t have to be difficult, hard, or even scary.

When visitors have a bad experience with your church, often your error is something unintentional.

What does it take to be a great church greeter?

Church Greeters play an important role in your hospitality ministry, but some need some training.

In January 2013, I recorded a new online class for Greeter Training, now available for sale in the store.

Several of our readers participated in this webinar and have gotten their copy for use in their church.

In this NEW 45 minute recording from an online teleclass for church greeters, among other things you’ll learn:

• How not to appear on a list of crazy things greeters do to embarrass visitors.
• More conversational small talk for nervous greeters
• Ways to recognize visitors in a large or small church     <—biggest question
• How to be a good church greeter
• The role of greeter in the church welcome
• 5 Ways to Grow as a Greeter

This fresh on-line class is specifically for

• Greeters who need a refresher
• First time Greeters who will be starting up soon
• Hospitality ministry leaders who want a fresh vision
• Potential Greeters and Ushers you are thinking about recruiting

If you are not familiar with a webinar format, a webinar is an online class that shows a  presentation while I narrate.  This church greeter training product  is a recording of that class.

You can get a streaming download, or you can purchase a physical DVD (US ONLY).

Several hundred copies of Greeter Training Webinar #1 have sold in the last two years.  This new class builds on it.

Some Comments I’ve Received:

Thanks, it has been refreshing and encouraging

I truly enjoyed this training and I now know my shortfalls as a greeter.

Thank you, Very informative

Thanks Chris! Appreciate the thought you put into this! Gave me a couple of new ways to communicate the vision!

Thank you very much….helpful re: small talk and reminder of boundaries,etc.

Good info…thanks for the webinar

It was helpful.  Obviously somewhat limited in scope but a good refresher. Plan to send the link to our entire team.

Very useful.  Thanks

Thank you!  Very informative!  God Bless You!

I thought the session on Thursday night was very helpful for some of my welcoming committee folks – not that they haven’t heard all of that from me, but you know how parishioners hear things differently from “experts”.

Thanks for the training session. You did a great job talking about a subject that does have great importance in helping welcome people to a new church….It helped me evaluate the way I greet newcomers and gave me food for thought.

I enjoyed the webinar. I have read lots of your material and am developing a file of material on assimilation. A lot of the material in your webinar I had of course already read since it was addressing new greeters. Several of my assimilation team members viewed it and thought it was really good. I look forward to more advanced information in the future.

How to Purchase

	Paypal	Google Wallet
Digital Download Price: $10.00	Get download and stream access via Paypal for $10	Get download and streaming access via Google Wallet for $10 USD
DVD Version Sent to US Only Price: 14.99 + 2.00 Shipping Total: $16.99

Please note: DVDs can be shipped to USA addresses only.

Windows XP Users:  The MP4 file download may not play in Windows Media player unless you’ve installed a special codec and updated the Media Player to the latest version.  You should be able to use Real Player or another player to play it.  You can still download the file and play it on a more modern and updated computer.

If you purchase the download version, it’ll come as an MP4 file that you can transfer and play on other computers as you need.

As with all my DVDs, this one comes with a generous refund policy – If you don’t like it, I’ll refund it.

No worries.

This could be a great discussion starter for your hospitality committee to help reveal some dreams and vision development.  Use it as a brainstormer an capture the ideas.

If you had $2500 to spend, what would you do with it to improve your guest experience of your church?

In today’s guest article, my friend Richard Hong shares what they did at their church.  I’ve known Richard for a few years and appreciate several of his insights.

I even did a podcast interview with him some time ago, which he refers to in his article.

Short and sweet: too often churches think they don’t have the resources to professionalize aspects of their ministry.

Here are a few things you can do to improve your church for less than $2,500.

Total.

First, improve your Web site.

We were able to vastly improve our Web site in no time by using Clover (www.cloversites.com). (Editor note: Read what others are saying about Clover here).

Their preset designs are clean, image-driven, and appeal to younger eyes.

You edit your site from any browser – no special software needed.

They support Google Analytics, a free tool from Google that lets you get incredibly detailed reports (I can tell you that in the last 30 days my church’s site at www.englewoodpres.org received 490 unique visitors who saw an average of 4.53 pages and stayed for 3 minutes and 51 seconds).

Even better, your site automatically maps to a version designed for mobile browsers (20% of our hits are now coming from iOS or Android devices).  The startup cost?  Only $1,000, plus $240/year.

So far we’ve spent $1,240.

(Here’s a hint: ask a couple of your shutterbug members to start taking pictures.  Lots of pictures.  Of everything around and in your church – during worship, at social events, crowd shots, solo shots, artsy pictures of objects like chandeliers and stained glass – you’ll need a lot of interesting pictures to create an interesting site.)

Second, add a pager system to your nursery.

Parents, especially visitors, are attracted to a secure nursery.

A pager system gives parents the comfort of knowing they can be reached if needed.  We opted for the SmartCall system from HME Wireless (www.hmewireless.com) because it allows sending any one of eight preset text messages.

This way you can communicate with parents for a variety of reasons (“please come” or “diaper need”) – the message that sold me was “Baby OK”, so if a child is upset when the parents leave, you can inform them that their child has settled down.

The cost of a 12-pager system was just under $1,000.

To make the system work, order nursery labels from www.churchnursery.com.  These labels serve as an identifier and a “claim check” for the child.  A pack of sequentially numbered stickers/stubs is $30.  So that adds another $1,030 to what we spent before, bringing us to $2,270.

Third, add parking attendants on busy days.

Unless you have more parking than you ever need, you need to have a crew out there letting people know when the lot is full (so they can drop their passengers) and then directing them toward on-street parking.

This is especially important on Christmas Eve and Easter.

We use volunteer attendants of course, but they are equipped with safety vests (from Amazon.com, $7, Boston Industrial Safety Vest with Reflective Strips – Lime Green) and flashlights with signal cones (also from Amazon.com, $6, Dorcy 41-1482 2D Deluxe Krypton Flashlight with Safety Cone.

We have three sets for a total of $39.  Now we’ve spent $2,309.

Fourth, use press releases and invite local reporters to your events.

This one costs you nothing.

I participated in a podcast with Chris Walker of evangelismcoach.org a couple of years ago on press releases (link here) – and the beauty is that these are free.

But another simple piece of follow-up is to invite local reporters to your events.  Here is a link to a great article that was just published in a local paper about our Thanksgiving celebration.

Why did the reporter and photographer come?  We asked.

It cost nothing so we’re still at $2,309.

Fifth, set up tables and chairs at your coffee hour.

I’ve said it before and I can’t stress it enough.  Provide seating at your coffee hour; don’t make it a mostly-standing event.

When people sit, they talk.

When they talk, they connect.

When they connect, they return.

And use large tables, preferably the 60″ rounds that seat 8.

Why?

Because people are hesitant to join strangers at a small table, but a large table implicitly invites people to take any empty seat.

So how am I going to spend that last $191 to get us to $2,500?  On a supply of tablecloths.  They can be disposable vinyl tablecloths; buy a stash at a dollar store, replace them frequently.

But a bare table is uninviting.

There you have it.

$2,500 and you have a professional-looking Web site, a more secure nursery that is attractive to young families, provide a better welcome on busy days, free publicity through press coverage, and a better environment for your guests to connect.  There’s no reason not to do these things.  Now.

Source: Richard Hong’s website

Note: Links to Clover and Amazon are affiliate links that will benefit our ministry in Latin America.

Let me ask you this?

What would you spend your $2500 on to Improve your church’s welcome?  Answer below.

The first column is for the US Market.

The second is for Canadians.

Thanks to Gospel Ebooks for pointing this to my attention!

As with all sales, prices are subject to change without notice.

All of these are affiliate links and Amazon will share a few nickels with us for each that you purchase.  All proceeds support the work of EvangelismCoach.org in Latin America

• following the correct format,
• obeying all the right rules, and
• fulfilling all the necessary requirements for God to hear them and answer their prayer.

Nagging doubts about rules and formulas shape their perceptions of prayer.

But the spiritual thirst and hunger is there.

Pastors with little formal seminary training (practically a requirement for US Pastors) who struggle to lead growing churches.

Church leaders who want to prayerfully increase the impact of their local church to serve their community.

Several in our audience these days lack basic spelling skills, so conferences like we are here to give are effective methods of learning.

But when the teaching is over, many report the freedom of relating to God and His word and enjoying the presence of the Lord in prayer.

Day 1: Jinotega, Nicaragua

Approximately 9 pastors are among the 40 people who have set apart a workday to attend the PRMI Ignite conference on Prayer in the mountain town of Jinotega, Nicaragua (pop. 40,000).

Several have sacrificed a workday to attend, but their desire to grow in the power of prayer has motivated them to make that choice.  Some had heard the reports of last November’s Ignite and couldn’t wait for this conference to arrive.

They have gathered in the 2 room church of Vida Abundante (Abundant Life).  Expectation is in the air.

Conversation times, breakout, prayer ministry times all accompany the teaching.

Experiential learning gives people a taste of the power of prayer.

The personal devotional breakout session allows many to hear from God about something personal.

The systematic teaching provides a framework for people to both understand and participate in the work of prayer.

That evening, a different group has gathered for the evening worship and ministry time.

They hear about God’s call and vision, and respond to the invitation to receive prayer.  People come forth for prayer ministry that lingers for a while, as participants do their business with God.  Some weep, some rest in the Spirit, others are refreshed in their personal commitments they’ve been making before the Lord.

One pastor comments:

Thanks to your teaching on prayer, our church will launch a 40 day season of prayer.  We are passing through some difficulties, and your conference has renewed my passion to lead this church in expectant prayer.  You’ve helped me understand more about leading in prayer as well as praying in agreement.  I look forward to sharing with you what God does with us when you return for the next conference.

Another one wrote:

Through your solid teaching, the Lord confirmed many things that I had experienced already in prayer.  I believe the Lord brought me to you all to help me learn more about the Holy Spirit.  I love the emotional and noisy side of our traditions, but I really loved your solid biblical and intellectual teaching.  Plus, your methodical labtimes and guiding us to pray one at a time is confirming some other things I’ve been learning.  It was worth the quietness to listen and learn deeply!  I loved your teaching last fall, and glad that you returned to share more, particularly from leaders who have had experience and can teach.

Days 2-4: Matagalpa Nicaragua

For the weekend, the team moves to the mountain city of Matagalpa, Nicaragua (pop. 100,000).

Building on the prior teaching events in that beautiful village, the teaching team gives the conference on prayer.

Again, nearly 50 people from 5 churches make the sacrificial effort to attend the Friday through Sunday event.

A few who had been at prior Dunamis events shared personal testimony of how they teach the material in their church and the impact the Dunamis teaching has made in their ministry.

An article like this cannot capture the glow in their eyes, the excitement in their voice, and all the results of ministry they have been doing as a result of Dunamis.  This time, they bring more people from their churches.

The host pastor writes:

I’ve come to understand deeply through the truth of the word, the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

At times, our church has experienced a deep growth in desiring the Lord and a longing to walk with the Holy Spirit.  God brought me to your conference to solidify me in the manifestation of the gifts, and that I can lead the church in not fearing the gifts of the Spirit.

If I had to describe this conference to some one, I’d ask them: “Do you know the work of the Holy Spirit?  Dunamis is not a superficial class, it is deep and real.”

You’ve given me much material to help me with further study.  Since your first visit a few months ago, our church has been longing more for the work of the Spirit through prayer and fasting.

The host pastor allowed the team to teach and preach on Sunday morning.

As the evangelistic and renewal invitation was given after the sermon, many people came forward for prayer, seeking out the prayer teams formed by several class members.  Putting some of the learned prayer principles into practice, these team members cooperated with the work of Spirit in ministering to those who wanted more of the Lord.  Some were reconciled to the Lord, some wanted healing, some surrendered their life to the Lord.

Read this commentary from various participants from the different events:

• The workshop was full of wisdom that I don’t have any questions at the moment.  I liked this seminar and can’t wait for you all to return.
• This seminar moved my heart and I kept desiring to learn more.  May  you continue to be invited to permit us these great workshops that are of much spiritual help!
• I learned more about how I could pray.  The structure you shared with us helped me to pray with some order and direction.  You’ve provided some great training in this area.
• You helped me to know about the ingredients of prayer.  I had doubts that I was praying in a wrong manner, or if I even knew how to really pray.  Your conference helped revive my desire to pray, as you taught and shared with me ways of prayer, particularly the work of intercession.  Your teaching was clear and it was a great blessing for my life.  This seminar helped answer my questions!

A special thank you

I want to give a special thank you to the supporters of this ministry.

Your financial gifts enabled this ministry to take place.   Some of you were on our prayer team that made this happen.

If you would like to contribute to future events and mission in Latin America, your can make your donation online to this work.

Every gift you make, or every purchase you make from our store supports the work in Latin America.

The 4 P’s and Evangelism

John 20:19-23

The mere mention of the word “evangelism” often has the ability to instill the strongest adult with fear.

While this may be a rather common reaction there is good news for us as we prepare to share…the Good News!  The evening of that first Easter day finds the disciples gathered together in fear, behind locked doors.

As believers and disciples today we see here an uncanny resemblance between us and those first disciples.  They were huddled together in that locked room because they feared the Jewish religious leaders that had crucified Jesus.

Today we find ourselves with a variety of fears when approaching the idea of evangelism:

• what do I say,
• what if I mess up,
• will I offend someone,
• I’m too shy.

Our fear often has the ability to wall us off to the work and mission that God has called us to undertake.

But the good news is…this story does not end with the disciples fearfully locked in room.  No, through an encounter with the risen Lord they receive the 4 P’s from Jesus which enable them to faithfully carry out their ministry…and we need to open ourselves to receive these same 4 P’s.

Presence

Locked behind those doors and huddled in fear, the risen Lord comes into their midst—he blesses those disciples with his Presence.  It is interesting to note that Jesus met them where they were—he met them slap dab in the middle of their fear.  He came seeking them out rather than waiting on them.  Jesus met them where they were just as he meets us where we are—fear and anxiety included.  As we accept the challenge of evangelism we must never forget that we are not alone but actually have the presence of our Lord and Savior.

Peace

Once in their midst, Jesus bestows Peace upon them.  In the midst of a fearful situation, Jesus offers them comfort and assurance.  In essence they are told that while the outcome may not be totally clear, everything is going to be alright.  The peace of Christ is not a magic umbrella that protects us from everything that could go wrong, but it is a challenge to trust the presence of Jesus Christ in our lives.

Purpose

After filling the disciples with comfort and assurance, Jesus gives them Purpose.  Just as God had sent him into the world to teach and share the will of God, so now Jesus sends the disciples into the world to not only share the word of God, but to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.  No longer is it enough to be content that we have accepted the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ…now we are tasked to carry that message to others.  Later on Jesus will make clear that the message is to extend to all the earth.

Power

While the sheer prospects of carrying the Good News into all the world is overwhelming, before Jesus departs he breathes upon them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”  In doing this Jesus gives them Power.  The task Jesus has just given the disciples is no longer dependent simply on their ability and strength; they now have the power of the Holy Spirit guiding them in their efforts.  In our fears of evangelism, we too must remember that we have been give a power that is far greater than ourselves…and we must allow the Holy Spirit to guide us and lead us as we seek to be faithful disciples as we share with others the good news of Jesus Christ.

I encourage you, as you undertake the challenge of evangelism, to keep in mind the 4 P’s—Presence, Peace, Purpose and Power.  These 4 P’s enabled the disciples to move beyond their fear, through the locked door, into the world, and they have the power to do the same for us as well.

Sources:

The article itself comes from Pastor Joe Washburn, a Presbyterian Pastor in North Carolina.

• McKenzie, Alyce. “Locked In and Locked Out: Reflections on John 20:19-29.” Patheos: Hosting the Conversation of Faith. April 17, 2013, http://www.patheos.com/Progressive-Christian/Locked-In-Locked-Out-04-02-2013.html
• Ewing, J. (2013, April). “Behind Locked Doors.”  Sermon presented at Community Presbyterian Church, Pinehurst, NC.

Here is one of my favorite questions:

Our hospitality ministry is SOOOOO lacking.

What can we do to fix it?

I love answering questions from readers like you, particularly in response to reading my “7 Secrets of Effective Hospitality” report that you get for subscribing to my newsletter (Why Subscribe?)

Based on some descriptions that readers like you tell me, I frequently run into these adjectives.

• Weak,
• Struggling,
• Lack of Passion.
• Not organized well.
• Whatever happens, happens.
• People and ministry fall through the cracks.
• Visitors don’t return after the first or second visit.

Those would be some adjectives describing a disorganized hospitality ministry.

But evidence of a disorganized welcome ministry will also show in volunteer attitudes:

• showing up late
• little eye contact
• lack of warmth
• no substitution for no shows
• ushers feel like “bucket pushers” or “bulletin pushers”
• Doing a Duty versus ministry

How do you restart a hospitality ministry that feels this way?

I was talking with an unchurched friend last week about hospitality ministry.  He was quick to tell me that churches should be welcoming, but he’s not experienced a great welcome in recent years.

He is not a regular church goer, but even he knows that churches need to be friendlier.

It’s my prayer that when he responds to my invitation to come to my church, that our hospitality team would bless him and help him feel welcome.

What are some steps you can take to restart a failing welcome ministry for your church visitors?

1.  Describe your vision of a functioning hospitality ministry.

What would a fully functioning hospitality ministry look like if it was running 100%?

Describe it as clear as possible.

What are the words that you would use if we were in a coaching call and you were telling me what a beautiful hospitality ministry would look like at your church?

2.  Cast your vision.

Cast your vision for hospitality ministry.

If you can enlist your pastor to help you with the occasional plug from the front, you’ll be informing those folks in your church who ONLY listen to the person up front.

You can cast your vision in a refresher meeting or training meeting

You can cast your vision as you recruit new people 1-1 and they hear your passion.

Hearing someone else be excited about this ministry can begin to bring new life into the situation.

3.  Review your systems.

Take the time to review your hospitality systems.

The ebook I sell on this website can be one way to review your systems, or take the time to do your own hospitality audit.  There are others available from Amazon that could help.

Be sure to review the volunteers and process around your

• Greeter Ministry
• Campus
• Welcome Center
• Post service reception
• Visitor Contact information

4.  Provide some guidance

You’ll need to gather your ministry volunteers at some point and provide some training.

Reset your expectations.

Paint a picture of what you dream they would do.

Help them brainstorm what the ideal welcoming process would look like and let their creative minds help shape the process.

If you need some help getting started, consider a hospitality coaching call with me.  I’ll help you think through the process.  You can have an hour free with the purchase of my ebook.

Download Tools under $15 to help you

Each one of these tools can help you with training.  Click on their links to learn more.

• Church Greeters 101 – an ebook aimed at helping you recruit and organize your greeter ministry.
• Create a Culture of Church Hospitality – audio download that includes 14 ways to cast vision.
• Greeter Webinar#1 – a 1 hour class for greeters.
• Greeter Webinar #2 – a 1 hour class from January 2013.
• Evaluate your Church hospitality – audio download on reviewing your systems

If you want to read some books that focus on relational evangelism, here my favorite list of 10 books on Relational Evangelism.

1. Life-Style Evangelism: Crossing Traditional Boundaries to Reach the Unbelieving World, Aldrich, Joseph C.
2. Reimagining Evangelism: Inviting Friends on a Spiritual Journey, Rick Richardson
3. Spiritual Conversations, Gary Rohrmayer
4. Organic Outreach for Ordinary People: Sharing Good News Naturally, Kevin Harney
5. Eats with Sinners: Reaching Hungry People Like Jesus Did
6. The Unexpected Adventure: Taking Everyday Risks to Talk with People about Jesus
7. Hitchhiker’s Guide To Evangelism: Bill William Tenny-Brittian.
8. Just Walk Across the Room, Bill Hybels
9. I Once Was Lost: What Postmodern Skeptics Taught Us About Their Path to Jesus
10. Becoming a Contagious Christian, Bill Hybels and Mark Mittleberg.