Some churches will go to great lengths to make visitors feel comfortable like renovating the children’s ministry wing or adding new ministry programs; but is that necessary?  Being friendly and welcoming doesn’t mean taking out a loan.  It might just mean moving through a paradigm shift and looking with fresh direction at your ministry.  Knowing what visitors look for as well as what they experience when they pull into your parking lot is a great place to begin.  Though some would argue a welcoming church begins well before the parking lot, for the purposes of our research, that’s where we’ll begin.

Read the entire article