I highly recommend that you read a free article that Pastor Chris wrote originally for Net Results Magazine in the October 2007 issue entitled, Avoid First-Time Visitor Nightmares: Red Carpet Hospitality. You can sign up to receive the free article by going to EvangelismCoach.org, then select the blue, Get Your Free Article button in the top, right corner.
I don't want to spoil the article for you, but Pastor Chris makes the reader aware of the little things we may be doing within our churches that may turn visitors off. Sometimes, we become so comfortable with our church family that we fail to remember the needs of visitors.
While reading the article, I laughed with recognition when Pastor Chris wrote, "I've learned to avoid asking, 'Is this your first time here?' It may not be. I've embarrassed myself once too often by greeting a long time member who was back in town or someone who had visited while I was away." I've done this as well and now make a greater effort to do what Chris recommends, which is to introduce yourself and say, "I don't think I've met you yet."
I'm terrible with names, so I've also learned to put embarrassment aside and say, "Could you tell me your last name again please?"
While at EvangelismCoach.org, please look at the wealth of other info Pastor Chris has provided. He has material from InternetMinsitry.com and Internet Evangelism Day, on using the Internet to share your faith, which of interest to me given that I'm new to online evangelism.
Pastor Chris recently returned from a missions trip to Nicaragua and you can read about it at his other site, MissionToPanama.org.
Thanks for reading my blog!
If you have Christian resources you'd like to recommend, please contact me: Steve@BibleStudyCafe.com
Your brother in Christ,
