{"id":1694,"date":"2015-04-07T22:15:30","date_gmt":"2015-04-07T22:15:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/journeyonleadership.brentwoodbaptistonline.com\/?p=1694"},"modified":"2015-04-07T22:15:30","modified_gmt":"2015-04-07T22:15:30","slug":"3-suggestions-to-make-sure-first-time-guests-have-an-excellent-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leadership.brentwoodbaptist.com\/adult-discipleship\/3-suggestions-to-make-sure-first-time-guests-have-an-excellent-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Suggestions to Make Sure First-Time Guests Have an Excellent Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"<address>by Susan Hill<\/address>\n<p>As most of you know, Easter is a busy time for first-time guests in the local church. The hope is that in the coming weeks these guests will return and connect in a LIFE Group. For some people, visiting new groups is difficult.\u00a0 As leaders, we want to be sure our first-time guests feel welcomed into biblical community. Creating a warm and welcoming environment in our LIFE Groups isn\u2019t difficult, but it does require intentionality.<br \/>\nHere are three suggestions to make sure your first-time guests have an excellent experience in your group:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Greet them as they come in the door.<\/strong><br \/>\nThis seems like a no-brainer and it really is, but you\u2019d be surprised how easy it is in larger groups for a guest to come in and remain unnoticed. Ideally, your group will have a greeter at the door and he or she will recognize new faces and introduce them to other group members. While most people don\u2019t like to be put on the spot and asked to introduce themselves to the class, all people do long to be acknowledged and spoken to.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Wear nametags.<\/strong><br \/>\nComing into a new group setting and not knowing everyone\u2019s names can be overwhelming. Wearing nametags makes it much easier for newcomers to get to know other group members. It also communicates that your group anticipates first-time guests. If your group doesn\u2019t have nametags, please let the Adult Ministry staff know, and we will be glad to have those made for you.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Follow up.<\/strong><br \/>\nAfter first-time guests attend your LIFE Group, it is ideal to follow up within 48 hours by email, text, or phone call. The goal is just to touch base and let the guests know you are glad they came to your group and invite them back. Following up with guests only takes a couple of minutes and has a significant impact on whether they will return or not.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>It\u2019s difficult to overestimate the significance of hospitality in LIFE Groups. There is no doubt that guests visit LIFE Groups with the hope of getting connected to an active community of believers. Extending great hospitality is a crucial part of this process. Let\u2019s do everything we can to make that happen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Susan Hill As most of you know, Easter is a busy time for first-time guests in the local church. The hope is that in the coming weeks these guests will return and connect in a LIFE Group. For some people, visiting new groups is difficult.\u00a0 As leaders, we want to be sure our first-time&#8230;","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,10,19],"tags":[136,173,187,222,406],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>3 Suggestions to Make Sure First-Time Guests Have an Excellent Experience - Adults<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/leadership.brentwoodbaptist.com\/adult-discipleship\/3-suggestions-to-make-sure-first-time-guests-have-an-excellent-experience\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"3 Suggestions to Make Sure First-Time Guests Have an Excellent Experience - Adults\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Susan Hill As most of you know, Easter is a busy time for first-time guests in the local church. The hope is that in the coming weeks these guests will return and connect in a LIFE Group. For some people, visiting new groups is difficult.\u00a0 As leaders, we want to be sure our first-time...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/leadership.brentwoodbaptist.com\/adult-discipleship\/3-suggestions-to-make-sure-first-time-guests-have-an-excellent-experience\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Adults\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-04-07T22:15:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"sbain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"sbain\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadership.brentwoodbaptist.com\/adult-discipleship\/3-suggestions-to-make-sure-first-time-guests-have-an-excellent-experience\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/leadership.brentwoodbaptist.com\/adult-discipleship\/3-suggestions-to-make-sure-first-time-guests-have-an-excellent-experience\/\",\"name\":\"3 Suggestions to Make Sure First-Time Guests Have an Excellent Experience - Adults\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadership.brentwoodbaptist.com\/adult-discipleship\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-04-07T22:15:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-04-07T22:15:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadership.brentwoodbaptist.com\/adult-discipleship\/#\/schema\/person\/f32b0615e264717b4c0b7d9e126e9f92\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadership.brentwoodbaptist.com\/adult-discipleship\/3-suggestions-to-make-sure-first-time-guests-have-an-excellent-experience\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/leadership.brentwoodbaptist.com\/adult-discipleship\/3-suggestions-to-make-sure-first-time-guests-have-an-excellent-experience\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadership.brentwoodbaptist.com\/adult-discipleship\/3-suggestions-to-make-sure-first-time-guests-have-an-excellent-experience\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/leadership.brentwoodbaptist.com\/adult-discipleship\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"F Leader\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/leadership.brentwoodbaptist.com\/adult-discipleship\/category\/f-leader\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"3 Suggestions to Make Sure First-Time Guests Have an Excellent Experience\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadership.brentwoodbaptist.com\/adult-discipleship\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/leadership.brentwoodbaptist.com\/adult-discipleship\/\",\"name\":\"Adults\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/leadership.brentwoodbaptist.com\/adult-discipleship\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadership.brentwoodbaptist.com\/adult-discipleship\/#\/schema\/person\/f32b0615e264717b4c0b7d9e126e9f92\",\"name\":\"sbain\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadership.brentwoodbaptist.com\/adult-discipleship\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/195ab55a2b8f64c82d3b7183759309d8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/195ab55a2b8f64c82d3b7183759309d8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"sbain\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/leadership.brentwoodbaptist.com\/adult-discipleship\/author\/sbain\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"3 Suggestions to Make Sure First-Time Guests Have an Excellent Experience - Adults","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/leadership.brentwoodbaptist.com\/adult-discipleship\/3-suggestions-to-make-sure-first-time-guests-have-an-excellent-experience\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"3 Suggestions to Make Sure First-Time Guests Have an Excellent Experience - Adults","og_description":"by Susan Hill As most of you know, Easter is a busy time for first-time guests in the local church. 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