First Day of Class: Part Seven of Eleven

Everyone loves food, especially good snack food. One of the best ways churches can make visitors feel welcome is to provide some easy eats.

I can hear it now, "But someone will get the carpets in the sanctuary all dirty." Well, you can still require food and drink not be taken into the auditorium if you want. That's common enough in public places that no one will really mind the restriction.

Regardless, donuts and coffee are a great way to make guests feel comfortable. They're a common denominator among people. We all love to eat.

Put the food and drinks in your lobby or commons area. (Be sure to point the way with your signs.)Don't have a good spot? Create one. Maybe place a small table with a platter of fresh donut holes out for consumption. Sit a coffee pot and cups nearby.

I prefer them being in the lobby, because folks will filter into the auditorium for the service easier than they would if the munchies were in a commons area away from the auditorium. I was at a church that did this once. We put the donuts downstairs in the fellowship hall. Nothing was wrong with that until we realized that people kept hanging out with the food and not in the auditorium. Had to solve it by shutting down the kitchen a few minutes before service.

Be creative in your approach. Some areas may be more into granola or fruit. The munchies don't matter. The fellowship, the breaking down of barriers, the comfort of eating snack foods is very inviting and welcoming to your newcomers and your regular attenders, too.

Oh, and speaking of fellowship, this is the part of the plan that church leaders need to be diligent about. You need to keep folks from doing the holy huddle around their comfort foods, and instead go meet the visitors. That's the reason you're offering snack foods to begin with.