Some churches follow the 10-foot rule:
When anyone is within 10 feet of another person on church grounds they offer a warm welcome and cheerful greeting.
This rule originated with Sam Walton who encouraged store employees to look employees in the eye, greet them and ask them if they needed help.
As an ambitious colleg student in Missouri, Walton discovered that "one of the secrets to campus leadership was the simplest thing of all: Speak to people coming down the sidewalk before they speak to you. Before long, I probably knew more students than anybody in the university snd they recognized me and considered me their friend."
No sincere welcome is unimportant.
(adapted from King of Glory Lutheran Church Glory Bee Newsletter - April 2008)