The most important visitor

This is my 666th post... spooky.

Whenever a guests visits your church service or youth group it is exciting.

But it also creates curious uncertainty.

Are they actually looking for a church or just passing through on holidays? Are they looking for a church because they are interested in Christianity or have they been jilted by another church? What baggage, if any, do they come with? Do they have a previous connection to anyone or are they trying to make new ones? Are they just shopping around? Were we high on the shopping list of places to visit? How did we compare to others? Are we welcoming enough? Is my paranoia about the new person visible?...

If all goes well, the guest leaves with a pleasant taste in their mouth.

But the most important visitor isn't the one who darkens the doors once, but the one who returns.

This, i believe is the neglected guest. There are a heap of reasons why someone may only turn up once, but a second time is significant.

If someone has taken the trouble to come twice then the chances of them sticking around are far weightier.

And it should be one of the top priorities for those attending to include and (hopefully) positively integrate the second-time guest. It is the second time when genuine connections can be cultivated and long-term links created.