Some people hate to love them; other people love to hate them; still others could care less. Church greeters.
Honestly, to me, it seems like a pretty tough gig. You have to stand out there at the mercy of whatever weather blows in the door, be happy to see each and every person and deal with awkward “I forgot your name” and “Have we ever met?” moments. But apparently some people aren’t scared of any of that stuff. At the very least, if you love greeting, you have some job security.
27% of you absolutely love church greeters. Maybe you admire them, are grateful for them or love being one yourself. Either way, it’s a Sunday highlight for you to be door-greeted by a smiling face.
48% of you aren’t totally sold on greeters, and you judge on a greeter-by-greeter basis. Hilarious greeting experience in the comments would be greatly appreciated!
A final 25% of you don’t really get greeting. You think it’s a bad idea to have people who are paid to be professional smile, wave and handshakers. Yeah, you probably wear jeans to church and don’t comb your hair, either.
This week, throw your opinion in the ring as we ask, would you hire someone who isn’t a Christian to help out with your church marketing efforts?
Jay
April 2, 2008
I’m in the final 25%, but you don’t seem to understand why. It’s not because I “don’t get greeting”, it’s because at our church, we truly believe that it IS EVERYONE’S RESPONSIBILITY. We take good amount of time out of each service to give everyone hugs and long conversations. Check out Acts 2:42. Fellowship isn’t about shaking someone’s hand and walking on. It’s about spending time with each other and getting to know everyone on a personal basis. How can we truly be a New-Testament church if we’re so convoluted in everything else that we forget to FELLOWSHIP? No one should be paid to greet, because it just dilutes what we’re all responsible for. We all need to be first in line to show love towards our brothers and sisters in Christ. And yeah…we wear jeans. God has seen you naked. Is a three-piece suit really going to impress the Almighty? A person may as well be Adam hiding behind a bush.
Jeremy Anderson
April 2, 2008
Wow, I’m looking forward to next week’s poll. I think it represents one of the biggest problems we have in the church which I like to call the “holy huddle.” I believe that every time we include professionals from no faith or other faiths, we get an opportunity to share authentic faith with them.
I attended a church for a while where the worship musicians were paid, some of them not believers. The leader was on staff and a believer (of course) but not necessarily the rest. Guess what? The worship was some of the best I ever heard and many were incredibly edified by it.
Interesting question… thanks for asking.
Neil
April 2, 2008
I’m not a germ-o-phobe! But I do get colds easily and last year had a bout of the dreaded MRSA –all of which are easily spread by handshakes. So now I AVOID greeters “like the plague.”
At the very least, if you have greeters, you should have Purell handy.
Pity the poor pastor too… shaking everyone’s nasty hand after worship.
Science is not a sin.
Joe Suh
April 2, 2008
After just one Sunday morning as a church greeter, I gained an all-new respect for them. Being an extrovert helps (which I’m not!)
Ryan
April 2, 2008
I’m tired of the Acts Church comparisons as if the early church is a the perfect church…it was an infant church. It had problems with worship, theology and greeting too. Fellowship is great but not realistic on a Sunday morning. You may feel comfortable giving a hug to your buddy or even a side hug to a stranger but to say that “greeting” should be everyone’s duty is to actually no one is responsible for it in many ways.
As with all other things, fellowship requires a plan and leadership. We may not like the greeter at the door everyday but guess what…that greeter is not really there for you. He/She is there for the guest who (statistically speaking) loves friendly people who can direct them and make them feel welcome.
We’ve found that greeters are the most important piece to the First 7 Minute equation…and as the pastor gets up to speak, he’s counting on the “soil” to have been readied for the message.
Tim Cote
April 2, 2008
Next weeks results ought to be interesting.
Julian Richter
April 3, 2008
RE: The person afraid of germs passed by handshaking.
We have installed hand sanitizer dispensers on the walls beside our lobby doors. Lots of people take a squirt of hand sanitizer after they’ve been greeted. We also do a “welcome people you haven’t met before” during the service, and it’s amazing how many people dig into purses and pockets to pull out their little squirt bottles of “Purell” after that.
Ron
April 3, 2008
Worst Greeter Experience: While church shopping, we tried a church where the entrance funneled down to the single greeter—an older man who hugged everyone and added a kiss for every female. You could not get into the auditorium without this holy-kiss biblical affection.
I suppose some of the older women, and maybe some of the regular attenders at the church, thought the man’s advances were quaint. My wife and twenty-something daughter felt completely differently. They were sure that his hug lingered way too long, and they had to dodge his kiss, and they thought any hug and any kiss was way too familiar a greeting for a visitor he didn’t know from Eve.
We actually visited again, figuring that there would surely be other greeters who would not be so forward. Not so. The old man was there every week. We had to devise diversion tactics to get my wife into the building without being assaulted. My daughter refused to attend. Eventually, we gave up. As good as the church may have been, it was way too much to ask that a visitor be exposed to a masher on the way into worship.
Lex
April 3, 2008
I’d be interested in seeing the statistics regarding visitor’s reaction to “friendly people who can direct them and make them feel welcome.”
Are those visitors coming to church for the first time in years, or have they been attending a local church for decades and are, thus, accustomed to greeters? Do the numbers specify whether people feel that way about assigned greeters, or just friendly congregations?
Rosemary
April 3, 2008
I’m an introvert. Personally, I find it off-putting when I go to a new church and some stranger grabs my hand, wrenches it up and down and throws a big smile in my face before I even walk in the door. I can find my own way inside the building, thank you very much.
Craig
April 3, 2008
I’ll put it crassly… We have greeters at my church. And, we have people who don’t like the idea/experience of “forcing” people to be welcomed. Here’s my spin: as the pastor, it is my responsibility to model, expect, and encourage certain behaviors – like being tolerant of someone who smiles and shakes your hand whether you want to or not. I’m an introvert, too. And, if you’re not capable of surviving a two-second, non-invasive encounter with a greeter, it’s probably time for therapy. As for greeters who cross the boundary, someone please tell the pastor… and, pastor, please tell that greeter he can’t hug strangers.
Laure
April 7, 2008
I think greeters need to learn a few things about psychology before they are let loose on helpless church-goers. You have to be able to read body language; if someone looks lost, ask them if you can help. If someone looks closed off with their hands in their pockets, maybe a smile and “hello” is good enough. If someone comes in with their hand out, then, by all means, give it a shake. Forced interaction is never comfortable, and isn’t creating comfort the job of the greeter?