As that need is met, there must also be a bridge into the fellowship of the church—because it is only in the church that we can find continued healing. Building that bridge has strategic parts to it that include language, culture, music and accessibility. But above all of that is the simple need to be friendly to new people when they show up. Too many churches still don’t know how to be welcoming to new people. They may welcome them from the front during the worship service, but before and after the service the new person is totally ignored. The new person or family, who may be grateful that the church helped feed them during that week is left to conclude that while the church wants to help them with food they really don’t want them to be a part of the family. They’re on the outside looking in.
I can say that even as a pastor I’ve been to many, many churches where I’ve felt like I was on the outside looking in. I could tell the people in the church loved and enjoyed each other by the way they spoke to each other—I just didn’t feel invited in. I know we don’t do this intentionally, it’s just easier to talk to a friend instead of the person we’ve never met. The point is that we must become intentional. While you may have greeters in your church, being welcoming is not the job of just a few greeters. Every single member is responsible for welcoming a new person at church, just as much as every single member of a family is responsible for welcoming a new baby into that family.
The vast majority of people will not automatically be friendly to new people – it goes against our cultural and relational norms. That means it’s up to us as leaders to train people to be friendly, to create a welcoming culture. If people in your church are not being friendly to newcomers, it’s a responsibility that lands squarely on you as a leader. The two most effective ways to teach it are by modeling it yourself and by including stories about it in your teaching to establish it as a value.
Have a ministry to the disciples that includes a clear path that teaches them to do all Jesus commanded.
Jesus taught us to “teach them to do all I have commanded you.” He not only taught this, he also modeled it for us in his three years of working with the 12. Because this calling is so important, it cannot be left to chance. We must give disciples a clear path to living a life of healthy fellowship with believers, growth in Christ, serving others, living on mission and worship of God. What is that pathway in your church? If you cannot identify it in seconds, I guarantee you that the new person in your church will rarely be able to find it at all.
The longer I’m in ministry the more I appreciate the power of a clear pathway. Pathways inspire direction and movement. If you were to walk up to the edge of a forest thick with trees, your tendency would be to stand and enjoy the view. But if you walked up to that same forest and saw a clear path that wound its way through with beautiful flowers and markers on both sides and a sign over the entrance that said “This Path is for YOU,” everything in you would want to take that path. When there is no clear pathway in your church, new people tend to stand back and enjoy the view instead of entering in to become involved.
