The #2 Reason Guests Do Not Return to Church

The #2 Reason Guests Do Not Return to Church
“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers.” -Hebrews 13:2

 Last week I wrote about the #1 reason guests return to a church after their first visit. The most common reason guests return is not great preaching or wonderful worship music. The most common reason guests return is that someone at the church asked the guest to sit with them during worship. Simple hospitality makes all the difference in the world. In fact, simple hospitality can make an eternal difference in someone’s life.

This week, I want to share the #2 reason guests do not return to a church after their first visit. Thom Rainer, the pastor and Christian author who collected this data, calls this reason “holy huddles”.

What is a holy huddle? A holy huddle is a group of church members standing around and talking to one another before worship on Sunday. Now you may be wondering – what’s so bad about that? After all, isn’t it good to fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ? Absolutely! The Bible often encourages us to fellowship with other believers.

So what’s the problem? These holy huddles may appear warm and welcoming to us, but they don’t appear that way to visitors who are on the church campus for the first time. Have you ever walked into a room of strangers where everyone was huddled up in groups? Can you remember how awkward and intimidating it was to try and break into one of those groups? That’s how first-time guests feel when they walk into a sanctuary full of holy huddles.

Hebrews 13:2 encourages us to “show hospitality to strangers.” One of the best ways to show hospitality is to break out of our holy huddles and break the ice with the first-time guests coming into worship.

Will you join me in making guests a priority at CPC?

Your Pastor and Friend,
John Knox Foster