Miles of Smiles--the friendliest church in town

Miles of Smiles--from Group Publishing
One important ingredient for a friendly church is a genuine smile. It's not that we have to train people to smile; we simply need to place greeters where their smiles will shine. And watch the contagious nature of a smile after that!

• Greetings-"A smile brightens everyone's day. When someone smiles at you, it sets you at ease," Echols says. "Along with our overall church greeting team, we place children's ministry volunteers at our main entrances and the entrances to our children's ministry environments to greet kids and families as they enter the church."
  A long-standing guideline with our Group Workcamps foundation is the "10-foot rule." All volunteers and staff are trained that whenever someone comes within 10 feet of them to flash a genuine smile. The 10-foot rule could transform your church!
• Goodbyes-Ministries have usually perfected the first 10 minutes of friendliness. Church growth experts are finding, though, that the first 10 minutes may not be the most important. Dr. Charles Arn, president of Church Growth, Inc., says in an Off the Agenda blog interview: "We also asked the focus groups when they decided that the church was friendly or not. From the answers we got, there's a 10-minute window that's pregnant with opportunities for a church to make a good impression. And it wasn't the 10 minutes I expected…More than any other time, folks said, 'I decided this was a friendly church in the 10 minutes following the conclusion of the service.' Many feel that's the first time people are free to be themselves."
  How friendly is your ministry in the last 10 minutes when parents are frantically retrieving their children?
• Fun, Fun, Fun-The best way to put a smile on a child's face is to create a ministry that's enjoyable. Add humor. Play with kids. When kids go home and tell their parents what a great time they had, that'll put a smile on parents' faces too!