Becoming a Welcoming Church by Thom S. Rainer

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Early in my ministry I was used to hearing churches say we are a friendly church. And this was partly true. They were very friendly to each other. But when I asked them what if we ask people who are not part of our church if we are friendly what would they say, especially the kids we shooed away from the porch for loitering. Were we that friendly. In this book Rainer challenges us to look at church hospitality with new eyes and as a gospel issue.

This small book is big on solid information and advice. In Becoming a Welcoming Church Rainer may not have a lot of “new” information he does remind us to look at some of what our church does from the perspective of a first-time visitor. Rainer does not shy away from addressing sacred cows like greeters, ushers, and that stand and greet one another moment. Rainer sees these as all potential strengths to building a welcoming church but they can also be detrimental to seeing guests return if they are not done well.

The biggest strength in this book is its emphasis that a welcoming church, a hospitable church is a gospel issue. This is one more way of serving our neighbor. Think of the first-time church goer who never returns to church because of the lack of hospitality they experience. He gives ample examples of those who were turned off by a lack of hospitality as well as those who came back and eventually responded to the gospel.

One area Rainer did mention that I never thought of was how uncomfortable visitors may feel in the moments just before the service starts. They may have been welcomed when they came in but once they find a seat they are ignored until the stand and greet time.

The other area I forget about is the quality of the sound and the brightness of the lighting. Hint. Dark rooms make it hard to read your Bible.

Another strength in this book is its updated perspective. Rainer stresses a current, up to date website, especially service times and activities. No one cares about the Easter service you had 3 weeks ago. Update the site. Rainer calls the church website the new front door of the church. He reminds us how important safety and security are to hospitality. The church should make it clear in both its website and other information how seriously they take the protection of their attendees and especially children. In today’s climate we cannot forget to let parents know how we plan to safeguard the children in our care. They should know this before they show up.

Other areas Rainer covered are good reminders. How clean is your space? How is your signage? Can people find the nursery and bathroom? How accurate is your information booth and it is manned? How are your holy huddles? Spoiler alert. 2 greeters talking to each other constitute a holy huddle and needs to be broken up so visitors can be tended to.

To sum it up Rainer reminds us we should be expecting guests and prepared for them when they arrive. We become too familiar, to used to what we see, and we forget what guests may experience.

The book also includes facility audit to evaluate your churches cleanliness and safety. There is also a survey you can give to a mystery guest, someone unaffiliated with your church you can invite to attend as a first-time visitor who would provide an honest evaluation.

Much of what is in the book is something most of us know but have forgotten over time. This is a good reminder.

There is one area I wish he could go deeper. What about those of us without permanent facilities, who meet in a school gym, who load and unload trailers, set up and tear down tables and chairs week after week and are also at the mercy of the landlord for certain challenges. I would like to see a little more advice or examples for those folks.

A review copy was provided free of charge by the publisher.

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