Monthly Archives: January 2026

10 signs you are wanted in that church

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When I wrote about “how churches show you are not welcome,” among the comments it generated was one asking me to do the reverse: ‘Tell us how churches show you are welcome.” Great idea.

So, I posed that question to my FB friends, and the comments began flying in.

Oddly enough, however, all the comments on how a church shows it wants you boil down to the same thing.

They give you a warm, personal welcome.

Nothing else is more important than this in communicating to first-timers that they are welcome in this place and wanted to return.

But, it’s how a church communicates that welcome which tells the story. Not all agree, of course. Some who overdo the friendliness will smother newcomers, while others trying to respect their privacy will leave the impression they are unwanted. It’s impossible to get it right every time with every visitor.

That said, we will posit our list here and encourage pastors and other leaders to prayerfully select what works best for them. Keep in mind, unless we do these things in the power of the Spirit and for the glory of the Lord, none of this will work.

1. They make everything clear in print, in sermon, and in announcements. (I Corinthians 14:8)

Without overlooking the regulars or boring to death those who come all the time, church leaders will make certain that theological language is explained, that meeting places are clearly spelled out, and that people being identified are adequately named. There will be no coded messages in print or from the pulpit. All are welcome in this place and no theological degrees or official endorsement from the “in” group will be required before visitors are made to feel at home.

2. The signage is clear and just right.

In the last church I pastored, the worship center is oddly shaped. Doors open into the building from every side. However, only half of them are “correct;” the others open into obscure hallways. Only after a visitor called our attention to this–“I don’t know which is the main entrance”–did we letter “entrance” over several doors. One or two members chafed at the way it messed up the decor, but guests appreciated the help.

The church has several parking lots and a small drive-through which enables motorists to drop off guests under a covered portico. Once, we sent a team to Dauphin Way Baptist Church in Mobile, a church that had been recommended as having “gotten their signage right.” They came back, made appropriate recommendations, and we made the needed signs.

Longtime church members do not need signs. First-timers are grateful for them.

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10 signs that you are not welcome in that church

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“You shall love (the stranger) as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Leviticus 19:34).

Now, in all fairness, most churches are eager to receive newcomers and want them to feel at home and even consider joining. And the worship bulletins reflect that.  They carry announcements of receptions to meet the pastors, the occasional luncheon for newcomers to learn about the church and get their questions answered, and free materials in the foyer.

No church willingly turns its nose up at newcomers, at least none that I know of. But that is the effect of some of the things we do.  Here is my list of ten ways churches signal newcomers they are not wanted.


1. You arrive to find the front door locked.

One church where I was to preach has a lovely front facade which borders on the sidewalk. The front doors are impressive and stately. So, after parking to the side of the building, I did what I always do: walked to the front and entered as a visitor would.

Except I didn’t go in.

The doors were locked. All of them.

After walking back around the side and entering from the parking lot, I approached an usher and asked about the locked door. “No one comes in from that entrance,” he said. “The parking lot is to the side.”

I said, “What about walk-ups? People from the neighborhood who come across the street.”

He said, “No one does that.”

He’s right. They stay away because the church has told them they’re not welcome.

One church I visited had plate glass doors where the interior of the lobby was clearly visible from the front steps. A table had been shoved against the doors to prevent anyone from entering that way. I did not ask why; I knew. The parking lot was in the rear. Regulars parked back there and entered through those doors.

That church, in a constant struggle for survival, is its own worst enemy. They might as well erect a sign in front of the church that reads, “First-timers unwelcome.”

2. They open the entrance late.

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Going to extremes: There’s danger in that

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One of the best ways to gauge your mental health is by what you do with the teachings of Scripture.

A few instances….

–Jesus said, “Do not worry about tomorrow” (Matthew 6:34). Bad mental health takes that to mean that long range plans, insurance programs, and concerns about the future of one’s loved ones is sinful. Good mental health keeps it in the perspective of the entire Bible’s teachings on the subject.

–Jesus said, “By their fruits you will know them” (Matthew 7:20). Bad mental health takes this as a license to inspect the lives and productivity of anyone claiming to follow Christ. Good mental health sees it in context, that one’s works will generally speaking tell the tale on who we really are.

–Jesus said, “As you have believed, so let it be done for you” (Matthew 8:13). Bad mental health interprets this (and similar scriptures) as carte blanche promises that we get what we believe God for, and if we are not getting, it’s because we are not believing strongly enough. Good mental health knows that there is far more to this issue than some isolated scriptures or instances of the Lord’s healing.

I call your attention to three texts in First Corinthians. 

All three verses lend themselves to misinterpretations and extreme over-reactions by people with either limited biblical understanding or poor mental health. Or both.

–Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble. (I Corinthians 8:13)

The person with either limited knowledge of God’s word or an untethered mind will read that if anyone criticizes us for anything, no matter how good or necessary it is, we should stop it. “After all, doesn’t the Bible say…(and he quotes this verse)?”

The believer of better Bible understanding and balanced mental health knows that people are always going to find fault with something you do. If the grand central truth in our lives were that whatever someone stumbles over has to go, then we would soon be existing as hermits in a cave somewhere.

Or we would be the worst neurotics on the planet.

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What a teenager does on his best day

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That year Junior Roman’s cotton was the best ever seen in that part of North Alabama. His twenty acres looked like a December snowfall in Wyoming. Had the bolls suddenly turned loose and dropped the cotton to the ground, it would have been knee deep. When a half bale to the acre was the rule for most farms, people drove for miles to gawk at Junior’s crop.

I had been looking for just such an opportunity. My pride as a farm boy was at stake, and here was the chance to redeem it.

It all stemmed from our high school classes in vocational agriculture. When we were not discussing the sex life of Herefords and Durocs and vicariously of sixteen-year-old males, we turned the class into a primitive macho testing ground where every one sought a territory over which he was the champion.

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