Thom Rainer's little book is a quick and easy read. But don't let it fool you. It is direct to the point that it might make some readers uncomfortable. That, perhaps, maybe the point. Rainer offers practical tips and suggestions for how to be a welcoming church by focusing on the guests, not on the members. In doing so, he challenges the reader to think differently about what it means to be a welcoming church. A great read, complete with "Points to Ponder," and additional resources.

Thom Rainer's books are always helpful and practical, and this one is no exception. This book is a thought-provoking read for any pastor or church member who wonders if his church is a welcoming place for visitors. It is full of examples of things that we overlook in our facilities or services that can give guests a reason not to return. I do think we must be cautious about our philosophy behind being welcoming. We should strive for excellence in all that we do because God is worthy. Also, we should be loving and welcoming to all who come, because God loves each person made in His image. This should motivate us to take many practical steps in order to make others feel welcome. However, we must also recognize that our churches do not exist to attract the unsaved. In fact, if someone doesn't want to be in church, he can always find a silly excuse to reject your church. That said, we should be excellent in our facilities and presentation while understanding that God must work in hearts if people's lives are to be changed.

I received a digital copy of this book for free from the publisher and was not required to write a positive review.

I great message for all churches! I highly recommend for all church members and leaders! It’s in the little things (as well as the big things) - church can feel intimidating and clicky. Dr Rainer explains some ways we can welcome visitors - from the parking lot to the sanctuary! A must read!

"Are you willing to set aside your preconceived notions about your church? Are you willing to look at your church more honestly and more clearly? Are you willing to do what it takes to be a welcoming, gospel-centered church?" These attention-grabbing questions would make the most stubborn church leader to squeak out a yes. After all, who wouldn't want to be more honest, more caring, and more welcoming to strangers?
For Thom Rainer, this is his 27th book in his career as a publicist, author, and believer in the strengthening of the Church at large. This book is spurred by his desire to help churches wake up to one of the most important tasks at hand: To welcome the stranger just like Jesus had done. He wants us to take a hard look at ourselves to do better than before. Hospitality is a key attribute of a welcoming church.

In "Becoming a Welcoming Church," Rainer helps us take a hard look at ourselves, beginning with a humble confession that most of our welcoming strategies are not working as intended. Some of the observations in the book ought to make any Church leader sit up and reflect on their own congregations. Wake-up calls such as:

Misconceived ideas about what friendliness means;
Unclear signage or non-existent website;
Unsafe and unclean premises;
Lack of information about the church;
Boring church services;
Judgmental members;
The stand-and-greet part of the worship service tends to be designed for the members rather than visitors!
Rainer then helps us focus on five key areas for improvement. Firstly, it is about a mindset change to think not from members' perspective but from the visitors' point of view. Just because we think we are friendly does not mean visitors will feel the same way. In fact, church members are often clueless about what guests are thinking. He goes right to the point even before the Church service begins. Will anyone chat with the visitors and offer a welcome? How do guests feel the moment they enter the Church? Will they be comfortable to come back? A key point is that guests should not be acknowledged just during the Church service. There ought to be consistency of welcome by all. Rainer also notes that in many churches, "holy huddles" are common. While members benefit from socializing with fellow members, visitors often do not have that advantage, which could easily discourage them from coming again. Other strange reasons (but legitimate) includes lighting, audio or visual problems during service; even becoming over-friendly. Thus, churches need to learn discernment as well not to overdo anything, no matter how good it is.

Secondly, Rainer takes us through the basics of "signs and sites." On signs, we need to look from the point of view of visitors. We need to make it as informative as possible and as clear as possible for people. Sunday School times and directions should be provided. Just because we are familiar or we feel our Church is easy to navigate does not mean visitors feel the same way. Even the front door is crucial. On websites, we should try to make it visitor-friendly, giving them as much relevant information as possible. Third, he takes a look at the safety and cleanliness aspect. He uses this to hone in on expectations; our church members' own expectations. If we don't expect new people to come, we would not bother about making our own church facilities look more welcoming. This is a powerful insight indeed. He even suggests letting insurance requirements guide us in designing a safer place for worship. Rather than to see their additional requirements on our church as a bane, use these guidelines as a boon to make our Churches safer. From decluttering to providing sufficient garbage bins; restroom cleanliness to paints; if we take pride in our own church building, it will translate into a pleasant atmosphere of welcome for our guests. Fourth, he zooms in on the greeters, the welcome center, and the welcoming church. While everyone ought to do their part in greeting newcomers, there is a place for persons trained or focused on basically greeting guests. A great tip offered is the strategic locations for greeting. Looking beyond the sanctuary and the refreshment room, he points out potential places such as the parking lot; the door entrances; the roaming greeter; and others. Having a welcome center is a must. Finally, Rainer gives us a strategy to become a welcoming church. This is a must-read portion for anyone desiring to make their churches more welcoming. For me, this chapter is worth the price of the book.

My Thoughts
In this day and age, we are faced with an unprecedented mountain of challenges with regard to making the Church welcoming. By default, society in general has become suspicious of anything linked to an institutional church. We cannot turn back the clocks on history. At least, we could stop it from getting worse and to begin sowing the seeds of welcome for anyone visiting our churches. Through this book, we are reminded about our blind spots, especially the one that presumes our churches are already friendly enough. Worse, we think erroneously that friendliness to one another is the same as being friendly to strangers. People do feel left out when church members are too busy with their own cliques. This applies also to fellow church members who don't bother to reach out to the quiet and introvert ones. Then there are body language that makes visitors feel unwelcome. The author helps us see other challenges that range from a poor public website to boring church services.

On top of that, there have been many negative experiences by visitors to churches in general. This book helps us do three things. First, it helps us do an honest self-examination and evaluation of our own churches. Second, it points out the many different ways to understand what a welcoming church ought to look like. Third, it shows us a way forward to build a welcoming church now. What we can do is to move forward with grace and hope, with willingness to turn the tide one person at a time beginning with ourselves. This is an excellent book for enabling churches to grow, one guest at a time.

As President and CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources, Rainer has published books about the leadership and health of the Church.

Rating: 4.75 stars of 5.

conrade
This book has been provided courtesy of B&H Publishing and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

Usually when I pick up a non-fiction book to read, it takes me a lot of time to read it. Becoming a Welcoming Church was a very quick read and had a lot of good information. Once I started reading it, I didn’t want to put it down. Thom Rainer does a great job of giving you helpful information and also sharing real life stories of what works and what doesn’t. I feel like this book makes me better equipped in knowing how to make my church more welcoming and how I personally can become a more welcoming person in my church. I ended up highlighting so much of the book. It is definitely one that I will go back to as a reference. I have already shared the book with many people and will continue to recommend it to others!

(I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author/publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)

What a tremendous book! Thom Rainer makes you think hard about how truly welcoming your church is to guests. It is so easy to think that your church is ready for visitors, but we rarely stop to look around on a given Sunday through the eyes of a first-time guest. From signage to greeters to website presentation, this book is a helpful guide for any church that wants to give a warm welcome to visitors that leaves them with a positive experience. Although it may seem like a stretch, Rainer is spot on when he says these issues are gospel issues. Sure, they aren't of first importance as Paul would put it, but the could distract or even deter someone from hearing the gospel message.

"Becoming a Welcoming Church" is a good book in the aspect of giving solid ideas on why churches fail to turn visitors into members, The only problem I had with the book was most of the information that was given seemed to be only a written form of several dialogues of Thom's podcasts. If you listen regularly to his podcast, the information and illustrations were commonly expressed in several recordings. This caused me to be greatly disappointed in the book. If I wasn't a listener to the podcasts I would have been highly receptive to the book, but I felt like I was just reading several old podcasts instead of fresh ideas. If you are not a listener to his podcast I recommend listening in to them than reading this book.