After Visit 1, we were anxious to see if that experience
would be the norm, or if our following church visits would be better or worse...
Visit 2 started with another overflowing parking lot. This church’s facility was much smaller and
every space near the entrance was parked up.
We found a spot in a parking area in back of the building, and walked
toward the front. I know that we had
many conversations at Discovery over the years about the fact that visitors
tend to arrive early, and that staff, leadership and key volunteers should park
further away so that we leave premium spots near the building for guests. Our experiences so far have confirmed that
visitors do arrive early, and that they are uncomfortable when they have to
figure out where to park.
Unlike Visit 1, we were greeted warmly and efficiently by a
woman at the door. We quickly had an
explanation of what was happening that morning, and were asked to fill out a
card. We will accumulate more data
points to evaluate, but my hunch is that this is the optimal greeter profile – a woman “in the know” (i.e.- staff member or
key volunteer highly vested in the church).
Another observation – people visit churches in the summer.
In fact, there may be a higher percentage of visitors in the summer months
because that is a common season for people to be in transition. We heard apologies today for some programming
not being in session because “we take a little break during the summer”. I can remember offering the same apologies to
people during summer months at Discovery. I don’t think visitors mind that
things are scaled back in summer, but it was uncomfortable to hear someone
apologize for it. Avoid apologizing. Giving volunteers a “well-deserved break” is
understandable, even admirable in a world that is increasingly interested in
work/life/balance issues. Have a clear
plan and time frame for “regularly scheduled” programming to resume (i.e. make
the well-deserved break appear strategic and not the collapse of all volunteer
programs). Invite visitors to return and
experience the full spectrum of ministry the church is offering.
The band kicked off with a tight cover of Mister Mister’s
“Kyrie”. (Got my attention) It looked and sounded like a .38 Special
reunion tour (also had my attention thinking – “looks like a bunch of old guys
up there”, until I realized I would fit right in the age demographic), playing
hits from yesterday and today. The
sermon was truncated due to the ministry fair activities. The text was John 3. There was a strong application regarding personal
evangelism and salvation. The service
closed with communion. For a second week
in a row we had to figure out the protocol – pass and take? Pass and hold? What do you do with the cup? This time we were sitting close to the front
and had fewer people to watch and see how they did it. The communion service was “presided over” by
a church leader with scripture read and prayer offered.
We met the pastor (no parlor at this church). After the
service he sought us out and greeted us warmly.
He promised a follow up email; however, we did not provide an email
address on the card we filled out. We
did receive a “welcome letter” mid week.
The biggest distinction between Visit 1 and Visit 2 was
size. Visit 1 church was larger, and it
was easier for us to move undetected.
Visit 2 church was smaller, and our presence was obvious. People were excited to have visitors, and
were even somewhat disappointed that we were already churched. In fact, our greeter got a bit nervous when
she found out we were from a Christian Church background. More apologies followed – none were
necessary.
More to come on Bethany’s visit to the youth group meeting, Friend Day
“contract”, and "over-emphasis" on the written word.
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