Ideas For Evangelism - Way of Life Literature

On the other hand, there are some church members whoshould be encouraged NOT to deal much with visitors,for the simple reason that they do not have good wisdomor they have abrasive personalities and they tend tocreate more problems than they solve, causingunnecessary offence, etc.!Visitor ConsciousnessMost church members are not very conscious of thevisitors. It is natural to get involved with one’s friendsand to be busy with various tasks and to forget tominister to visitors.My wife and I have visited many churches where we didnot feel very welcome. Oh, someone might shake yourhand and the pastor might say something to you, but thatis not enough to make a stranger want to come back.Even a “you are welcome here” greeting time during thesong service usually isn’t very welcoming, in myexperience. I have found that the large majority of churchmembers ignore the visitors and just reach out to theirfriends. In fact, many don’t even make the effort to movefrom their place in the pew! “I Shall Not Be Moved” istheir favorite hymn. Even as a visiting preacher, I haveoften felt lonely and ignored during such times.Shouldn’t those be times when the members specificallyseek out every visitor and make an effort to let themknow that they are loved and welcomed?A real visitor greeting time during the song service isperhaps a tiny beginning, but there is much more tomaking a visitor feel welcome than even the warmest,friendliest hand-shaking time.