There's a huge difference often times the way we perceive ourselves and the way others perceive us. Many times that's a good thing. We are often our own worst critic. On the other hand, sometimes we refuse to be honest with ourselves in areas where, if we just took a more objective look, it could really help us in the long run.
I say this as a preface to a short statement about the way people perceive church, not before they arrive, (or sometimes even after they go home) but when they're right in the middle of it. I read this week a book called Jim and Casper Go to Church. It's the story of a former pastor and an atheist who check out 12 of the most recognizable churches in the country. If you've been around church culture long, you've heard of most of them, not all. The stories were interesting, the perceptions very insightful. One of the most valuable was just the thought that every church should have a few purely objective (they recommend atheists, but...) people visit and evaluate your church every single year. Just like most of us hate to hear the sound of our own voice on recording, partially because of the voice but partly because at some point we hear something and think, "I actually said that?" It's the best way to get a true read of the perspective your church creates for visitors every time people walk through the doors, especially for the first time.
We were the first time visitors at a local church last Sunday. I'm not going to announce the name, but I will mention a few perspectives we walked away with, in chronological order (not necessarily in order of importance)
1. Make sure your nursery workers greet every parent and every child. The church did this well. Camden went to a new place with strangers because they made us and her feel comfortable.
2. Make sure the people who start your service look like they know what they're doing. They can't just meander up out of the crowd.
3. I know about 4-5 people who honestly I can listen to for 50 minutes. 4-5 people, out of a population of 6.3 billion. Guess what, none of them live 10 miles or less from my house! DON'T PREACH 50 minutes. You're not that good.
4. For the love of Pete, announcements cannot take 20 minutes. And second, announcements should NEVER EVER be the church's version of the Price is Right, where you call people out of the audience (unprepared mind you) to give some information.
This morning we went back to Crosspoint, one of our regular weekend gathering places. Every moment of a weekend service there is thought out, planned out. We use specific language in the welcome and in the closing, every week, and thought is given to those times just like we'd give to the music or teaching. Every week. This doesn't eliminate the work of the Holy Spirit, it cultivates a scenario of preparation in cooperation and in tangent with the Holy Spirit. While our Catalyst culture will invariably be different from Crosspoint, as each church has to create it's own feel and communication style, I'm thankful to be part of churches (I'd include Church at the Crossing in this as well) that understand that preparation partners with Spirit to experience transformation. I think we did this well in LaGrange. I think I've learned several things that I should have done better there. Me. And I'm learning that it's appropriate to ask the question, is church for believers, non-believers, or both? There are brilliant, God-loving, Jesus-following people who'd answer that question in all kinds of ways. That's a good thing.
Details matter. Language matters. Faith and the Holy Spirit matter. I don't think any of these have to be eliminated in order to appropriately value another. Maybe this is a soapbox more than a blog. So I'll end with a question. Tell me your experiences (good and bad) as you've visited churches for the first time. What are the things you remember? The things you notice? The things you'd rather forget? Leave the church name out of the conversation if you would, but as we are beginning to process what weekends will look like for Catalyst, this information will be extremely invaluable. You can post these thoughts as a comment to the blog, or send them to me at chris@iamcatalyst.org. Thanks. This is me stepping off the soapbox for the evening.
Grace and peace.
