My dear, sweet wife and I made our second church visit today. We traveled over to Scottsdale to worship at Resurrection Lutheran. They have three services - a traditional service at 8 am; blended service at 9:30 am and a contemporary service at 10:55 am. Sherri and I went to the blended service to see what it was all about.
The music ministry was amazing. They featured a praise band consisting of 5 vocalists and 4 instrumentalists. But there was more! Included were 12 additional musicians - playing both string instruments and horns. All of these musicians played together and did so very well, whether it was "A Mighty Fortress" or "Here I Am to Worship." There were several songs which neither Sherri or I knew; it seemed that the congregation didn't know these songs very well either and the singing was not very strong. Nevertheless, the music was wonderful and probably helps to draw people to the church.
On the other hand, this church needs a lesson or two from the "Sharon Mefford Method for Greeting Visitors." We arrived as the coffee fellowship hour was wrapping up. One lady, while walking past us gave a hurried "hello." No one else acknowledged us. We stopped by the visitors center. However, no one was at the visitors center. Although we stood there looking at some of the materials, no one came up to ask why we were there and what we were up to.
A couple of other folks said hello to us but other than that, we were pretty much ignored. The experience left me feeling thankful for those who participate in our greeter ministry. Greeters have the opportunity to make a good first impression on a visitor. If we, as a church, make an effort to connect with people who are seeking to plug into a Christ-centered, Bible based church, the chances are good that they'll make a second visit for worship. And that gives us a chance to build a relationship and make a friendship...for Christ Jesus.
When I return after renewal, I want to look at what we're doing to see if there are things we can do better to make visitors feel welcomed and to make sure that when we have guests at Life in Christ, they leave feeling like they were noticed, greeter and made to feel welcome.
