by Stephanie Shin
Therefore, welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God (Romans 15:7).
Many members of Lighthouse may remember the first time that they attended the church. They might remember driving up to 10695 Treena St. only to see an office building where the church was supposed to be. They might remember the nervous scanning for the familiar face that had invited them to come, and the anxiety that’s common when in a new enivornment. That’s where the New Visitors Team steps in.
Stanley Park summed up the responsibilities of the NVT: “It covers a lot of ground. We cover everything from parking, to greeting at the front door, the nametags, to the New Visitors Orientation, all the way to the follow up.” The first wave of greeting starts with the people who direct traffic. When the newcomers walk through the doors of Lighthouse, they meet the members of the NVT team that pass out the bulletins; first timers are encouraged to fill out the guestbook for follow-up later on and and they also receive their nametags. Members have their own nametags that are neatly organized by affinity groups.
As part of the team that organizes the nametags in the morning, Grace Mao Wu encourages LBC, “We put them up there so people can identify you…they might not know your name! It’s for the new visitors!”
After service, newcomers are asked to walk past the double doors to the first door on the left to attend the New Visitors Orientation. So what exactly goes on behind that door? Grace Mao Wu says, “We follow up with them during the NVO and get to know them better. They get to hear the gospel presentation and the history of the church.” They also get to hear Lighthouse’s doctrine on baptism and membership as well as ministry opportunities for those eager to get plugged in. And the new visitors that stay for the whole orientation get a small gift at the end—pens with the LBC insignia.
Long after Sunday is over, our new visitors receive a follow up email or phone call from one of the members of the NVT to answer any questions. And once every two months, the NVT hosts a Meet & Greet for the more recent newcomers as a casual enivorntment to eat, talk and to get to know the pastors a little better.
All these tasks are carried out with a greater motivation in mind. “How we greet people is a testimony to how Christ changed us. We want to make sure they’re taken care of, that they’ve had a chance to hear the gospel. It’s greeting all the way to the gospel. That’s relationship building, so you can get to the deeper stuff,” says Stanley Park.