Twenty years ago I started attending St. James’ and I knew nobody. During coffee hour after the 9am service I did strike up a conversation with 2 nice guys and they were easy to talk with. The gentlemen were George Vlastelica and Hank Wessel. In fact, George told me there are a lot of former RC’s (Roman Catholics) at St. James’ just like me. Hank, I remember, was about 70 years old and he told me he needed to polish up his resume’ after coffee hour. St. James’ did have a new family committee and Jan & Gary Hicks took us under their wings and got us introduced to St. James’ and it’s been a great place to worship ever since.
A group formed a Welcoming Committee around the time Lori became our rector. With time, it turned into a Greeting Team and it really has helped St. James’ become the welcoming church as you know it today. Take a look around during the 10:30 service and you will see many new families and faces. The annual Epiphany Party at Lori and Ron’s house helps the new members learn more about St. James’ and meet members of our congregation. Being a greeter helps visitors get acquainted with our service and many of our members will introduce themselves to the visitors during the passing of the peace. Our members help with guiding the visitors to the correct song book or help them find the page in our service bulletins. We also wear our name badges!
When you are out of town and have the time to attend another church, observe how friendly they are compared to St. James’. Did they leave you alone, guide you to their reception hall for coffee, ask you to sign their guest book? How many families were there?
I alternate between the 8am and 10:30 services so I can see who is new at both services. Also, being an usher helps me with faces and names. Continuity and good follow up with visitors is what we do well. I want to thank Lori and Anna for their hard work to remember names and faces and their follow up. I also want to thank my current fellow greeters, Dave Nelsen, Craig Genter and Jan Pearson along with former greeters in making St. James’ a great, welcoming church.
Happy New Year to all,
Gregg Feeney