Have a nice day. A few words of welcome before we begin our worship service. I appreciate everyone being here today. God has given us another glorious day, so let us celebrate his omnipotence by offering him our thanks and praise.
Understand the Occasion
Your welcome speech should reflect the event you are welcoming your guests to. For an average Sunday service, your tone should be upbeat and encouraging. But for a more somber occasion like a funeral, you may want to be a little more stoic.
You may need to give some practical information in your speech. If your service needs extra time or if you are serving food, you should include those details in your remarks. You should include a brief description of your service so your audience knows what to expect.
When in doubt about your welcome speech for church, look at these church quotes and speech ideas. See what tone the speakers strike and what welcome speech details they provide.
It is almost always appropriate to open with a prayer. If you’re suffering from writer’s block, consider leading the congregation in a prayer that reflects on the occasion in some way. You can also read an excerpt from the Bible or another religious document.
Give a Warm Greeting
Your welcome speech should always begin with an introduction of yourself. “My name is…” is all you need to say, though you can add other details. If you are a pastor or priest at another church, you should say that, so people don’t confuse you with other staffers.
After your introduction, you can transition into the body of your speech. A remark like, “I am so happy to welcome all of you,” is a good transition. It serves as a greeting to your audience and lets you move on.
Try to avoid using cliches like, “I welcome you on behalf of…” Many people have heard remarks like these, and they have lost their power. You should also avoid introducing someone else unless you are requested to do so.
While you are giving your greeting, put a smile on your face and raise the pitch of your voice slightly. You can gesture with an open palm, which signifies openness and hospitality.
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Welcome And Occasion Speeches For Church
You can also greet anyone coming onto the stage after you. Make sure to say their name and rank and give a brief summary of what they are about to say. Don’t ask for applause, as your audience will likely clap as they come up.
Create Emotions in Your Audience
Smiling and shifting your tone up is a good way to make your audience happy. You can also use creative diction and action verbs to inspire your audience and encourage them to listen to you.
Try to avoid using adverbs or adjectives, and instead find verbs with similar meanings. If you want to say, “We’ll get through that quickly,” you should say, “We’ll speed through that.”
Many people tell jokes to satisfy their audience, which can be risky. A joke can be inappropriate during a formal or somber occasion, and the joke may not land correctly.
If you are going to tell a joke, try doing a pun or wordplay. Never make a joke at someone else’s expense, unless you are being self-deprecating, but that can also be risky. Instead, try something like rhyming. It may not be funny, but it can catch your audience’s attention and connect two ideas together.
Be Brief
Welcome speech examples are rarely more than 150 words long. Your speech is not the time for an exegesis of the Bible or an introduction for a guest. Say what you need to say to start the occasion and then move on.
Consider writing out your speech word for word and seeing what details you can cut out. Besides adverbs and adjectives, you can cut out any details that the priest or pastor will say later.
Save church announcements and in-house business for another occasion. You can send out reminders about upcoming events in emails and text messages.
Accommodate First-Time Church Visitors
Words of welcome before worship should be appealing to first-time visitors to your church. Don’t say, “Welcome members of my church,” as a greeting. You can say something like, “Welcome brothers and sisters,” instead.
You can also say something like, “If you are visiting us for the first time today, we’re happy you are here.” Don’t point out first-time visitors in the audience because this can make them self-conscious. Feel free to give visitors directions to your welcome center or the bathrooms, especially if you have a large church.
You can say something to put your first-time visitors at ease. “We won’t ask you to stand up or participate during songs” can be comforting for some people.
Though you shouldn’t promote upcoming events, you can point out that you meet every week and the visitors are welcome to return to your next service. You can also mention a newcomers’ gathering.
Introduce Your Church
Your speech should serve as an introduction to your church as a whole, not just your service. You can include your church’s mission statement if it is one or two sentences long. If it’s longer than that, you can condense it into a brief description.
You can also mention any unique features of your church, like the year it was founded. Highlight only one detail in your speech so you don’t spend too much time talking about your church’s history. You can discuss any other relevant details in a sermon later in the program.
Accompany Your Speech with Visuals and Handouts
Visuals can underscore what you are talking about and entertain your audience. You can put a simple graphic behind you that welcomes guests to your church. You can find stock art online for free with welcome messages, or you can make your own.
If you have guests who may not hear you properly, you should have a transcription of your words on the screen. Make sure you select an appropriate font like Times New Roman that is easy for people to read.
You can also put flowers around the lectern or on stage. Try to find flowers associated with Christ that are reflective of your service. White lilies and orchids are extremely popular in churches because they signify purity and faith.
Another effective way to put guests at ease is to give them something. At a minimum, they should have a Bible and songbook so they can follow along with the service. You can also hand out bottles of water and snacks that they can consume during the occasion.
Church welcome materials can include church connection cards and fliers. You can leave them at the front of the room for first-time visitors to collect, or you can have someone hand them out.
Practice How to Give a Welcome Speech in Church
Practicing welcome speeches takes time. You should write a draft of your speech and then read it out loud to see if the sentences flow together. If anything seems choppy, you should rewrite your speech until everything feels fluid.
Once you have a workable draft, you should stand up and rehearse how you will gesture with your hands. You can look into the mirror while you do this so you can make the right facial expressions as well.
You can then make a recording of your speech. Listen for any stutters, mispronounced words or pauses. Take a note of when they occur during your speech, then rehearse those sections over again until they are perfect.
You don’t have to memorize your speech. But when you are not looking at notes, you should be making eye contact with your audience. Sweep across the room so you can look at everyone without focusing on a particular person.
You should run your speech by the person leading the service. You should also run it by anyone who is speaking later in the program. This will help you avoid repetitive details and let you make a proper introduction.
Welcome Speech for Church Examples
A few methods to capture your audience’s attentiveness are to acknowledge newcomers and include the core points of your speech in the introduction. You should also warmly invite the participants to connect with the church through prayer.
You must give a clear speech for your church program by identifying the reason why everyone is gathered.
Your welcome address for church program not only creates a connection with the congregation but also honors your guests by thanking them for serving you and the church.
Finding the perfect words of welcome before worship is a challenge for many. You want people to be inspired and welcomed, but how can you tell what will be effective? Unfortunately, there’s no crystal ball to see what will work, but you can borrow from others to get the inspiration you need.
Welcome Speech For Church Examples
If you are looking for some inspiration to craft a well-worded and elegant welcome address for a church program, then you must check out these examples!
General Welcome Speech Examples
- Sunday Services
Good morning and welcome to [CHURCH NAME]. We are so glad that you have chosen this place of worship to honor the Lord’s name with us.
If you are new to this church, we would like to thank you for worshiping with us and we warmly welcome you into [CHURCH NAME] as our brothers and our sisters.
Let us reflect on this day and give thanks to the Lord our God with the passage Psalm 100:4-5, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His court with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.”
- Church Speech
Good morning/ afternoon. It is so nice to see all that have gathered here today. Thank you for coming to our church to take part in the celebration of our Sunday mass.
We are so blessed for our short time together and thank God for uniting us as one. We give thanks to God for both our regular churchgoers and the visitors to [CHURCH NAME] today.
Each one of you is special to us and we want you to feel the love of Jesus as we worship together.
- Church Welcomes
Church Welcome Sample #1
Welcome to all as we celebrate the glory of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is my pleasure to welcome all the brothers and sisters of the church.
We want to thank everyone for taking time out of their days to give praise to the Lord for continuing to bless their lives day in and day out. Your sacrifices have allowed you to be fruitful and abundant.
We would also like to extend a warm welcome to any newcomers. The Lord brought you here as a stranger but will make sure that you leave as family.
Please join me as we pray.
Church Welcome Sample #2
Good morning and happy Sunday! Thank you for taking time out of your Sabbath to gather with me in the house of our Lord.
Today, I see many familiar faces of those whom I’ve grown to love and cherish. And, today, I thank the Lord, for I also see a few new faces of people who I can get the opportunity to meet.
Please look around the room with me and see how blessed we are to be gathered with all these beautiful people! Since God loves us all equally and desires for us to love one another, turn to your neighbor and offer him or her a peace offering.
Hello everyone and welcome. We would like to thank you on behalf of [CHURCH NAME] for coming out to celebrate with us.
- Welcome Address for Church Program
My name is [INSERT NAME] and I would like to welcome you on behalf of the church as we gather here today to honor our heavenly Father. We all embody the image and likeness of God, as we are his humble servants.
Let us take time to recognize the significance of Christ’s resurrection into the kingdom of Heaven. For God sacrificed his only son to save us.
We are overjoyed with love as we celebrate this holy Sunday. May our journeys be filled with happiness and gratitude. May we overcome every obstacle we may face and resist all temptation with the grace of God.
Thanks be to God.
- Welcome Speech for Church
Good morning. I would like to extend a few words of welcome before worship. Thank you all for gathering here for this occasion.
We have been blessed by God with another beautiful day, let us rejoice in his sovereignty and give thanks.
Let us quote from 1 Romans 6:4, “We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in the newness of life.”
We are all family here at [CHURCH NAME] and through the grace of God, let us join in communion and give thanks for the ability to worship.
- Church Anniversary Welcome
Hello, we are so happy that you have chosen to celebrate with us at our place of worship. This is a very exciting time for [CHURCH NAME] as we welcome another anniversary of our church program.
Let us take this precious moment to thank our heavenly Father for granting us yet another successful year. We are truly blessed by the Lord and with him by our side, we can do anything.
A hundred thanks to you, the people, because we would not have a church without its worshipers.
We have been righteously guided by our wonderful pastor to carry out the works of God.
May we continue to be blessed with abundance and opportunity in the years to come.
In God’s name, we pray.
Get more ideas for anniversary speeches here.
Welcome Speech for a Good Friday Service
Do you need a welcome speech for a Good Friday service?
For the day that commemorates Jesus dying on the cross for our sins, you cannot simply throw something together last minute. This welcome deserves thoughtful words and a stellar deliverance.
Read on for samples you can use or base your speech on!
Sample Words of Welcome
Hello and welcome! Today, we gather in the house of our father to celebrate Good Friday.
Many of you may know why we honor this day. But I can only hope that some of you came to this service because you’re ready to be saved! With you in mind, I will remind the congregation of what this day means!
Sample Explanation of Good Friday
On April third, AD 33, the Romans forced Jesus Crist to walk from his jail cell to Golgotha, carrying a cross on his back. Savages lined the path, mocking him as blood dripped down his face from a crown of thorns and the guards flogged at his back.
When he arrived, after hours of walking, the Romans stripped him naked, only to further his humiliation. They then hung the son of God upon a cross.
They nailed his hands and feet to the wood. Jesus took on great pain before life left his body.
Sample Reason for Why This Friday Is Good
This horrific account does not sound “good”. In fact, we can without a doubt name it a treacherous abomination.
So why do we call this day, “Good Friday”? How can we attach anything positive to the horrendous treatment of our Lord and Savior?
We call this Friday “good” because God allowed his one and only son to die for our sins! He let this manifestation of himself go through Hell on Earth so that we may be saved!
This makes today and every day of human existence good! Everything we filter through the grace of our God is always good!
Because of this sacrifice, the blood of the lamb washes away our sins. We sinners can still walk with the Lord when our time comes.
Sample for How We Can Give Back
How can we give back after such a sacrifice?
We can worship and give praise. We can do our best to walk with the Lord.
Though we will sin, we can try to be more like Jesus. Love thy neighbor and give all that you can.
Break bread with the poor so that they may eat too. Bring the lost to church so that they may find themselves in the savior.
Walk with Jesus in your heart. Be a leader in the church.
Sample Welcome Speech for a Good Friday Service Closing
Today is a day that the Lord has made! Remember his great sacrifice so that you may enjoy eternal life.
I come to you always forgiven by our God, but I too am a sinner. I ask that you bow your heads in prayer so together we may thank the Lord for making this day so good.
After we pray, let’s lift our voices up to Heaven in song. Let Jesus hear us rejoice for him.
Welcome Speeches for Women’s Ministry
Your event is ready to start, and the audience is watching you from their seats. This is your moment to shine and capture their attention with an engaging welcome speech for church.
Church Speeches For All Occasions
In this next section, we will help you come up with content to welcome your assembly with open arms.
Welcome speeches for the church are important whenever you have a large group gathered so you can focus on the reason why you are all together. It will also set the tone for the meeting.
Not only will we provide you with the best welcome speech for women’s ministry, but also some helpful suggestions and variations to keep your audience involved.
Here are a few wonderful speech examples to help get you inspired to deliver the best speech.
Welcome Speech for Women’s Ministry #1
Good morning and God bless us all as we gather here on this beautiful day. I would like to sincerely thank each one of you for your time and would like to welcome everyone to this joyous occasion for the women in the church.
As daughters and servants of the Lord, we have come together to celebrate the beauty that we hold as God’s children.
We have prayed for such a glorious event and are truly pleased with the turnout today. Let us thank our Father for giving us a chance to congregate in His name.
We are here to share in the love that he has blessed us with. Let us listen with love to the speakers who are ready to speak with us today and may they be guided by the Holy Spirit.
Thank you, and God bless.
Welcome Speech for Women’s Ministry #2
Good morning and welcome. If this is your first time at this church, it is great to have you with us.
It is lovely to see so many smiling faces filled with the Lord’s joy this morning. I am so excited to be worshiping with you today in this sacred place.
With the love of our mother, the Virgin Mary, we have been brought together to spread her good message.
Women are the mothers of the church and daughters of the Lord.
Thank you for your time today to gather and celebrate God’s good grace and get ready to hear the Word of God.
Let us pray over our speakers for the day and welcome them with open arms.
Thank you all for gathering here today, glory be to God.
Welcome Speech for Women’s Ministry #3
We welcome everyone here with a smile and fellowship, just as the rising sun greets us in the morning. May we give thanks for this special occasion today and honor our fellow sisters of God.
Today is such a special gift from God, as we have been allowed to gather and speak in His name.
We hope that the love and knowledge that you experience here today will guide you as you continue to walk in His path in the future.
Let us ask God to bless our time together.
Welcome Speech for a Church Convention
Church conventions set the tone for the year or years to come. That’s why it’s important to kick them off right. Here’s a sample welcome speech for a church convention for inspiration.
I welcome you in his Jesus name! We’ve been awaiting this moment for a long time, and we’d want to express our gratitude to God for allowing us to see it.
As we begin the day, I’d want to extend a warm greeting to each and every one of you who took the time to come to this one-of-a-kind and life-changing conference. For those of you who are here for the first time, let me give a sincere greeting to all of you.
Because of the Lord’s blessings, we have been able to get safely to this place after traveling for a long time and from a great distance. Feel the warmth of Jesus’ feet and know that God’s love is with us! Matthew 18:20 says “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.
1 Corinthians 5:4 says, “In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus!”
We should also express our gratitude to the Lord again for the precious gift of life as we start the day’s schedule.
All of our visitors, as well as the speakers, are here and will provide us with the word of God, which has come directly from the mouth of the Almighty God.
I’ll briefly sketch out some of our core values to give you a sense of who we are. Our mission is to bring individuals into a relationship with Jesus and to help them develop in that relationship.
So, first and foremost, our focus is on Christ. We firmly believe that Jesus was, in fact, the Son of God, sent to earth to atone for our sins through his death on the cross. In other words, if you’ve never been to a church before, we hope that you’ll learn to know Him as well as we have since He is the center of our lives.
We value every person who comes to our church. Please let me know if you ever feel like a number when you come through our doors, since we care about every single one of our members.
We care about you and your family as a congregation of God’s people, and we’re here to provide spiritual nourishment as well as practical assistance. It’s what we do since we like it so much!
While our primary goal is to build strong interpersonal relationships, we also want to deepen our spiritual connections with God. More than any collection of laws, Christianity is centered on a Person. That implies we’re here to have a relationship with Jesus, not just to follow rules and regulations.
In order for God to infuse us with knowledge of truth and wisdom before we go, let us all examine ourselves.
Thank you for taking the time to hear what I had to say, and may God continue to bless you throughout your time with us.
Sample Welcome Speeches for Church Events
When visitors walk into your church, how do you want them to feel? This will help determine whether or not they will come again.
During the service, help them feel comfortable and let them know that they belong. Research suggests that people revisit places again and again when they develop an emotional attachment.
A welcome speech for church invites newcomers, acknowledges loyal visitors and sets the tone for your service. Done well, it builds the bond that brings people back.
Read on for three samples that will make guests feel at home in your church.
- Sample Welcome Speech for Church Event
Hello and thank you for coming! Today is a wonderful day for working together so that we may build a new playground for our church!
Many families attend our church. Children are an equally important part of our community, and we want them to feel it.
Our old playground equipment was outdated and needed to come down due to safety issues. Today our bake sale will help make building a safe playground possible.
We need [AMOUNT OF MONEY]. This may sound like a lot of money, but when we work in unison, we synergize!
Remember in first Corinthians when God said, that the body is supported by ALL of us, and he speaks of the strength in unity. Together we make this possible!
Each and every one of you contributed something to his sale. Whether you gave your recipe, your skills, or your time, the thanks will all be heard in our children’s laughter for years to come!
- Sample Mass Baptism Speech
We are gathered here today to celebrate the cleansing of our fellow Christians. Some faces at this stage you may already know.
Others, you may have only seen in passing on Sunday mornings. Whether or not they seem familiar to you, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ knows them well and today he will enter into their hearts to remain.
On this glorious day, they all become your brothers and sisters in Christ! Today, their sins will wash away, and they will be redeemed just as you once did before our congregation!
Even Jesus of Nazareth faced this deciding moment. At Bethany Beyond the Jordan, John the Baptiste cleansed his human flesh as I will for those standing before you now.
Can I get an Amen!?