To be the most welcoming church anyone can experience
” A new command I give to you; as I have loved you, you must love one another. BY THIS all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” – Jesus, John 13:34-35
Guest services is the art of loving people no matter who they are and what there present is and what they might be carrying with them. It is a fine line and gentle line that Guest Services teams balance. On one end, you have the overbearing and the spam like experience. Or you have the opposite end which is essentially no guest service experience at all. Making the above phrase a reality takes time, culture, buy in and execution. Sure it is never easy and it is never going to be perfect.To Be The Most Welcoming Church Anyone Can Experience, is something worth striving for.
As we see story after story in the Gospels, the over and over Jesus has crowds surrounding him, He experiences people wanting to be close to him. And every time Jesus is surrounded with people, He demonstrates what it means to be welcoming and loving, by showing compassion on them. As a church, we should have the same approach. As we are surrounded by the mixtures of people the we will encounter we should be welcoming and loving just as Jesus was to the crowds around Him. There is a high probability that we as humans are always craving for and desiring to have great experiences also. We could go to a concert and walk away saying that it was an amazing experience. We could go on an adventure and come back with lots of great experiences.When we are able to combine the two, the experience and being welcoming together, then you have something life changing.
Christmas time around churches are crazy. It is busy. Not only do we have decorations to put out, to-do lists to get done, presents to buy, friends to see, family to have over and maybe even pack to go out of town. But churches are also gearing up for one of the busiest group of services that come all year. Christmas can be seen as the Super Bowl season for churches. In the midst of that busyness, it is hard to balance work and life. It is hard to balance emotions. As we see in scripture, when Jesus was born, it was busy. People were going back to their homes that they may not have been too in a very long time. Inn’s and places to stay were filled to the brim. There was an anxious excitement about seeing family and friends that haven’t been seen in a long time. But what we see is that not only was Jesus born when it was busy, people surrounding the birth of Jesus, had no idea what was going on. As a Guest Services team, this Christmas we have the chance to make a difference in the lives and hearts of guests that come into the churches doors. We have the chance to turn what might be a Christmas and Easter tradition into something that changes the way they look at what a church is. To walk the line of being loving, welcoming, grateful for their presence and to really live out the ‘come as you are’ thoughts. This Christmas, in the midst of the busyness….we have the chance:To be the most Welcoming Church anyone can experience.
Let’s not miss it.