It’s officially closing in on Christmas––and we couldn’t be more excited for these busy, blessed, last few weeks! This is a season of being around loved ones, friends, and celebrating our faith in a way that is special and near to our hearts.
And while we feel at home in our churches, it’s important to remember the influx of visitors who will be celebrating the holidays side-by-side with us. These folks may not be familiar with the faces in our church, and they may not attend services often. But hopefully, you will welcome them with open arms in your own unique way.
We hope you have some kind of “new visitor process” set in place year-round. However, with the amount of visitors this season (and your to-do list piling up otherwise), it can be easy to let parts of that follow-up and engagement process slip through the cracks. Today, we’re talking about 3 interesting ways to actively welcome your church visitors and engage with them in the near future. You want everyone to feel at-home in your celebrations, even if they’re new––and here’s a few ways to do just that.
3 New Ways to Welcome Church Visitors During the Holidays
Optimize Your Website for Visitors
For many of your first-time visitors, their first contact with your church will be a Google search or a direct website visit. This means they’re looking for information most relevant to them as non-members. If your New Here path isn’t prominent on your homepage yet, it’s especially important to do so now.
If you have a rotating banner on your homepage, consider adding a special Christmas-themed New Here banner for the next few weeks. And wherever you list your holiday service times, make sure you have a call-out to welcome those who haven’t attended any before. This is your way of anticipating their initial questions and providing answers––before they even need to ask.
Encourage Current Members
You’re welcoming new faces to your Christmas festivities: hooray! There are many things your current community can do to support your engagement process. Here are some tips to keep in mind as you coach your current congregation about being a truly welcoming body:
- Send a message in your newsletter and from the pulpit about how many new visitors you're anticipating.
- Describe how the welcome process currently works (it may have changed since many people joined!).
- Talk about making visitors feel welcome and comfortable during parts of celebrations that may be unfamiliar. Encourage them to look around and greet or help people who look lost.
- Point out things you're going to do for church visitors that current members should be aware of. For example, explain why there are extra signs around the campus with basic directions, or why you’re making announcements during each service that are usually just posted on the website.
- Encourage members to invite family and friends to these special services. Let them know where they can find visitor cards, or how to share events on your website, via email, or social media.
Offer ‘Next Steps’
It’s fantastic if you can get the contact information from visitors and learn more about them during the holidays. But not all church visitors will be ready to dive right in head-first. Think about other community events that new-comers might be interested in over the course of the next 6-8 weeks. Do you have any service or volunteer events coming up where they could meet some like-minded folks? Or do you host live-streamed sermons on your website that they can view from home if they’re not ready to come back or need to change their schedule? When you thank visitors at the end of your services, be sure to mention the whole range of ways they can stay connected.
