FRESNO, Calif. — They're trained to read a visitor's body language as the person approaches the front doors, sometimes with kids in tow.

Lost? They show you the way.

Hurried? They clear a path.

Scared? A smile puts you at ease.

With the start of fall, many churches experience a sharp attendance increase, particularly among first-time visitors. Churches rely on greeters to make good first impressions.

"It's having your radar out to people to make them feel welcome," says Gayle Janzen, director of membership and guests services at New Covenant Community Church in northeast Fresno, Calif.

Greeters have just moments to make a first impression that forever colors a visitor's opinion of the church, says Curt Gunz, founder of Greeters Ministry in Lake Jackson, Texas. "A visitor's first 30 seconds in your church building is a time when you must get it right," he says.

To make a visitor's experience enjoyable, greeters often attend workshops so they'll know what to do and what not to do.

"It's a work that is neverending," says Kim Hogue, who oversees the greeters, ushers and newcomer information at Koinonia Christian Fellowship in Hanford, Calif.

Mark Waltz, pastor of connections at Granger Community Church in Granger, Ind., writes in his book "First Impressions: Creating Wow Experiences in Your Church" that visitors are likely to return if greeters and others demonstrate authentic interest in them. If not, the visitors don't return.

Waltz held a training workshop for greeters and other church officials at Koinonia in January.

Based on what Hogue learned at the workshop, she established a "First Impressions/Guest Services" ministry that she says is operating smoothly at Koinonia. The church averages nearly 1,200 people on Sundays.

Hogue says the ministry is based on a religious poll she once read stating that 94 percent of people believe what churches communicate to visitors before church begins is as important to them as what happens later.

"If visitors can't find a parking place, think the rest rooms are dirty, show concern (about a church's) child care, feel they're being ignored, they're going to feel this church doesn't care about me," Hogue says. "And they will miss the message that Jesus cares about them."

Hogue says she and other church officials ask all Koinonia members to pitch in.

"If someone sees a parent looking for their child's classroom, they need to help," Hogue says. "They may not be on the greeter's team, but they're greeters.

"It's important to create a culture where everyone who calls church their home is willing to greet others."

When visitors reach the sanctuary doors, Hogue says, it is important that greeters accurately read their body language.

"Not everyone wants a handshake," she says. "And others visitors are hoping someone gives them a hug."

Kathy Hogue of Madera, Calif., no relation to Kim Hogue, says she was at a crossroads in life in 1992 when she visited Valley West Christian Church in Madera with her two children for the first time.

"I was looking for spiritual support, particularly for my children," says Kathy Hogue, an administrative secretary at Madera Community Hospital.

The greeters and others at the Madera church provided smiles, handshakes and hugs — just what she says she needed.

"It's very important — that first impression — to feel that you're loved," she remembers. "But it doesn't stop there. There has to be follow-up. The continuing love has to be there."

In 2001, Kathy Hogue became director of the church's greeter ministry. On a recent Sunday, she talked in the pulpit about the importance of greeting visitors at a congregation that averages nearly 2,000 people weekly.

"It's a ministry where we can share the love we have to others," she says. "I was at that place in my life, when I needed love, and I received it.

"You just need to give a warm smile, friendliness, a hug, a handshake. There are people who need it. Let the Holy Spirit guide you."

Janzen says she and two other staff members at New Covenant Community Church also attended the greeters' workshop in Hanford. Since then, she and the others have trained the "team captains" of six greeter teams at New Covenant. Each team has about 10 to 12 greeters. There are another 28 ushers and parking-lot attendants.

"We try to spread the message of hospitality to people working at the entrances to our facility," Janzen says. "The message is the importance of trying to be personable to people."