Grace Baptist Church Greeters

This afternoon at 6:30, between 15 and 20 of our people will meet to pray and learn more about the Greeters/Security Handbook approved unanimously by our church family on July 14, 2019. Everyone participating today will be asked to pray about and consider participating as a Volunteer Greeter in the ministry of our church. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A GREETER? Greeters serve in obedience to biblical direction:
 
“Blessed are those servants whom the master, when He comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat and will come and serve them. And if he should come in the second watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore, you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Mark 13:33-37)
 
Greeters are to be faithful in what the scripture says about being ready:

1. Watch – Greeters should serve with their eyes wide open. Greeters will be attentive to needs and ready to assist people attending our church. Greeters will observe and be ready to address problems as they are detected. Greeters will be proficient in the use of two-way radios by which they will communicate with each other about what they are observing during the services of the church.
2. Fellowship – Greeters will offer a sincere and warm welcome to people who attend every service. Handshaking, appropriate hugs, smiles and backslapping is required. The way Greeters welcome people to Grace will serve like the Master “…sitting down to eat with and serve” his servants (Mark 13:34).
3. Safety – Greeters will serve with and compliment the presence of an off-duty uniformed police officer of the Oakwood Police Department who will be on campus to ensure that our church is protected from potential disruption. The Greeters’ Purpose Statement says, “This manual will outline the measures to be taken to provide hospitality to members and guests attending services while reducing risks and providing a secure environment for our people.”
   

Five words define our safety concerns:
   Hospitality – Risk Reduction – Secure Environment.

Becoming a Greeter here at Grace is not a complicated thing. It is not about who carries and who does not. You do not have to carry a weapon to serve as a Greeter. But you will need to carry a two-way radio and be ready to talk on it. Think about it this way.
 
When you invite someone to come to your house for dinner or fellowship, what do you do?

• You cook a good meal that they will appreciate and enjoy.
• You meet them at the door and with a broad smile you invite them inside.
• If its cold, you take their coats.
• If it is warm, you say something about the weather.
• You look into their faces to see if they are happy, or sad.
• You ask them about their day or week.
• You talk about their kids, and how things are going at work.

 
In short, you pleasantly communicate and discover how you can make them feel at home in your house and how happy you are that they are there.

• You do not pat them down or make them feel uneasy.
  
• You do not ask them what they may have in the purse of in their back pocket.
  
• You do not look into their eyes to see what their motives are pure or what agenda they may want to sell.
  

Friends do not act toward friends the way suspects act toward other suspects.
 
A Greeter at Grace is simply a FRIEND who is ready and watching for the opportunity to make more FRIENDS.