{"id":3072,"date":"2020-07-12T22:00:57","date_gmt":"2020-07-13T02:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thomrainer.wpengine.com?p=3072"},"modified":"2020-07-12T22:52:38","modified_gmt":"2020-07-13T02:52:38","slug":"fourteen-characteristics-genuinely-friendly-churches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/fourteen-characteristics-genuinely-friendly-churches\/","title":{"rendered":"Fifteen Characteristics of Genuinely Friendly Churches"},"content":{"rendered":"

As churches begin to regather for in-person services, some areas of guest friendliness will change, at least for the short-term. For example, for precautionary reasons we likely will not be giving guests physical gifts.<\/span><\/p>\n

As I have consulted with churches over the years<\/span>, I have assembled data on what I called GFCs, genuinely friendly churches. I set certain parameters for GFCs; then I attempted to measure the guest return rates for those churches. A guest return rate is simply the percentage of guests who will return to the church for at least a second visit.<\/p>\n

Here is the simple but profound difference I found in GFCs and all other churches: A genuinely friendly church has a guest return rate six times greater than other churches.<\/em><\/p>\n

Did you get that? If a church meets the guidelines to be a GFC, the probability of a guest returning is six times higher than all other churches! Sadly, only about one of twenty churches meets the criteria necessary to be a GFC.<\/p>\n

When I began as a consultant, I had 10 criteria, and the church had to meet at least eight of those criteria to be a GFC. I have since expanded the list to 15, and require churches to meet 12 of the 15 to be a GFC. Here are the 15 characteristics of genuinely friendly churches:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. They are intentional about being friendly. <\/strong>Warmth and friendliness are clear values of these churches. They are articulated regularly. All organizations, including churches, naturally drift toward an inward focus unless they are otherwise intentional.<\/li>\n
  2. The leaders model warmth, humility, and friendliness. <\/strong>The friendliness is not contrived or phony. These leaders have prayerfully become genuinely friendly men and women.<\/li>\n
  3. The leaders are clear that genuine friendliness is more than a brief stand and greet time in a worship service.<\/strong> The efficacy of a stand and greet time has been debated extensively in a previously published article<\/a>. Regardless of a church\u2019s decision in this practice, leaders in GFCs were adamant that true hospitality and friendliness extends beyond a two-minute welcome time.<\/li>\n
  4. GFCs utilize a secret guest at least twice a year. <\/strong>One small church of which I am aware budgets $100 a year for a secret guest. They pay the guest with a $50 gift card to come to the church and provide feedback on their experience. I call this process \u201clooking in the mirror\u201d because it gives the church a real opportunity to see itself as others do.<\/li>\n
  5. GFCs had a guest friendly website. <\/strong>The website typically set the tone for a guest. If it did not have obvious information for a guest, such as worship times and addresses, the guest came to the church with a more negative disposition.<\/li>\n
  6. The church has clear signage. <\/strong>Far too many churches lack this signage. They assume that everyone knows where everything is. First-time guests know nothing about the church or its different facilities.<\/li>\n
  7. GFCs have a well-organized greeters\u2019 ministry. <\/strong>They have greeters in the parking lot, greeters in the entrances, and greeters in other strategic locations inside. Many GFCs utilize newer members in this ministry.<\/li>\n
  8. These churches have clear information places. <\/strong>It may be something as simple as a well-marked table manned by a member of the church. The signage points clearly to the information table, booth, or kiosk.<\/li>\n
  9. GFCs have clean and neat buildings. <\/strong>It is amazing how much a clean facility adds to the positive mood of a guest. It is equally amazing how few churches pay attention to this issue.<\/li>\n
  10. They have a guest feedback process. <\/strong>To the best of their ability, GFCs follow up with guests to get feedback on their experiences. They also encourage the guests to be open and frank in the feedback.<\/li>\n
  11. The children\u2019s area is clearly safe and sanitary. <\/strong>Don\u2019t expect young parents to return if the church does not give clear attention to this matter.<\/li>\n
  12. The majority of church members in GFCs are involved in the community. <\/strong>They thus exude genuine friendliness in the worship services because they are regularly connecting with non-church members other days of the week.<\/li>\n
  13. Small groups are highly intentional about reaching people beyond their own groups. <\/strong>Thus when these group members are in a worship service, they are already accustomed to reaching out beyond those with whom they already have relationships.<\/li>\n
  14. GFCs have new member classes that emphasize the responsibilities and expectations of church members. <\/strong>Members are thus more apt to look beyond their own preferences to serve others. That attitude shows up in the worship services.<\/li>\n
  15. GFCs demonstrate an awareness of and sensitivity to COVID-19 concerns. <\/b>This issue will likely be around for a while.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Give your church an honest evaluation of these 1<\/span>5<\/span> items. See if you can give an emphatic \u201cyes\u201d to at least 12 of them. If not, what should your church change?<\/span><\/p>\n

    This post originally appeared in November 2014. It has been updated to reflect changes related to the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A genuinely friendly church has a guest return rate six times greater than other churches.","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2379,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"publish_to_discourse":"0","publish_post_category":"1","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":[1,179,175,186,176],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-answers","category-first-impressions","category-grow","category-health-and-metrics","category-revitalize"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFifteen Characteristics of Genuinely Friendly Churches<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A genuinely friendly church has a guest return rate six times greater than other churches.\" \/>\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\/fourteen-characteristics-genuinely-friendly-churches\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fifteen Characteristics of Genuinely Friendly Churches\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A genuinely friendly church has a guest return rate six times greater than other churches.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/fourteen-characteristics-genuinely-friendly-churches\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Church Answers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-07-13T02:00:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-07-13T02:52:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/large__9553921141.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Thom S. 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