2018 GUIDE TO THE

WELCOME

Set The Tone

The welcome is one of the most critical elements in our Sunday services.  It is a personal time when someone from our church welcomes people, mostly guests, to the service.  At the Orchard, we don’t have “visitors,” we only have “guests!”

Our welcome time really sets the tone for guests, giving them a personal heads-up on what to expect, how to respond, and what to do next.

A typical welcome should last 1-3 minutes, and contain the following elements:

Introduction & Welcome
Service Elements & Response
Digital engagement
Vision Moment
Group welcome & Fist Bump

The person chosen to welcome on any given Sunday should be a good representation of Christ, and of The Orchard Church.  They should dress appropriately, have high energy, be clear and articulate, and not appear to be nervous or unprepared.

We never do this as an afterthought, but as a very intentional and strategic way to make people feel welcome and comfortable, and to help spur them on to the next step in their walk with Christ, and with the Church.

Intro & Welcome

We always identify newcomers as “guests,” not “visitors.” For example, you might say:

My name is Steve and I am the Pastor here at The Orchard Church. I am so glad to see you this morning, especially those of you who are our guests this morning. It’s going to be a great day.

Service Elements & Response

This is where we give them a personal heads-up on what they can expect during this hour.

Let me tell you what’s going to happen during this hour. We will worship God through singing together, there will be a little video here and there, and then we’re going to dig into God’s Word. Our pastor is in the middle of a series, exploring the things inside us that bubble up to the surface and threaten to destroy us. Pastor Steve is going to talk about how to kill the Supervolcano in our lives.

Near the end of the service, we will all have a chance to respond together. The BEST way for you to do that this morning is to use your response card, which in in the seat back in front of you. In fact, go ahead and grab that card right now and begin filling it out, so that you’re ready when those baskets come around to collect those.

Digital Engagement

We don’t want people to only engage in the room on Sundays, but to deepen their engagement using our digital resources:

1st Sunday: The Bible App
(sermon series begins)

2nd Sunday: Facebook check in

3rd Sunday: theorchard.life

4th Sunday: Facebook check in

5th Sunday: theorchard.life

Vision Moment

There must be a REASON this church is worth being a part of! What makes our church distinctive? This could be a story, an e-mail, or a highlight of our mission statement. You could highlight an outreach event that just happened, or a way that we were able to serve the community. You could pass along a comment that you heard. It’s is an opportunity to remind people why The Orchard Church is here. If this element is included, you can leave off the fourth element. Here are some examples of something you might say:

This week, I got an email from a lady in our church who was so excited that her husband was finally excited about going to church. She said she used to beg him to go to church, but now, he wakes up early to help set up. We love hearing stories like that because we try hard to create an environment where people will enjoy Sunday morning.

OR

We just spent the last eight weeks on this campus feeding hungry kids to bridge the gap between school years when they don’t normally get to eat every day. I’m so glad that our church is concerned about making the Gospel relevant to our community by providing lunches for children and their families. It really is great to be part of such a group.

OR

This church is here for one reason, and that’s to lead people from where they are to where God wants them to be. One thing I know about a crowd this size is that there are people from all different walks of life. There are people here today who are far away from God and something or someone drew you here today. Our prayer is that you would take a step towards Jesus this morning.

OR

Today, we are finishing up a series called Christmas Hype or Hope, which is all about rediscovering the hope that Christmas brings. In fact, that is why the baptistry is set up here today... We believe in going public with our walk with Christ. This is important for all of us as believers, so I hope you’ll be tuned in to what God’s Word says to us today.

group welcome & fist bump

This really is a great group… We like to fist-bump, rather than handshake. (because, cooties.)

Here is a sample welcome

Good morning everyone. My name is Steve and I’m the lead pastor here at The Orchard Church. For those of you who are guests today, I want you to welcome you. Thank you so much for giving us a try. Make yourselves at home, feel comfortable and enjoy the service. I’d love to invite you to take the connection card that we gave you when you came in. Sometime during the service, fill that out. Just give us as much information as you feel comfortable sharing. If you have any prayer request or comments, let us know. Drop that card in the offering basket at the end of the service.

The Orchard Church began in April of 2009, not because this town needed another church, but because we wanted to create a place where people would be open to God speaking the truth of his love and grace into their lives... We like to use the phrase “making the Gospel relevant to our community.”

This last week, I got an email from a lady who reluctantly agreed to come to church with her friend. “Just this once,” she told her friend. She told me that she was blown away by the friendliness of the people and the non-judgmental attitude of the church. So to everyone of you who is inviting and bringing people to church…thank you!

There’s so many new people here today and I know some of you are looking for ways to connect. You want to meet people and get more involved. Out in the lobby, you’ll find the information desk. This is THE place that you can get information on the church, find out about Life Groups, ask questions about Jesus or baptism, and anything else you may need.

So, to get us started, let’s all just stand up together, find someone you don’t know, and introduce yourself.