What You Don’t Know…

…can hurt you

By Tom Rawlings

We’ve all heard the idiom “what you don’t know can’t hurt you.” But as pastors and church leaders, the opposite is often true. Sometimes it is what you don’t know that hurts you the most!

As church leaders, we would like to think that everyone has our passion for the lost, our heart for the lonely, and our sincere love for every person that God has sent to our churches. But quite often, our volunteers and even our staff don’t exhibit the same love, devotion, and dedication toward those who attend our services. At times, they may even hurt the cause of building God’s kingdom. Especially when we’re dealing with visitors. Oh, they don’t do it on purpose but it happens nonetheless.

Most of the time, we’re not even aware of what is going on. After all, we provide “training” and we expect that those who volunteer at the church will represent us in a manner that is worthy of our calling. And, let’s face it, we can’t be everywhere at once. We cant (and shouldn’t) do everything ourselves!

But too often, what we don’t know and what we don’t see is affecting our ability to accurately represent Christ. Let me provide an example.

John and Mary (not their real names) were searching for a church recently, They had moved away from the church they used to attend, and after being absent from church for a few years, they decided to look for a church in their area to attend. So one Sunday morning they packed up their 1 year old and drove to one of the churches in their area. Here is what they found:

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They arrived at the church just before the service began. They were greeted at the door by “greeters” and felt welcome from the moment they entered the building. They had no trouble locating the station where they were to check in their child to the nursery. After checking in their child, they were directed to the nursery. When they arrived at the door, here is what they found.

“One of the workers was just sitting there on their phone.” Mary said. “She wasn’t paying any attention to the children. She was just sitting there playing on her phone.”

She continued “The other person in the room was just standing there. There was no interaction with the children at all. They really acted like they didn’t want to be there.”

As most children will do when introduced to a new environment without Mom or Dad, her child began crying when Mary attempted to leave her in the nursery. Unsure of what to do, Mary offered to stay in the nursery with her.

“They said ‘ok. Maybe she will stop crying if you are here.'”

So on her first visit to a new church, Mary sat in the nursery the entire service with her baby. Her husband attended the service without her. Their first impression of the church was tainted by the nursery worker’s lack of enthusiasm or basic customer service or people skills.

The following week, they decided to try another church in their area. Here is what they found:

Just like the previous week, they were greeted at the door and felt very welcome. The check-in process was similar for their child. That is where the similarity ended. When they arrived at the nursery, the workers were actively engaged with the children. When her child began to cry, Mary again offered to remain in the nursery with her.

“Oh no” the nursery worker told her. “You go enjoy the service. Give me 10 minutes with her. If she continues to cry, I promise I’ll come get you. You’re here to participate in the service. You go attend the service. I’ll take care of her!”

Less than 10 minutes later, Mary received a text from the nursery worker. It read “From one new Mom to another, I didn’t want you to worry.” The text was accompanied by a picture of Mary’s child pushing a toy around the room.

Which church do you think John and Mary will attend again?

As church leaders, it is our responsibility to not only model love, but train it as well. I understand that we all have off days, but it’s true that you don’t get a second chance to make a good first impression!

Training our volunteers and staff on basic customer service will make a huge difference in whether guests will return to give your church a second chance.

If we truly believe that we hold the key to eternal life and joy through a relationship with Christ, we should do everything in our power to ensure that those who attend our church continue to attend.

Tom Rawlings is an author, coach, and consultant for pastors and church leaders. If, after reading this article, you would like training for your staff or volunteers, contact us! It doesn’t cost you anything to talk to us. We’ll be glad to help!

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