about our hospitality ministry
The mission of CCV’s Hospitality Ministry is anticipating and responding to the needs of our guests within a warm and welcoming environment.
If you’ve ever walked into a place where everyone else seems to know each other and you’re the stranger, you know how important hospitality is. This is especially true in the church, where new people come looking for a community they can get meaningfully connected with. Warm and gracious hospitality really sets the stage for everything else they will experience in the worship service. It’s for that reason that our CCV Hospitality Ministry exists. We want our visitors to feel ‘at home’ with us, and to be completely at ease in our midst.
The Bible teaches clearly about the importance of Christians showing this kind of hospitality as a practical demonstration of God’s love and grace. As Peter puts it in 1 Peter 4:10, “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.” This verse implies that it should be our joy, not our burden, to constantly extend a warm and gracious welcome to those who visit with us. So hospitality is a vital part of being an “outward focused” community that is expecting to grow by integrating newcomers on a regular basis.
The impact of this ministry begins from the moment someone new drives into the parking lot of our ministry center. As they find a place to park and walk toward the entrance of our building, we want them to be greeted and introduced to one of our hospitality team members. And if it’s raining, this initial contact may even include an umbrella escort! We see this journey from the parking lot to the back door as our first chance to make a positive impression, and we want people to know right away that we are truly glad to have them worship with us.
Once inside the ministry center, the mission of our Hospitality Ministry continues with several other vital tasks. First and foremost, we want to give folks all the information they need to get oriented with us. As they’re greeted inside the doorway, we give out copies of our Sunday morning ‘Program’, which details the various parts of our Worship Service, and includes several other important announcements about what’s happening in the life of CCV. We also direct people to our “Welcome Station” in the Café, where they can find further information about the various ministry and growth opportunities that CCV has to offer. Finally, we let people know how to find their way around and get to the worship center, the restrooms, or the children’s ministry check-in area as needed. We also offer a ‘visitor’s gift bag’ for our first-time guests, and of course, we always offer quality refreshments, including high quality Paramount coffee (made here in Lansing) and free pastries from Panera Bread Co. All of this is simply our way of showing people: “We are really glad you’re here with us this morning!”
If your heart is to demonstrate hospitality to people and help them feel welcome, our Hospitality Team would love to get you involved in serving with them. Opportunities to serve include:
- Worship Center Greeters
- Exit Greeters
- Welcome Station Attendants
- Kitchen Attendants
- Visitor Gift Bag Assemblers
- Program Preparers
- Visitor Follow-up Callers
Most of these Hospitality Team roles involve serving immediately before or after our weekly Sunday worship gatherings, but some are available to volunteers throughout the week. As with most of our ministry teams, we generally ask for a one year commitment to serve in a given role, which can be renewed annually if you find that a certain role is a good fit for your abilities and your availability.
For more information about any of these opportunites to serve and make people feel at home with us, please contact us using the contact page on the website or call us at the church office.