Most good welcome to church speeches are going to share some common components. But they might need to be packaged or delivered differently based on the kind of event you’re greeting people for. Here are six things every good welcome to church speech should do:
INTRODUCE THE EVENT (AND YOURSELF)
Start by welcoming everyone to the event and introducing yourself. This can be as simple as “Welcome to Redeemer Lutheran Church. My name is Susan.”
SET EXPECTATIONS
This is just a brief explanation of what people can expect to happen at the event. This should be as simple as possible. You’re not breaking everything down at an atomic level, you’re just giving a quick synopsis.
GIVE IMPORTANT PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Let people know what they may need to know in order to enjoy themselves. This could include things like the location of restrooms, a reminder to turn down cell phones, or the location of refreshments.
ACKNOWLEDGE NEWCOMERS
Let visitors know that they’re welcome. It’s amazing how much tension is alleviated in visitors when they’re told, “We know there are some new people here.” This gives them permission to figure stuff out as they go.
You’ll also want to address any methods you use to capture their contact information. A simple, “If you’re new here today, we want to extend to you a special welcome. In the pew in front of you is a contact card, we’d love for you to fill it out and drop it in the offering basket so we can get to know you better.”
LET THEM KNOW WHAT’S NEXT
After you’ve welcomed everyone, your job is to smoothly transition to the next thing. That might mean that you’re encouraging them to welcome a speaker or releasing them to get food or refreshments. Whatever it is, make sure that you’re helping to facilitate the next steps.
DON’T FORGET TO PRAY
If the situation calls for it, you can also open in prayer. The same general rules apply to public prayers that apply to welcome speeches. Unless you have some experience under your belt, it’s better to over-prepare than it is to wing it.
Welcome to Church Speech Templates
Here are some templates for various welcome speeches that you can use for your next gathering. Feel free to use these as springboards to get your creative juices flowing!
Sunday Morning
WELCOME TO CHURCH SPEECH #1
Good morning! My name is [NAME] and I’d like to welcome you to [CHURCH NAME]. If this is your first time here, we’d like to thank you for coming and we hope that you’ll be comfortable. We look forward to spending the next [service time period i.e. hour] worshiping with you. You’ll find a contact card in [location], please fill that out—we’d love to get to know you better.
Please remember [include any pertinent information about childcare, cell phone usage, or whatever here].
Please join with me in prayer. [Insert prayer*]
As the worship team comes forward, join me in singing [song title].
WELCOME TO CHURCH SPEECH #2
Hi! My name is [name] and we’re really glad that you decided to join us this morning. If this is your first time at [church name], we want to let you know how excited we are that you’re here. I hope that our casual environment will help you feel comfortable. I also want to let you know that [include any pertinent information about childcare, cell phone usage, or whatever here]. Lastly, please take a moment and fill out the comment card that can be found [location]. We’d love to get to know a little bit more about you, and how we can serve or pray for you.
Let’s ask God to bless our time together. [Insert prayer*]
[Introduce next element]