Here’s a challenge for you: a single word will change your mind-set on this topic.

When it comes to ChurchWorld, more often than not we have visitors.

It may be a little thing to you, just a word, but I think it’s actually a powerful first impression that needs to change.

Do you have Visitor parking? Visitor packets? A Visitor’s Center? Do you welcome your visitors during the worship experience? And on and on…

The first step in creating a WOW! Guest experience is to remove the word visitor from your vocabulary, never to be used again.

It’s a little thing to be sure. But it’s a mindset change that will really impact how you create the rest of the experience at your church.

On the first day of Christmas Guest Experiences, you Guest Experience peers give to you:

The 1 word that says it all: Guests.

You are expecting Guests this weekend.

Guests come to your place, looking for a warm greeting, a smiling face, and an experience designed to make them feel like, well, Guests. Nothing phony, manipulative, or in-your-face; just welcome them as guests with the most sincere, energizing, and loving experiences you can.

The Disney organization is known for creating a vocabulary designed to support a culture dedicated to Guest service. Other companies have followed Disney’s lead and adopted this term over the years, but they don’t always understand its meaning. When Walt Disney started using the word “Guest” to refer to Disney customers, he did so because he believed their customers were like guests in your home and should be treated as such. That practice is still followed throughout the Disney organization around the world.

Do you treat everyone who comes to your church like guests in your home? Do your team members understand why that’s important?

Can we agree to start with a simple change that conveys a powerful image, one that will be reflected through your church?

No more “visitors” – you have Guests!

Over the past several years, in conversations with hundreds of church leaders on the topic of Guest Experiences, that one word has been like a light bulb being turned on – it’s like “Wow – I get it!”

I hope you get it!

Tomorrow night, many churches will be offering Christmas Eve worship opportunities. Together with services last Sunday, these two time periods will comprise one of the largest attendances of your year. Many of the people who come are family and friends of your members and regular attenders…

Will they be your Guests?