Lane Palmer
Who am I?
Bad breath. I don't like it - in myself or anyone else for that matter. In fact, I'm pretty sure nobody likes it. Think about it, you can be having a really nice conversation with someone, then all of the sudden - whack! You're hit with a toxic blow that puts a major damper on the moment.
As a greeter, you are basically the "breath" of your youth group. You are the first impression and the person that visitors remember. You can have a cool facility, fun games, and amazing lessons, but if you as the greeter aren't excellent in your task, visitors leave with a poor impression.
Bottom line - visitors don't like youth groups with bad breath.
What am I like?
The greeter comes to youth group with a "seek and destroy" mission. You are like a laser-guided missile, seeking visitors and destroying their impression that youth group (and Christians) are unfriendly. The longer you wait to get to them, the bigger that negative impression becomes. You have to be obnoxiously friendly - not in a fake way, but in a genuine, Spirit-filled manner that helps a visitor feel welcomed.
What am I doing?
Breathmints are really hard to use, aren't they? You have to open the package, go to all the trouble of putting it in your mouth, and then let it dissolve. Actually, the directions are easy, it's what's inside the mint that counts (you know - like Certs with retsin). So here's the directions for you, Mr. or Ms. Mentos:
Reach Out
It's great to talk to friends, actually it's probably more comfortable. But as a greeter, you need to save that for another time and concentrate on your mission. When you walk in the door, take an instant mental note of everyone who is a visitor. Then, approach the visitor and introduce yourself, then ask their name. After initial introductions, you can attempt to carry on further conversations with your basic "get to know each other questions". For example:
What year are you in school?
Where do you go to school?
How long have you been coming?
Usually, visitors come with friends - but if they are alone, make sure that you introduce them to someone else who will be responsible for helping them feel welcome. DO NOT leave visitors by themselves.
Follow-up
The greeter also has the very key responsibility of following up with visitors and new converts. Immediate follow-up is extremely key. If a visitor isn't followed up within 24-48 hours, the chances of them returning go way down. As the greeter of the e-team, you need to design and implement a greeting/follow-up system that works with your youth ministry. For example, Visitor A comes to youth group, we'll call him John.
Before the meeting: you or one of your greeting team members strikes up a conversation with John within a FEW minutes of his/her arrival.
During the meeting: you make sure that if John is alone, then someone is sitting by him. You want the person sitting by John to be someone who will pay attention during the meeting, and not distract him.
After the meeting: get John's name/address etc. via a well-designed visitor card that you and your team have previously put together. If John trusted Christ at the meeting, make sure that you inform your youth pastor of his decision so that he/she can implement him into whatever discipleship programs are available.
1-2 days after the meeting: John receives a phone call thanking him for coming to the meeting. Also, ask John if he would like to be added to the mailing list to receive information about upcoming events.
One week after the meeting: John receives a personal visit from the greeting team with a gift.
John should be invited to every upcoming youth meeting for at least a month - however if he continually has a reason for not coming, then you may want to scale down the frequency of invitations.
If every visitor were followed up this effectively, imagine what momentum it would build in your youth ministry!
What else?
First
Not only are you the figurative breathmint of the youth group, you might make sure that you have a decent supply of real breathmints for yourself and the rest of the greeting team.
Second
Make sure that the people you recruit aren't using their position on the greeting team as a way to set up future dates.
Third
Set up a visitor table where visitors can go and get information about the youth ministry.
For a more detailed explanation of your goals and duties, check out the e-team wheel.
To summarize
You are the first impression (breathmint) of your youth group - make it count!
You are on a seek and destroy mission - seek out visitors and destroy their negative preconceptions.
You need to recruit and train other obnoxiously friendly people like yourself to help greet.
You need to design and implement an effective follow up system.