{"id":1121,"date":"2013-03-30T07:00:51","date_gmt":"2013-03-30T12:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thomrainer.wpengine.com?p=1121"},"modified":"2020-02-07T15:17:19","modified_gmt":"2020-02-07T21:17:19","slug":"ten-commandments-for-guest-friendly-church-members","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/ten-commandments-for-guest-friendly-church-members\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten Commandments for Guest-Friendly Church Members"},"content":{"rendered":"

I travel a lot and spend a lot of time in different churches. I have had a church consulting firm that did \u201cguest\u201d visits as part of our services. Sadly, many times I do not feel welcome as a guest when I visit churches.<\/p>\n

The Bible is replete with admonitions of hospitality and servanthood. I just wish our church members understood that the servant-like spirit should also be manifest when we gather to worship. Guests are often uncomfortable, if not intimated, when they visit a church. We are to be gracious and sacrificial servants to them.<\/p>\n

In response to this need for more guest-friendly church members, I have devised the ten greatest needs, at least from my perspective. I will reticently call them \u201ccommandments\u201d and throw in a little King James English for effect.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Thou shalt pray for people in the services whom you don\u2019t recognize<\/strong>. They are likely guests who feel uncomfortable and uncertain.<\/li>\n
  2. Thou shalt smile<\/strong>. You only have to do so for about an hour. Guests feel welcome when they see smiling people. You can resume your somber expressions when you get home.<\/li>\n
  3. Thou shalt not sit on the ends of the rows<\/strong>. Move to the middle so guests don\u2019t have to walk over you. You\u2019ll survive in your new precarious position.<\/li>\n
  4. Thou shalt not fill up the back rows first<\/strong>. Move to the front so guests don\u2019t have to walk in front of everyone if they get there late.<\/li>\n
  5. Thou shalt have ushers to help seat the guests<\/strong>. Ushers should have clearly-marked badges or shirts so that the guests know who can help them.<\/li>\n
  6. Thou shalt offer assistance to guests<\/strong>. If someone looks like they don\u2019t know where to go, then they probably don\u2019t know where to go. Get out of your comfort zone and ask them if you can help.<\/li>\n
  7. Thou shalt not gather too long in your holy huddles<\/strong>. Sure, it\u2019s okay to talk to fellow members; but don\u2019t stay there so long that you are not speaking to guests.<\/li>\n
  8. Thou shalt offer your seats to guests<\/strong>. I know that this move is a great sacrifice, but that family of four can\u2019t fit in the three vacant seats next to you. Give it a try. You might actually feel good about your efforts.<\/li>\n
  9. Thou shalt not save seats<\/strong>. I know you want to have room for all of your friends and family, but do you know how a guest feels when he or she sees the vacant seats next to you occupied by three hymnals, one Bible, two coats, and an umbrella? You might as well put a \u201cDo Not Trespass\u201d sign on the seats.<\/li>\n
  10. Thou shalt greet someone you don\u2019t know<\/strong>. Yes, it\u2019s risky. They may actually be members you don\u2019t know. And you may get caught in a 45-second conversation. You\u2019ll be okay; I promise.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    What do you think of these commandments? What would you add?
    \n<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n

    Pastor to Pastor is the Saturday blog series at ThomRainer.com. Pastors and staff, if we can help in any way, contact Steve Drake, our director of pastoral relations, at\u00a0<\/em>Steve.Drake@LifeWay.com<\/em><\/a>. We also welcome contacts from laypersons in churches asking questions about pastors, churches, or the pastor search process.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I travel a lot and spend a lot of time in different churches. I have had a church consulting firm that did \u201cguest\u201d visits as part of our services. Sadly, many times I do not feel welcome as a guest when I visit churches. The Bible is replete with admonitions of hospitality and servanthood. I…","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"publish_to_discourse":"","publish_post_category":"","wpdc_auto_publish_overridden":"","wpdc_topic_tags":"","wpdc_pin_topic":"","wpdc_pin_until":"","discourse_post_id":"","discourse_permalink":"","wpdc_publishing_response":"","wpdc_publishing_error":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,179,175],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-answers","category-first-impressions","category-grow"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTen Commandments for Guest-Friendly Church Members | Church Answers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/ten-commandments-for-guest-friendly-church-members\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ten Commandments for Guest-Friendly Church Members | Church Answers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I travel a lot and spend a lot of time in different churches. 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