Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
Romans 15 v 7
What is the team for?
Every Sunday people will be arriving at church, some for the very first time. There will be faces you’ve never seen before and some who have been around for decades. The welcome that these people receive sets the tone for their experience for the rest of the morning. A joyful greeting will lift spirits and open hearts for the time that all attendees spend with us. It is your role to ensure this happens.
But more than just an initial welcome, the team has a wider remit across the whole morning, as outlined below.
What will my role be on the team?
The Welcome Team is a role with responsibilities that cover the whole morning. It is not to offer a quick greeting on the door but rather to ensure that a welcoming atmosphere, of inclusion and a family experience, is felt by all throughout the morning. Within this, it is your role to make sure that new people or those who haven’t been coming for long feel particularly welcome.
You are responsible for greeting anyone who comes through the door. One member of the team should stay by or near the door, both before the service, for the first 15 minutes of it and afterwards. A second team member should be by or near the door into the hall, where they will remain for the service in a designated chair – to stop the door from slamming, to look after latecomers and provide other support as needed. They should take a headcount of adults and children and record this. After the service their role is as a ‘floater’ – see below.
The third person will be a ‘floater’. It is their job to ensure that anyone new or in need of drawing in is engaged, spoken to, and given any information they would need. They should also be introduced to others. The ‘floater’ should consider sitting by or near these people and continue looking after them when the service ends.
Of course, you can rotate positions with others on the team throughout the morning if you want to.
What do I need to consider when joining the team?
When you are on duty, you should be aware that the morning is not a time to catch up with your friends, but to serve visitors and guests. This is a reactive role not a passive one.
For example, if you see someone looking lost, or sitting alone, it is your job to engage them, or to ask someone else to go and speak to them. You might offer to get coffee for someone with mobility issues, introduce young people to the youth team, provide information about children’s work, etc.
You should also know what activities and events are upcoming that you can tell new people about.
Full training will be provided, with regular updates from the leadership team.
If you are interested in joining the team, please email Ben Martin or David Gibbons.