How To Make New Members Feel Welcome At Your Church with Indoor Church Signs

Whether visiting with friends and family, while traveling, or as a local resident who is looking for a new church, you want guests to feel welcome. Without new members, particularly younger members, your church will not grow and sustain the test of time. From greeters to indoor church signs, and following up after their first visits—these tips will ensure your church feels inviting and teach you to welcome new visitors to your church.

Outdoor And Indoor Church Signs

Signage has always played a vital role in attracting new members. This includes a standout outdoor sign as well as strategically placed indoor church signs in your parking lot, lobby, and throughout your grounds. If you haven’t yet, it’s time to consider upgrading your church welcome signs to digital signage—at least along your primary roadway. Digital Church signs are far more versatile, empowering you to post a variety of messages on one vibrant and engaging sign.

Many congregations choose a 2 or 3 layer digital sign, one for their name and logo, a second for an alternating message, and maybe a third scrolling sign. The largest sign alternates messages, including a few that ensure your church feels warm and inviting. This might be photos for your indoor Church signs that highlight your different church groups, community outreach, or a message that communicates that all are welcome. Indoor church signs further support this message, such as a lobby sign that shares a welcome message at timed intervals—such as the beginning of each service or group.

Church Greeters

Church greeters play a vital role in welcoming new members. It can be intimidating going to a new church for the first time, and the larger your church—the more overwhelmed guests may feel. So, don’t just ask for volunteers to be greeters, but choose your greeters strategically. You are looking for someone who has a welcoming energy, wonderful smile, and excellent memory.

They also need to consistently come to the same service each week. This way, they will know who regular congregation members are, who they will also greet, and how to call them. You can also reinforce your greeters message with indoor church greeter signs. Change the message every week so people seek out your indoor church greeter signs for vital information for that week.

In terms of new members, they will keep their eye out for first-timers and ensure their questions are answered and that they know where to go. They will be a touchpoint for guests week after week as they learn their way around and decide if your church is the right fit for them.

Direct Welcome During The Service

Many churches are doing away with the tradition of inviting new members to stand to be welcomed as it feels like pressure. A lower pressure alternative is to welcome new members at some point during the service. Be sure to include how they can learn more about your church or who to contact if they would like to learn more. This can include filling out their contact information and placing it in with the collections, but also consider an optional new member meet and greet directly after the service. Ensure guests know where to go by highlighting the meeting spot on your indoor church greeter signs.

Add A New Members Area To Your Website

Also, consider adding a new members area to your website. This could be a simple page that answers your most frequently asked questions, highlights your church schedule—including clubs and service dates and times. Be sure to include a welcome message as well as your church mission, vision, and values. Finally, have a contact form or direct number for new members to call to learn more.

Follow-Up With New Members

We mentioned creating a meeting place for new members after each service and highlighting where to meet on your indoor church signs. However, you must also follow-up with all new members. The follow-up can be by an assigned member of the church or outreach by the pastor, preacher, rabbi, imam, or other church leader. Follow-up after online outreach should be rapid, and after a service should be within the next week.

If they have reached out via digital mediums, such as your Facebook page—you can have your church receptionist or social media manager provide a same-day response, and then direct them to the most appropriate person for further follow-up. If no contact information has been provided, have your greeter introduce them to a church leader, or invite them to another activity or event.

Single And Family Friendly

New members will be a mix of singles and families, so ensure you have welcoming options for both. This might be a singles group and off-site group activities, not necessarily for the goal of dating—but to help singles make new friends. With their younger congregation and single members in mind, many churches are increasing the number of non-secular group activities they facilitate. From going out to dinner to heading to a local art festival, concert, or other local events as part of a larger group.

To ensure your church is welcoming to families, offer childcare and youth activities during all scheduled events. Also, have a variety of age-appropriate child groups such as bible study, youth groups, and group extracurricular activities. Don’t forget scheduled activities for couples and single parents. Ensure you have an updated online calendar and dedicate at least one of your indoor church signs to the daily, weekly, or monthly schedule.

Want To Learn More About Indoor Church Signs?

If you would like to learn more about welcoming new members and communicating with your outdoor and indoor church signs, we invite you to reach out to Mega LED Technology today. Religious organizations are the largest industry we serve, so we can help you determine what types of signs are best for you. Click here for a free quote!