Laurie Kennedy

Remember the failed grand opening at Jakes Restaurant?  Church leaders unknowingly make the same mistake and are often totally unaware of the many barriers to visitors in their church.  Here are two frightening examples of barriers I’ve experienced

  1. Char and I sat close to the aisle and another visiting couple sat directly in front.  We were reading the bulletin and preparing ourselves for the service.  Another couple came in, stood beside the couple in front and told them to move because they were sitting in their seats.  The visiting couple stood up and walked out of the church.

  1. We visited a church with an attendance of just under 100. The Pastor came over and welcomed us. That was great. At greeting time we joined the rest of the congregation in the foyer for coffee. It was fascinating, with 100 people in attendance it must have been obvious that we were visiting but no one, other than the Pastor initiated conversation with us.  That day was pot luck day and again no one invited us to stay.

In their fascinating book, See you next week, my two really good friends Gary Carter and Robin Pifer illustrate the principles and hundreds of ideas about how each of us are responsible for encouraging visitors to come back next week.  Note these quotes from their book.

“All churches whether small or large need to have people on a welcoming team, as a matter of fact, the whole church has to be on the welcoming team.”

“In the ten minutes before and after a meeting there is only one job to take care of…The same applies after the meeting. Meet the people first”.

“You get one chance to make a first time impression with first time guests.”

“When you are at your best you will constantly be re-evaluating and asking good questions.  How can we serve the people that are coming?  How can we truly live out the life of love that lives within?”

Check out their fascinating book, See You Next Week by Doug Carter and Robin Pifer.

Leadership is ensuring that all your people strive to eliminate every invisible barrier that discourages visitors.

Yours in Service,
Laurie D. Kennedy
Leadership Coach