Have you ever thought about why we have the greeting in church? The full name for the greeting is the Apostolic Greeting; the purpose of the greeting is to welcome everyone to worship in the name of our God. The greeting is a reminder to us why we are in church and who we are here to worship. This greeting traces its roots back to Paul and the many letters he wrote opening with this greeting. The phrase is taken from 2 Corinthians 13:14.
As for the Salutation, this is an ancient practice from the early church. The salutation is meant to show unity and reconciliation among the members. One of the purposes of the Salutation is to create a welcoming worship experience. The Salutation is to show all people are welcome to come and worship. In ancient times, members of the church would give each other a kiss known as the "holy kiss” to signify the presence of God in our midst. We have obviously moved away from that.