I only have two Sunday visits left before my return from Sabbatical to Trinity on September 18. It has been very helpful to see how different churches are responding to changes in styles and how they approach worship and I have enjoyed it very much. It's a treat for Ella and I to sit together and share a hymnal and nudge one another.
On of the things I have noticed is how important Signage is. In most cases very few members of the church es we visited spoke to us. In one church, I even had a Visitors bag in my hand and not one person spoke to me. It is important for members to be aware and watch for visitors. We should be able to rely on church members who notice when people may need help.
As I looked for signs leading to the sanctuary, I began to realize that some churches design their foyers and halls for function and others for celebration. I particularly like one church's use of signage. Over the doorway that leads to the sanctuary they had large gold letters shaped like an arch over the doorway which spelled out "sanctuary". Another church had twisted streamers leading along the hallway to the sanctuary along with a sign that read, "This way to the worship center". Functional signage is old school and reflects the institutional character of our past. Creative, colorful banners and signs are new wave thinking and help to set the tone for what happens in the worship service itself. Imagine your favorite beverage coming in a white can with generic black letters spelling out the name. Think about how products like Coke continue to change their product wrappings. Each season of the year, Coke features a different style of can art.
At Trinity we always have first time visitors who can't find the sanctuary. Part of the problem is that we think that they are the ones who have the problem. We all know where the sanctuary is and think that it is obvious, but it's not. Regardless what names do we have for worship space, Sanctuary, Worship center, etc. We need both effective celebratory signage and to do a better job of encouraging our people to step out of their comfort zone and speak to people who appear to be visitors.
Seriously ask the question; How welcome are visitors? Having held a visitor bag in my hand and no one approached me in a very large congregation, it's clear to me that every church needs to communicate to its members about hospitality.
At the NCLI leadership training this summer, Jim Powell from the Center for Progressive Renewal led a workshop on first time visitors.
He shared the idea of having people who are responsible for "Zones" in the sanctuary. Generally the sanctuary would be broken up into four quadrants and the "greeter" for each zone would be charged with approaching people they don't know being sure that they signed the pew pad and left information.
His church has a rating scale that they communicate to church members;
10 points If you smile
10 points If you Greet someone nearby
100 Points If you Exchange names
200 points If you offer an Invitation to return
1000 points For an Introduction to another person
2000 points for an Introduction to the Pastor
Your goal is at least 3200 points.
Nearly 95% of all people who visit say that they do so because someone invited them.
His church also has a note in the bulletin for people to use mobile devices to sign into facebook when they come to worship. This is a non-threatening way for friends and family to know where you worship and they will ask you if they are interested.
The Cathedral of Hope has a very simple formula for Evangelism.
1. get them to come.
2. Get them to come back
3. Get them to stay
And after they join give them a friend and a job.
About half of the churches that I attended had some sort of "passing of the peace". We do a good job of this at Trinity. Sometimes we can't get the passing of the peace stopped to get on to worship! We should be able to incorporate the first time visitor information easily into our time frame.
Some of the church buildings have been relatively new and others over 100 years old like Trinity. I'm beginning to think that this is less important all the time. I have served churches in both types of settings (Two churches built in the 1950's and two in the 1870's) and enjoy the features of both. One thing that does make a difference is the focus of the sanctuary and the design of the chancel area. On the first Sunday of my Sabbatical way back in June, the first church I attended was my home church in Henrietta. I had forgotten that pictures of Jesus are very prominent there. The classic Warner Sallman
I picked up tips and good ideas from several places and will be sharing them with Church leaders and committees this fall. I've found ideas such as; churches now have members who practice automatic withdrawal giving, and have put little cards in the pews for them to sign that they practice giving in this way. It gives them something to offer and at the same time, others in the pews can see that this is a unique way to offer to God our gifts. One church had the children come up for baptism and sing "Jesus Loves Me" while the Pastor took the newly baptized down the aisle. My visits made me realize that there are two things we need to think through at Trinity: In each church I visited, coffee hour was 1. after worship, 2. adjacent to the sanctuary and 3. always on the same level as the sanctuary. Our building makes this difficult as coffee hour is not visible or readily accessible.
The second challenge we have is Parking. I noticed how easy it was to find a parking space in large lots directly adjacent to the other churches. Parking at Trinity is difficult at best and in downtown Wooster has only become worse recently. I don't think we realize how important accessible parking is.
The new wood flooring is installed at Trinity and I am looking forward to worshipping in that new space. The project has dramatically improved the appearance and sound projection of the sanctuary. Leaders at the NCLI conference said that we need to re-interpret the terms "Sunday Best" and "World Class". Sunday Best used to refer to the type of attire that was considered appropriate for Sunday worship. What if we understood our Sunday Best as our efforts to worship in the right spirit being aware of our need to serve others? World Class used to be a way to attract attention to yourself. What if the guiding spirit of our Church's mission was aimed at the needs of the world? What if our vision was to "Put on our Sunday Best" to provide "World Class" service?
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