The Perfect Visit.

You drive into the parking lot with your family.

Someone in an orange vest waves “hello” and approaches you in your car to tell you where a parking spot is. It’s raining and he has an umbrella to give you?!

As all of you approach the building, you notice that there are several doors that you could enter into, but you’re not sure which one.

Thankfully a person is outside of the building waiting for you to tell you where to enter and even holds the door open for your family. He asks if he can have the umbrella and places it in a basket by the door.

After entering the door, you and your family begin walking down a hallway. All of the doors that you pass are clearly labeled so it’s no mystery what lies behind them.

At the end of the hallway you notice two greeters waiting for you to shake your hands, and genuinely and happily welcome you.

Someone else is in the hallway at the same time as your family, but a little further ahead of you. One of the greeters smiles and is ready to shake their hand. The greeter hands them a pamphlet, shakes their hand, talks to them for a moment, and then points to another room where the person begins to head.

Your family approaches the greeters while the person in front of you is closing up their interaction with one of the greeters. The other greeter walks to meet your family, has a big smile on her face and stretches out her hand to greet you and your husband. You both shake hands with her and she introduces herself, and then asks for your names. You and your husband give her your names and she repeats them in a sentence telling you how glad she is that you chose to visit.

She then bends down to your kids’ level and introduces herself to them, and asks them what their names are. Your kids are a little apprehensive but she keeps some distance from them and a smile on her face. They feel comfortable and give her their name.

The greeter confirms with you and your husband that this is your first time here, then hands you and your husband a visitor’s packet that contains a booklet explaining who they are and a visitor’s card to fill out.

She smiles at you and mentions the visitor’s card in the packet and tells you that they would like to know how they may connect with you. She tells you that if you feel comfortable, to fill it out and either place it in the collection basket as it passes in front of you or to give it to her or one of her team mates wearing a name tag as you are leaving.

She then hands you 4 certificates, one for each member of your family, that entitle you to a complimentary drink or snack at their café.

She points to where the café is and lets your family know that you can get something from the café and sit at one of the nice tables or comfortable couches until the event starts. She lets you know that there is free coffee each week and other drinks and snacks available each week for a low price to cover their cost.

She then lets you know that they have a quality kid’s program and nursery available for your children where they will be safe and have access to you if they need you, and that you can check them in at a table nearby that she points out.

She nods her head towards you and your family and says, “Have a nice time! I hope to see you guys again. Let anyone know if you have any questions or concerns.”

You walk over to the café and are greeted by several people as you approach it.

You wait in line for the café and the man behind the counter tells you that he will be with you in just a moment. As you approach the counter of the café’ he introduces himself and tells you that he is glad that you are here, then asks if he can help you decide what to order. You ask him what your kids might like and he shoots out several ideas.

A young lady helping him behind the counter says hello as she is walking back and forth making a drink. You decide what you want and the man prepares everything for you in a timely manner, while talking to you the entire time.

He asks if you have some complimentary drink and snack certificates and you inform him that you do.

He takes them from you, collects the money for the rest of your purchase and tells you that he hopes to see you again and to have a great time while you are here.

You and your family find a place to sit and eat. People sitting around you smile and nod at you to welcome you, and a young lady who is walking around the room cleaning tables and straightening things up walks over to you and asks if it is your first time here. When you confirm to her that it is, she tells you that you will love what goes on around here and to let her know if you have any questions.

Several other people walk by your table and introduce themselves. As you get up from your table, the young lady who was cleaning up tables earlier tells you not to worry about taking care of your trash because she will pick it up for you.

You begin to walk over to the Kid’s Check-In Table and the woman behind the table stands to introduce herself to your family. She takes special interest in your kids and tells them that they will have a great time with the other kids in the Kid’s Programs.

She walks you through the check in process, places a sticker on the back of your child, and hands you a card indicating that you are the parents of your children so you can safely pick them up after the event.

She tells you that you can walk them to their classes before the event begins to drop them off, and that you will be notified if they have a problem or want you.

You take your children to their classes and their teachers welcome them with energy and lead them to interact with other children before their class begins.

You and your husband feel confident that your children are safe, wave goodbye to them, and make your way to the auditorium.

As you approach the doors one of the two ushers readily greets you, shakes your hand, and helps you find a place to sit. He points out to you where the bathrooms are if you need to use them during the event and tells you to enjoy yourself.

Music begins and the lights dim.

You have just had a great experience and you have only been here for 15 minutes. You can’t wait to see what the actual event is like that you came here to be a part of in the first place.

During the middle of the event, a basket is passed in front of you and you drop in the Connection Card you filled out while you were drinking coffee in the back.

As the event closes, many people around you shake your hand and introduce themselves.

The ushers who are at the exit of the auditorium, shake your hand, let you know that they are so happy you came, and tell you that they hope to see you again.

You pick up your kids by handing your card over to their teacher. She tells you that they did great and your kids have huge smiles on their face as they exit.

The young lady who picked up your trash earlier sees that you are leaving and hurries over to ask how your experience was and tells you to have a great week, and that she hopes to see you again next week.

The man who was speaking in front of everyone at the event is walking around the café’ seating area and takes notice of you as well. He shakes your hands, introduces himself, asks for your names, hands you his business card, and tells you to contact him if you have in questions or comments about the event you just took part in. He tells you to have a great week, and says that he hopes to see you again soon.

Your family walks to the doors you entered in through. The man who opened the door for you when you came is still there to bid you farewell. He says,” Looks like the rain stopped and you won’t be needing this” as he points to the umbrella. He says goodbye and opens the door for your family as you exit.

You head to your car. The man in the orange vest who you saw when you first pulled in is in the parking lot. He asks if you need any help getting out and you inform him that you do not. He smiles, waves goodbye, tells you to have a great week, and says,” Hope to see you again next week!”

Your family all looks at each other when they get in the car, and you say to your husband,” That was a great experience!” And he says back,” I can’t believe that was church!”

Two days later, as you are walking to your front door from work, you notice a Ziploc bag full of fresh baked cookies, a hand-written note from the pastor telling you that he enjoyed having you there this past Sunday, and his business card.

As you are enjoying the cookies with your husband and kids, and checking your email, you notice an email from the pastor as well telling you that he enjoyed having you and to possibly expect a short phone call from someone in his hospitality team calling to ask you if you have any questions about their church or Christianity.

The next day after work, a woman from the church calls, tells your husband that they don’t want to bother him, but that they simply wanted to call and tell him how happy they were to have your family in church on Sunday and to know if you guys had any questions about the church.

Your husband thanks the woman, says he doesn’t have any questions, and tells her that they can expect to her back on Sunday.