Summer is upon us, and with summer comes outdoor events. The weather warms up, the sun comes out, and the church goes outdoors! All of a sudden, church is taking place outside of the 4 walls of your building.

On an average Sunday, when a visitor enters the front doors of your church, you want them to receive a friendly smile, a greeting, and clear direction on where to go and what to do next. The last thing you want is for visitors to feel intimidated or lost when they enter your building. Why should it be any different for outdoor events?

The Welcome Center is a place for visitors to land when they arrive to your Sunday service, special service, or outdoor event. Shaded from the sun by a colorful canopy and manned by friendly faces, the Outdoor Welcome Center is an excellent way to make visitors feel at home. Read on for a step by step guide on how to set up your Outdoor Welcome Center

To start, you'll need to determine whether or not you'll need portable shade for your welcome center. If you have a shaded location for your welcome center, you can skip this step. Summer heat is no joke, and you'll want to make sure your volunteers and visitors are staying cool. A great option for full-color custom printed canopy tents are the Welcome Tents from LifePress.

In order to draw visitors' attention to your welcome center, you'll want bright and bold signage to direct traffic. Picture people standing around the welcome center and make sure the signage will still be visible above the crowd. Some options for signage include feather flags with ground stakes (for dirt, grass, and sand), flags and banners with cross bases (for flat and even surfaces), and A-frame sidewalk signs. You'll want to use phrases on these flags and banners such as: "WELCOME", "NEW HERE?", "SIGN UP" in order to make it very obvious where visitors should go upon arriving.

Your volunteers may need a place to sit. You will likely also need a place for guests to write down info on connection cards or fill out registration forms. You'll want a clean, elevated surface to set card holders, pens, or even guest welcome gifts. A standard 6 foot collapsible table and chairs is an excellent place to start. It will make setup and teardown a breeze, and they are very inexpensive. For a more elevated look, start with a simple tablecloth. For those who want a fully custom welcome center, consider a custom-printed stretchy fabric table cover. These will allow you to print whatever imagery and messaging you like directly onto your table.

I'm risking stating the obvious here, but greeters are the most essential part of an effective Welcome Center. When visitors approach, they should know they're in the right place. Be intentional about training volunteers to be welcoming and friendly. This is an incredible way to shine the light of Jesus the second someone steps foot on your event grounds or in your church building.

Visitors should leave your Welcome Center knowing accomplished something meaningful and with clear expectations of what comes next. Your event may require registration forms to be filled out, you may be giving gift bags to first-time visitors, or you may simply be collecting contact information to follow up later. You may also include forms where people can leave prayer requests. Whatever the case, your welcome center should have a purpose. Take advantage of the interactions initiated there to show the love of Jesus to visitors in a meaningful way.

• Church-wide Picnics
• Community BBQs
• Vacation Bible School
• Community Outreach
• Outdoor Services
• Kids Days
• Camp Meetings
• Nights of Worship

You should want visitors to feel welcome and informed when they interact with your church. This doesn't end with interactions inside the four walls of the church building. Create a plan to connect with visitors and handle registration at your next outdoor church event!