Becoming a Welcoming Church By Thom S. Rainer

Daniel Ligon

Thom Rainer's books are always helpful and practical, and this one is no exception. This book is a thought-provoking read for any pastor or church member who wonders if his church is a welcoming place for visitors. It is full of examples of things that we overlook in our facilities or services that can give guests a reason not to return. I do think we must be cautious about our philosophy behind being welcoming. We should strive for excellence in all that we do because God is worthy. Also, we should be loving and welcoming to all who come, because God loves each person made in His image. This should motivate us to take many practical steps in order to make others feel welcome. However, we must also recognize that our churches do not exist to attract the unsaved. In fact, if someone doesn't want to be in church, he can always find a silly excuse to reject your church. That said, we should be excellent in our facilities and presentation while understanding that God must work in hearts if people's lives are to be changed.

I received a digital copy of this book for free from the publisher and was not required to write a positive review.

Jordan Gottsponer

Stirring albeit redundant, Becoming a Welcoming Church clearly and concisely conveys the act of intentionally engaging with church guests, although it occasionally struggles to present more than obvious problems and solutions.

Erendira

Many churches are unwelcoming. It’s a myth to perceive that all churches are friendly when indeed they are not. By unwelcoming, I don’t mean that a church keeps their doors shut, or that people are mean and unfriendly. The members of a church may be friendly—but to each other, not to outsiders.

There is little to argue here. We can all recall moments when we’ve felt uncomfortable, uninvited, or even outcast from a certain group or place, a community or congregation. We can blame it on almost anything—personalities, timing, priorities, environment, or other. But truth be told, there really is no justifiable excuse. It is something that we may have witnessed as a church member, or we may have experienced personally, or we may have done ourselves—unwelcomed someone at church. Bestselling author Thom S. Rainer has done the fact-finding mission of getting to the heart of why people who visit a church do not return, coupled by why churches are not as hospitable as the Bible says we ought to be.

Rainer has a game plan for church hospitality, a guided framework to actively change the perception churches have gained of being inhospitable. His newest book, Becoming a Welcoming Church, is a useful tool for churches to assess and audit where they are on a spectrum between welcoming and wanting. The title, Becoming a Welcoming Church, sounds like a church play-book, but it’s really an admonishment and a rebuke. This book isn’t a manual to provide you with helpful, hands-on strategies for planning, developing, and executing ministries of the local church. This isn’t a curriculum to learn the biblical functions of the local church. This book might as well be titled The Church Isn’t Hospitable, So Let’s Do Something About It.

Rainer describes the outcomes of his consultations with churches. He is quick to note that as members, we are quick to get tunnel vision that we end up suffering from myopia. We don’t see what we have, until an outsider, a newcomer, a guest sees what we don’t.

Becoming a Welcoming Church, is for those willing to face reality, to look in the mirror and do the hard work of becoming a hospitable, gospel-centered church. To quote the Apostle Paul: “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.” (Romans 12:10-13)

Certainly, we have a mandate to be kind and to give of ourselves to others. Rainer sheds light on our preconceived notions about our churches and challenges us to look more deeply than the “same, tame, and lame church life represented by too many churches.”

WHAT IS THIS BOOK ABOUT?

The book addresses three areas of improvement. Rainer has worked with many churches on site, via phone and email, helping them get to an understanding of where their faulty thinking is, what their perceived ideas of hospitality are, and how to make a difference. Each chapter addresses layers of hospitality that are overlooked, that are missed while doing church together. He offers a perspective, again, that comes from the outside, looking in—a guest, if you will. He unravels the uncomfortable truth about systemic habits practiced by churches and what he has learned from his role as a visitor to a given church. For example, we journey with Kathy and Jim through their experience on a visit to a church. This church had all the window dressing down—the website, online registration for the children’s programs, the signage, and location for guest parking. All is fine, except for one critical moment for the visit: Rainer finds that the time between sitting at the auditorium and the start of the service is the most urgent because this is when no interaction between visitor and guest takes place (p.20).

The vital time between finding where to sit upon arrival and the start of service in the church auditorium is where most visitors find themselves isolated. Rainer dispels the myth of the welcoming church by listing the top ten responses from first-time church guests who had negative experiences (but he also lists the top ten responses derived from a positive experience). He surveyed these first-timers and found that the stand and greet time was unfriendly and awkward; church members were unfriendly; areas on site were unsafe and unclean; signage was poor; there was insider church language; the church website was poor; and more.

To be fair, the good: someone asked the guest to sit with her; signage was clear; the stand and greet time was absent (yes, absent); the members weren’t pushy; the guest card was easy to complete; the children’s areas were secure and sanitary.

Therefore, a church audit is necessary, especially for churches which don’t see a frequency of guests or don’t see them return. Guests are known to be watchful and vigilant; they are surveyors of the landscape and have a pulse on the activity, the communication, and the motion in a church the moment they arrive.

WHAT DOES WELCOMING LOOK LIKE?

Some people are naturally bubbly. They have a real grasp of people’s comfort levels and extend a smile, a kind word, a welcoming touch. They radiate openness and embrace newcomers with genuine gratitude at seeing them present in their midst. They aren’t curmudgeons who look like they’ve sucked on a lemon, who disregard anyone in their path, who wear a frown that puts off even a slight gaze. Instead, they show interest in you, your presence, and your decision to keep company with them while you visit. Remember how the children flocked to Jesus? It wasn’t because he was a sour-face killjoy—what child would be drawn to that! It was because Jesus exemplified grace, mercy, love. Hospitality. He welcomed the least of these. He was no respecter of persons. Why then are we, as a church?

Hospitality is contagious, and its byproduct is kindness rooted in the love of Christ.

I once had a Pastor’s wife who was always joyful. She radiated when she walked into a room. She offered kind words to everyone she spoke to and looked you in the eyes, stopping what she was doing to face-t0-face and offer you her full attention. You were recognized.

Rainer says that guests are often overlooked, and that is true. I’ve seen it. I’ve also been guilty of it myself. Like Christ, we can stop what we’re doing, where we’re going, and take time to meet with people, to see their face and to say in other words, I’m glad you’re here.

Some churches, I’ve learned, see guests as a commodity because retention is a tenet of their mission as a church. They labor to get people in their doors and once they have them there, they don’t want to let go. My family visited a church one time. Days later, we had three separate visits from church ministry leaders to our home. They answered some of our questions, they welcomed us again and made themselves available. Their hospitality won us over.

The purpose of this book is to give church members an awareness about how guests may feel upon visiting a church for the first time. In the past, it has felt like you’re an intruder at a party. Everyone knows each other, they’re carrying on, and you’re left out, sitting there taking up space and it wouldn’t make a difference if you’re there or not.

WHAT DOES RAINER OVERLOOK?

There are churches that do not fit the ubiquitous model of doing church. Family-integrated churches seem to have been missing here, or they were not overtly signaled in any of the pages of Becoming a Welcoming Church,. These churches don’t have children’s programs as does the modern church, which becomes a significant deal-breaker for families looking for a church with children’s programs. These churches typically have a Sunday school hour dedicated to studying the catechism, a morning service of preaching from God’s word, a lunch fellowship potluck where all are present, and an afternoon service to top the day. They are Christ-centered first, and family-centric second and they don’t segregate by age, life stage, or other because they tend to practice Titus 2 and Deuteronomy 6 as closely as possible. I don’t think God’s flock can get more welcoming than that. Were there any of these churches under audit?

Rainer clearly addresses in no uncertain terms that a children’s ministry is indeed a liability. He addresses the matter of safety and children: “Hear me clearly. The protection of our children is more than an issue of guest friendliness; it is absolutely necessary.” (p.56)

Some of Rainer’s conclusions that result from his assessments run directly in conflict with what those seeking a family-integrated church would desire: a church who doesn’t emphasize a drive or zeal for ministry and performance, but a church that centers around the gospel first, that feeds its flock with the word of God, and that doesn’t lose its footing in programs, ministry, and pastoral delegation. We know that pastors who off-load their God-given responsibilities to other staff also run the risk of becoming an unwelcoming church, no matter how many amenities it may have to offer visitors.

WHAT DO WE NEED IN A CHURCH?

Becoming a Welcoming Church, is fascinated with the perceptions visitors of a church have about first-time visits. Upon leaving a church after a first-time visit, visitors have two choices: to return, or not to return.

Rainer prioritizes the influence of Millenials and how they represent the largest generation in American history. He states: “Over 78 million younger adults could be in our churches, but fewer than one out of five actually do attend church. But our research indicates a growing receptivity to the gospel and church. The Millenials are hardly antagonistic. They may be apathetic about our congregations and our message, but most of them are not resistant.”

Buried in the density of a reality so bleak (young people are not going to church) is the hopeful 1 in 5 (those who do attend church). It’s a stretch to conclude though that maybe the other 4 are not attending church because they don’t feel welcomed by it initially to even consider returning. I would lean more on the fact that in this generation, there are more strongholds in the culture that pull them away from congregating anywhere at all.

Keesa

The book felt very short. On the one hand, it feels like....You couldn't think of more to say on the topic? Because I can. But on the other hand, I am grateful that it isn't padded with fluff. I've read some books last year that felt like they were originally SEO optimized blog posts, and in order to expand them into books, the author just came up with twenty slightly different ways to say the same thing! This book, scant as it was, thankfully did not do that. The author said what he wanted to say and moved on to the next point, and I appreciate that. (Also, I didn't pay very much for the book, so I don't feel like I wasted money. It was definitely worth the 2 or 3 dollars I paid for it. Maybe not worth more, but definitely worth what I paid for it.

Which brings us to the worth of the actual book. As a North American book written for North American churches, there was a lot that didn't apply to us. We don't have a parking lot, for example, so no need for parking lot signs or greeters, and there's only one way in or out of our church, which makes the pep talk on manning multiple exits unnecessary. But I don't hold it against the book.

What was useful to me were the suggestions to
1.Sit with visitors
2. Be friendly, but not too friendly.
3. Have information about the church clearly visible.
4. Have a clean and safe environment. This last one is pretty much impossible at the moment because we're still on the process of construction....we are doing our best, but it is still very obviously a work in progress.

All in all, a pretty good book with some fairly helpful tips, worth the 2 or 3 dollars I paid for it.

Jimmy Reagan

Thom Rainer has become the guru of all things local church. This book, another of the small, attractive, hardback volumes published by B&H Publishing that he has turned out over the last few years, teaches us how to become a welcoming church. It’s not so much a book of suggestions as one of necessity because all of its recommendations are drawn from real data from church visitors.

Rainer explains that visitors often don’t rate our friendliness, facilities, or services in the way we do. Our friendliness is often in “holy huddles” that excludes visitors, our facilities are laid out nicely only because we’ve had years to get used to it, and our services are not as geared to visitors as we have allowed ourselves to believe.

Chapter 1 chips away our determined belief that we are welcoming and asks us to be willing to do a true evaluation. He warns us that we may be in for quite a shock. In this chapter, he explains what consistently bothers visitors (hint: it has nothing to do with doctrine or gospel faithfulness) and what makes for happy visitors. As I read over these lists, I marveled that there was no spiritual element, just practical things that we could work on. Chapter 2 goes on and give us what he calls a confidential report where he digs deeper into how our churches are viewed by visitors. Chapter 3 looks at the practical items of signage, parking, and websites. Chapter 4 describes how visitors expect a safe and clean church and what is most important on that list. Chapter 5 explains greeters and welcome centers while Chapter 6 is a concluding chapter. There is an appendix with a church facility audit and secret guest survey.

If you are familiar with Rainer’s work, this book is classic Rainer. I happen to be blessed to be a pastor of a friendly church yet see several things on these pages that we need to shore up. This book is a practical, top-notch work and I highly recommend it!

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Andrew Canavan

Quick, helpful, and encouraging guide to making your church a welcoming and hospitable place for guests in the service of the gospel. Rainer gives key areas to consider (websites, greeters, signs, etc.) that often fall by the wayside yet, based on survey research and common sense, are very important to a visitor's experience. The gist of the book is "what can a church do to communicate that it expects and welcomes guests?" Any pastor, elder, or church leader would benefit from reading this short book.

CJ Bowen

A quick and worthwhile read. Rainer gives a good overview of some basic but easy to overlook aspects of church life, and wisdom on how to take simple steps to maintain an outward focus. What matters to a minister or a member might be very different than what matters to a guest, at least initially, and Rainer makes the case that a better awareness of this reality often makes the difference in whether or not a visitor returns.

Stephen Bedard

This is an important book for churches. Visitors will forgive bad preaching and off key worship music. They won't forgive a church that is not welcoming. And welcoming doesn't come by accident. We need to be intentional and this book will give you the tools to get there.

David Pugh

I don't know if the book was just timely (as I have just taken a new church as pastor) or it was really just that insightful, but I absolutely needed this book. There was nothing earth shattering or "new", but the information was put in such a simple and practical format that I realized in every chapter things that needed to change in our church. I am excited about implementing some changes and being more people/gospel focused with our guest. I definitely recommend this book, and will be reading it again in the future.

Kathryn

Meh. It was ok, some good things to think about! But also a few things were overemphasized/encouraged that I just think make a church feel more “staged” then like a real place, at least in my context. Could be a great book for a larger church potentially?

Joshua Loftin

This book is extremely helpful for staff members of a church to evaluate their first impressions team! There are plenty of practically ideas and tools to take from this book that can be applied to churches!

Adam Callis

Every church member should read this. Full of great stories and lots practical advice. Rainer's books always leave me feeling energized.

Joshua Sparkman

Solid, practical tips for making sure your church is welcoming to visitors. Rainer does a nice job of connecting the practical nature of his suggestions to biblical principles of hospitality and the Great Commission.

Joy leister

4 stars might be on the generous side. It’s not a bad book, but it easily could have been simplified into a one page list.

That said, his points are valid, and I’d love to see these questions being asked more regularly by church members who are looking for ways to be more guest friendly.

Erica Watson

I think this book was fine. It was a short and easy read. The good takeaways are solid reminders to:
-Steward the building God has given you
-Be willing to think about your church from an outsiders perspective
-Be hospitable
-Being hospitable can create opportunities for gospel proclamation

The author made it a major point that the tips and pointers he was giving out were not merely methodologies. However sometimes it really felt method driven simply because of lack of explaining why to do something. Most of the explanations for why to do something was “it’s just that important”. I would have appreciated more explanation for why something is important, and more scriptural breakdown of why being hospitable is commanded in the Bible. The author does use scripture to back up his claims in the beginning and towards the end of the book, but I would have thought this book was better if he had pointed us to the cross and how God welcomes us into his family and why that should point us to be welcoming to others. Just saying “it’s really that important” and “being welcoming is being obedient to the great commission” with no explanation or support as to why isn’t super helpful.

This book was more about reminding you to keep the lobby clean, keeping information about your church up to date, and telling you to label the areas of your church so that it’s easier to navigate. All of those things are good things, but I think this books focuses more on appearance and logistics than how members should interact with new people. Don’t get me wrong— the author touches on it here and there by criticizing church members only talking to people they know and like. But we also must train people how to leave their holy huddles, why it’s important to welcome new people to their church, and how to abandon their fear of man, put on fear of God, and be willing to talk to someone new.

Johnny

You never get a second chance to make a first impression. That is something that I have personally reminded my first impressions team at the church that I pastor. That statement and more like it were reinforced to me in Thom S. Rainer’s book Becoming a Welcoming Church, published by B&H.
In this book Rainer challenges us to think through whether or not we are as welcoming as we think that we truly are. When we take an honest look into the mirror, we find that when we think that we are friendly and welcoming, we are really focused on ourselves and not outsiders. It is so easy to get complacent and therefore lacking in this area.
This short book by Rainer encourages you to look at your church from the eyes of an outsider. Discussions about signs, websites, safety, cleanliness, greeters, and welcome centers are vital. They are short but concise. He touches so many areas of the church in so little time. What I like about this book is that this is something that I can hand to my leaders and be assured that they will read it.
Each chapter has a list of discussion questions that could help you or a small group think deeper about your own situation. I found the questions to be very helpful. There is also a church facility audit in the back of the book as well as a secret guest survey that one might give to someone that you have attend a Sunday at your church to see how you are doing.
This is a very helpful book and there is a companion book entitled We Want You Here that can actually be presented to first time guests of your church.
Yes, I do recommend this book to you and your guest services team. I plan to share it with mine.
I received a copy of this book for an honest review.

Alan Rennê

Algumas boas dicas de ordem prática, mas claramente escrito da perspectiva de um consultor de igrejas.

Virginia Garrett

If you regularly attend church, and it's habitually the same church, chances are you find your fellowship to be well, friendly and welcoming.

It's probably a church you felt instantly at home in when you walked in the door for the first time, ergo, you are a welcoming and friendly church.

If you're in leadership at your church, have you noticed that many who visit your church never return? Are you convinced the problem is elsewhere? Maybe you blame it on the GenZers. Or think everyone is vacating the church in droves. Maybe you think it's because you're not fancy enough, or you don't have enough programs. You might think you're not big enough, fancy enough, innovative enough.

But could it be that you're just not friendly enough?

Now before you scoff at me and call a million fifty poxes on my head, listen. Maybe you're not. It isn't programs that hold people. It's not fancy stages and shows, it's not lights and sound. It's not a killer youth group or children's programs. (Killer...that might not have been the best word to use there.)

The first thing people are looking for when they come to a church for the first time is Jesus. That might be overly simplistic, but think about it. They want Jesus or they wouldn't be there.

They also are looking for a place to belong, a place they feel loved, accepted, wanted, enjoyed, needed. They want people to genuinely express eagerness to see them and a deep appreciation they are there. They want to be noticed, to be seen.

But when we stand around in holy huddles, chatting with the other regular attenders no one is noticing the visitor. Often no one greets them. No one wants to acknowledge they are there.

Maybe your church is large and has multiple services. And maybe like me, you've been embarrassed by greeting someone as a visitor when they've been attending for months or even years. (This could even happen if you don't have multiple services. Don't ask me how I know this, let's just say I'm smart, okay?)

But what if it isn't all of that? What if you're not quite as friendly and welcoming as you could be?

In Thom Rainer's newest book, Becoming a Welcoming Church, he talks about this issue. This little volume (just 5.5" x 7.5" and only 100 pages) speaks into the friendliness issues confronting our churches and offers some practical tips for repairing first impressions.

He touches on everything from websites (and most are so sadly lacking even the rudimentary information needed) to children's programs to the meet & greet time. If you'd like to gain a fresh perspective on your church and lead it to become, again, a friendly, welcoming place to worship, please read this book.

It is available from amazon.com, B&H Publishers, or you could simply order it through your local Christian bookstore.

I received a free copy of this book from Lifeway.com and B&H Publishers for the purpose of review. I did not have to post a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Joseph Henry Kester

At just 100 pages, Becoming a Welcoming Church by Thom S. Rainer is a lean, practical primer on Sunday-morning hospitality basics.

Becoming a Welcoming Church centers on two directives for the reader:

1. Even if you feel welcome at your church, do not assume that everyone else does.
2. Invest time and energy in learning what your church's guests think of your church.

"By the way, when we interviewed members of this church, they consistently proclaimed a similar message: Our church is very friendly! And their church is friendly--as long as you know people. As long as your are on the inside. As long as you are not a guest" (p. 7).

"Here is the essence of what I found: we church members are often clueless about what our guests are thinking and experiencing. We think we know because we know how we feel and think. But the perspectives of church members and guests are often vastly different" (p. 18).

From these two directives, Rainer gives suggestions on several practical hospitality details that his experience consulting churches has revealed to be deal-breakers for most first-time visitors.

As a member of a small church, some of what Rainer suggests does not apply to my context. In general, though, these are good things to be reminded of. To his credit, Rainer does not dwell too long on simple points but keeps the conversation moving throughout the short book.

There are times, though, when Rainer would have done well to take a little more time to clarify just what he means. For example:

"In other words, if you aren't focusing resources and time on your church website, you are thumbing your nose at the Great Commission. And that's not an overstatement. A church with a lousy website is committing the sin of Great Commission negligence" (p. 43).

This is a strong statement. Maybe a little too strong, Rainer's caveat notwithstanding. Throughout the book, Rainer insists that hospitality is a "gospel issue," and the reader can't be blamed for wondering what exactly he means by that.

(By the way, some clarification for the above quote comes on page 98 of 100, when Rainer says, "Before I conclude this book, let's be clear on a major issue. The welcoming church is not merely a church that waits for the world to arrive at the physical address of the congregation. I do not want to leave you with the impression that the Great Commission is about waiting for people to come to us.")

Overall, this is a concise, well-written and engaging book that challenges the reader to take seriously the environment we are (often unconsciously) creating for our guests on Sunday mornings. I recommend this book for young and old churches alike.

In Rainer's words:

"The welcoming church is more of an attitude or disposition. It represents the mind-set of an outward focus rather than an inward focus. It is about serving rather than being served" (p. 98).

Jim B

This is a quick read as an audio book. I even speeded up to 1.5x and could follow it well.

I'm not a fan of self-help books; my mind always goes to the exceptions to the rules they lay out. This book tended to be focused on the middle class suburban church goers. I've been at a suburban church. I attend an urban church in a poor neighborhood. We have a full range of member types from white college educated to blue color to strong church going blacks to families (of both races) in poverty and crisis. On the one extreme I've always pushed for printed information I can share with people who read to get information, but at the other extreme I'm conscious that nothing is read except the people.

That said, almost none of the advice in this book is off the mark. The point is that people want to feel welcome. And Thom Rainer's surveys show that even those of us who feel our church is friendly and caring are frequently not welcoming to visitors. We are friendly to fellow members. We are blind to lack of signage or the difficulties of our building. This book made me realize with a panic a recent change in our building that was a huge improvement in so many ways has made access to our church difficult because it closed off the only visible driveway from the main street. I picked up so many other practical insights. Even the author admitted that he was blind-sided that so many people do not return to a church with poor lighting or sound (and are reluctant to admit that is the reason).

The book serves a very valuable purpose in opening our eyes to the unintentional ways we make visitors feel unwelcome. What the book doesn't address is the core problem that leads to this: a lack of love and compassion for all people, including church members. That suburban church I attended was skilled at visitor welcome. But during the 15 years I attended there I heard from many new members that after they joined they became invisible because they were no longer the focus of attention. They struggled for the next year or two to fit in and find friends. Caring for all the people at church leads in a different direction. Obviously I can't interact with more than a dozen people on Sunday morning. No one but the pastor talks to everyone, and even he can't afford to have a heart to heart with someone when there are crowds surging toward him. But compassion for all people gives you a radar for the hurting and lonely, the alienated and the frustrated. These people should not go home unacknowledged or unheard. The same with the newcomer. I was taught that it was God's house, not my church, and I'm there as a member of the family to make everyone feel at home. That was a helpful instruction, and a book like this gave me a lot of insight on how to improve at that effort.

John

Thom Rainer wants your church to be welcoming, not just as a growth strategy (although it is that), but more importantly, because we are commanded to be hospitable. At the beginning of the book, Rainer reminds us that one of the attributes of an elder is to be hospitable (Titus 1:7-8). And near the end of the book, Rainer tells us that the heart of hospitality is found in Philippians 2:3, where we are told: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves.”
Everyone wants their church to be welcoming. Most people believe their church is welcoming. But many churches are not very welcoming. Rainer says, “Churches perceive they are a friendly church because the members are friendly to one another. But they don’t think about walking in the shoes of first-time guests.”
Rainer’s short book is packed with practical ways to evaluate how welcoming your church is. The front door of any church now is its website. Is your website built for a visitor?
Your church’s on-site welcome begins in the parking lot. “[Y]our church is missing a prime opportunity to make a great first impression without parking lot greeters. But fewer than ten percent of the churches I consulted had them or even considered them.” Once parked, churches should consider placing greeters outside of the entrances. “Greeters should be in their positions before the firsts guests arrive. And they should stay late because as many as half of guests will arrive late.”
Churches should consider the worship center greeter who greets guests who are already seated.
Churches shouldn’t overlook signage: “Good church signage is a statement about your church’s hospitality. It means you are expecting guests; and it means you desire for guests to come to your church.”
Once in the service, it’s easy to create a church experience that is built around those who are most at home in your church already. Rainer tells us that many of our traditions need to be revisited from the eyes of a visitor. For instance, “Nine out of ten guests do not like the stand-and-greet time in church services!”
Rainer’s Becoming a Welcoming Church is a perfect handbook for any pastor, church leader, or welcome team member who wants to take practical steps to become more hospitable. May our churches grow in their welcoming heart!

Christopher Hughes

From my blog at cdoylehughes.com
Thom Rainer, the former president of Lifeway and head of Rainer on Leadership, has written quite of few of these little church-help books. They are little, and I would say that they tend to be helpful. While I have read a few of the others (Who Moved my Pulpit, Autopsy of a Deceased Church, and I am a Church Member), Becoming a Welcoming Church is the first book review I have done of his work.

That being said. . . Thom Rainer has become the church guru as it were. Like his other books, Welcoming Church is filled with anecdotes, surveys, and helpful tips and is written in such a way to be accessible to anyone, from a 10 year-old to a 100 year-old. Much of what he has written is taken from personal experience as a pastor or as a church consultant. While there is not a lot of expounding upon Scripture, it does aptly apply Scripture for becoming a welcoming (hospitable – Bible word) church. As Rainer himself wrote, “This book is for those church members who really want to see their churches make a difference,” (p. 4).

On a personal note, being a 1689 LBC guy, I would say he puts a tad too much emphasis on what man can produce. However, I also understand where he is coming from. While I do not recall if he ever quoted 1 Corinthians 9:22 (“I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some, [ESV]), that was the verse that kept me from rolling my eyes. Rainer sees everything as a gospel issue from the welcoming station to signage to the nursery. “If [guests] don’t have clarity on how to get to your church buildings, and how to find areas once they arrive, they may not return. They may miss an opportunity to hear the gospel. You get the picture. It’s just that important,” (p. 36). He makes a good point as to its importance. If a person is coming to church for the first time, or has been unchurched for the last 20 years, he/she could get frustrated and never return. In fact, a true story similar to that is in the book.

Coming in at 100 pages, with plenty of white space, this book is an easy read. Published by Broadman & Holman, it contains only 6 chapters, averaging then 16 pages per chapter. There is also a church facility audit and a secret guest survey in the appendices. It’s suggest price is $12.99, but Amazon has it now for $10.76 with prime shipping and Christian Book Distributors has it for an amazing $5.99 ($5 for 10 or more). That being said, I would absolutely recommend this book to every member, especially of a smaller church. As the back of the book says, “Most church members don’t see their churches clearly.”

Anthony Stephens

I have really appreciated the books that Thom Rainer has put out. It is easy to see that he has a big heart for the local church and helping it out as much as possible. Becoming a Welcoming Church is similar in many ways to recent books that Rainer has written in the recent past. It is not an overbearing read. This small book is only 6 chapters written over 100 pages. I was able to read the entire book in two sittings. The content is straight to the point and does not use pointless filler material to bulk up pages. The reader will like the fact that when they read this book, it will not take any more time than needed to get the point across.

The best part of Becoming a Welcoming Church - in my opinion - is the appendices in the back of the book. These two tools will be very helpful to a local church to honestly evaluate where they stand in the category of being welcoming to outsiders. The first tool is a "church facility audit" that walks a person through their facilities and website with fresh eyes.

The second tool is a "secret guest survey." I have been looking for this resource for a little while. It is a survey that you ask someone who visits your church for the first time to fill out. The questions are intended to show how everything appears to outsiders. I believe that this is a great tool that will help the church keep fresh eyes looking at what and how it does ministry.

Hannah McCarthy

This book provides many suggestions, or rather imperatives, for being a welcoming church. Much of the book is anecdotal, drawing large conclusions from personal experiences. While the book contains some very important ideas it does not give sufficient time to the question, “Why should we be compelled to be a welcoming church?” It does not bring the reader to the foot of the cross. It does not spend a sufficient amount of time explaining that our desire to be welcoming should stem from our desire to share the gospel and draw nearer to the throne of God ourselves. Without these underlying truths, it seems to me that this book could have accomplished the same effect by simply being presented as one page list of suggestions.

Here are Rainer’s main suggestions:

-Clear and informative website
-Sufficient outdoor signage
-Clean church building and grounds
-Clearly marked ‘welcome center’
-Clear signage throughout the building
-Children’s spaces are secure and sanitary
-Guest parking is visible
-Greet guests upon arrival
-Interact with guests in the welcome area and sanctuary
-Forgo the ‘passing of the peace’ because it makes people feel awkward
-Have physical information about the church available
-Give guests a gift

It’s a quick read with some good points but lacks depth. Additionally, the chosen writing style did not appeal to me.

Rachel

“Therein lies the problem with most churches. Churches perceive they are a friendly church because the members are friendly to one another. But they don’t think about walking in the shoes of first-time guests. They don’t look at their facilities, their parking, their website, or their friendliness from a guest perspective.”

“Good church signage is a statement of your church’s hospitality. It means you are expecting guests; and it means you desire for guests to come to your church.”

Most church members don't see their churches clearly. In almost all of Thom S. Rainer's consultations, church members perceive their church to be friendly. But as he surveyed guests, he found that the guests typically saw church members as unfriendly. The perception chasm existed because the members were indeed friendly . . . to one another. The guests felt like they crashed a private party. Rainer guides readers toward a practical framework for making a difference for those who visit their church.

A very short, very practical little guide that delivers a wake up call to churches who think that they are welcoming. This was a great read that has helped me set a trajectory for how to shape hospitality ministry at my church and to figure out what next steps for a new individual in our community are.

Chris Wilson

Another, why I'm surprised at this point, stellar offering from Dr. Rainer. It's imperative that church staff and leadership never lose sight of how the church and worship service are viewed through the eyes of the guests. I really enjoyed that Rainer emphasizes that we can't be dismissive of these things (signage, lighting, parking, website, etc.) because they aren't primary to the gospel. Rather they are to be viewed and treated as those things which provide avenues for people to hear the gospel at our church and become Christ followers. On the other hand for those who are already believers there is the strong need to communicate and welcome them so that they would have a chance to connect with your church as members and use their gifts to help advance the gospel.

I plan on having my staff read this book over the next month and then do a full review of actual welcomeness versus perceived welcomeness in our church. We are young, just over a year old, and small at just around 20-25 people on a Sunday but the advice is to valuable and the stakes to high to push change, if needed, off to a later date.

Tyler Brown

This is a good and short book about the work of welcome teams in churches in our US context. The main point was clear and true: part of our great commission work is to welcome guests into our churches. Guests have the best experience when we, as church leaders, proactively think about them. Rainer offers many good questions, tools, habits, and practices to help us think carefully about the guest experience.

A few minor issues I had were surrounding gift giving to entice (bribe?) new people to return. I wanted some acknowledgement of the principle that “what we win them with is what we win them to.” He had similar thoughts about how important it is to have treats and coffee in our welcome center and how “appalled” guests can be when we don’t have these things. In my context, I wonder if some of our church consumerism issues are downstream from these practices and approaches to “getting butts in seats” because maybe they’ll hear the gospel and it’ll be worth it?

Chris

Every single Christian Church should have one of these books in their office and review the contents regularly.

I loved this book. It was simple, very short, and clearly the fruit of years of experience. Thom Rainer makes a very compelling argument against all the ways that we unintentionally tell our visitors "You're not welcome here" and gives a collection of practical steps to become a welcoming and hospitable Church; key focus is on signage, greeters, cleanliness, parking lot, and especially website.

The most important part in my mind is his clear focus on hospitality being a result of our missionary focus. To be welcoming is to be an outward-focused church rather than inward-focused. To be welcoming is to know why you exist: to reach those who God desires to be in right relationship with, and to remove any obstacle to the reception of the Gospel.

Title	:	Becoming a Welcoming Church
Author	:	Thom S. Rainer
Rating	:
ISBN	:	1462765459
ISBN-10	:	9781462765454
Format Type	:	Hardcover
Number of Pages	:	101
Publication	:	First published January 1, 2018

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