Podcast Episode 07 - Creating a Welcoming Atmosphere

As leaders of 200churches, our desire should be that our churches would, at the very least, be welcoming. There really is only one chance to make a first impression and we want people to experience a welcoming and friendly atmosphere when they come into our church. But how?

In Andy Stanley's excellent book, "Deep and Wide," he writes about creating irresistible environments, and much of what he focuses on has to do with facilities. While we'd encourage you to read his book and take his thoughts to heart, we also recognize that as leaders of 200churches we often have very limited budgets and facilities to work with. We can keep the church clean, but we couldn't possibly afford a remodel.

What we'd encourage you to start with isn't facilities, but people. We can have a welcoming and inviting environment at our church, and it's the people who will create that environment. It begins with the leadership, but eventually bleeds down to everyone in our congregation.

At 200churches, we believe there are 5 elements to a welcoming atmosphere, and all of them can be easily achieved no matter what your budget or facilities are:

1. Building Personal Relationships - The backbone of any healthy church are personal relationships. For our churches to be welcoming, we have to cultivate personal relationships and also encourage others to do so. Your church can move from cordial to friendly in short order if people are creating and cultivating relationships with one another
2. Openness to New People - The flip-side of building personal relationships is remembering to be open to new people. The sad truth about most churches, regardless of size, is that cliques are constantly forming. As leaders, we should encourage our people to stay open and aware of new people visiting or joining our churches.
3. Hospitality - At our church, we define hospitality as including Greeters, Ushers, and... Coffee! Hospitality is so important when it comes to openness to new people. A hospitality team is the first responder to new people or people who appear to be on the outside looking in. Cultivating a great hospitality ministry goes a long way in creating a welcoming environment.
   
4. Acceptance of People's "Stuff" - This is by far the most difficult aspect of creating a welcoming atmosphere. Truthfully, there are some people who have "stuff" that is difficult to accept, but those are the people who need a welcoming environment the most. In John 4 and Acts 17 we see Biblical examples of Jesus and Paul accepting people's "stuff" and making a huge impact. We should follow that example in our own churches.
5. Finally, to create a welcoming atmosphere we need to have an Open Invitation to Involvement - In the past, churches have focused on the equation "Believe, Belong, Become." At 200churches, we believe that before people can believe or become, they must belong. It should be easy to get involved with as few requirements as possible in the process. When people are invited to involvement, they feel welcomed.

It should be our goal as leaders of 200churches to place as little between people and the Gospel as possible. By creating a welcoming atmosphere, we're setting the table for a person's experience in our church and increasing the likelihood of them being fully impacted by our ministry.