ISSUE ARCHIVE

How Do New People See Your Church?

New guests at worship can help us see things from the perspective of those not as familiar with our church as we are. The Lewis Center recently asked church members in different states to attend nearby churches as visitors and report on their findings for the benefit of the visited churches and other churches. This report covers two major findings, both of which arise from the difficulty churches have in viewing things from the perspective of persons new to their church.

With all the strengths of a church, the challenge is always to think of everything from arrival through departure from the perspective of someone who has never been to your church before. In fact, the new person may have never been to church at all or at least not for many years. This new perspective will help to shape signage, instructions in the bulletin, the work of greeters, and a host of other things.

Signage

Most visitors found directional signage inadequate. The problems they encountered typically related to: directional signage to the church, outdoor signage indicating directions to "sanctuary" if the entrance is not obvious to a visitor, and outdoor and indoor signage as needed to direct people to the nursery and rest rooms.

You can quickly survey the adequacy of your church's signage by using a simple exercise. Have some people do a "drive in and walk through" as if they had never been there before. Was it easy to find the church? Is the entrance clear? Is there visitor parking? Are there greeters near where people park? Is it obvious what door to enter for worship? Are there directions to the nursery and restrooms? When you add signage, current members will hardly notice, but newcomers will immediately recognize that you are "expecting them." It is somewhat like turning the front porch lights on when you know guests will be arriving. The guests immediately feel you are anticipating their arrival.

The Worship Service

Visitors also found some parts of the worship service confusing. Churches today need to recognize that every day there are fewer people who grew up in church and thus many visitors are unfamiliar with worship practices.

Simple things can help. If there is a part of the worship that most members know from memory (e.g., Apostles Creed or Lord's Prayer), then still indicate in the bulletin the page number where people can find it or print the text so all can participate. Those who already know these elements will not be offended, but guests will appreciate your thoughtfulness. If people are to stand at a particular time, you can indicate that in the bulletin, and the worship leader can lift a hand as a signal for people to stand. Simple instructions for communion or brief introductions to other parts of the service can help bring on board those who did not grow up in the church and those whose previous churches had different patterns. Walk through the entire service thinking of what it would be like for someone coming to church for the first time. Make it easy for new people to participate and to feel at home.

Lovett H. Weems, Jr.

Register for the Lewis Center's Funding Conference on March 20

"Practices that Lead to Greater Giving" is the theme for the Lewis Center's annual Funding Your Congregation's Vision conference on Saturday, March 20, 2010. It will be held at Glen Mar United Methodist Church in Ellicott City, Maryland. Building on the Lewis Center's past work in funding ministry, this half-day event (9 a.m.–12:50 p.m.) will explore the theme through plenary presentations by Lovett H. Weems, Jr., and David McAllister-Wilson and will include workshops on a variety of subjects. Click for more information or to register.

Pre-Order 2010 Funding Resource Package at a Special Price

After the March 20 conference on "Practices that Lead to Greater Giving," the Lewis Center will make available an electronic resource package with DVDs and other resources from this conference. Normally $60, the package can be preordered by event registrants for $35. Those unable to attend can preorder the package at the special price of $50. Reduced prices are also available on resource packages from the 2008 and 2009 Funding Your Congregation's Vision events. Click here to learn more.

Request for Church Membership Statistics

Was your church established before 1960? If so, do you have the annual membership for your church from its beginning? The Lewis Center is trying to gather as many full membership histories of long-established congregations as possible for a research project. The data the Lewis Center needs is the total number of members reported for each year. If you have such information for your church, please send it to the Center's research manager, Joe Arnold, at jearnold@wesleyseminary.edu.

Update is a monthly report to subscribers of Leading Ideas
on the work of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership.