Tag: first impressions

  • Letter #50 (Inevitability of Change)

    Dear Small Church Congregation,

         In the letters on first impressions, I mentioned some things that may need to change in how you approach worship services and the overall state of your facilities.  I hope you can realize that these changes will lead to better first impressions for visitors.  Sometimes we just need to take a look at how we operate and make any changes that will help us to operate more effectively as we strive to help people experience the love, grace and mercy found in Jesus.  After all, our goal is to lead to people to faith in Jesus and then guide them into becoming dedicated, productive disciples of Christ.  If we need to make a change or two in our facilities or our services, let’s do that so we can be more productive disciples ourselves.

         There is something about change that I have come to realize.  Only the spiritual laws and principles God created stay constant.  His laws and principles don’t change because He doesn’t change.  Sin is still sin.  Repentance is still repentance.  Forgiveness is still forgiveness.  Judgment of rebellion will still occur.  Reward of faithfulness to God will still occur.  And the physical laws that control nature, such as gravity, cause and effect relationships, etc., do not change, either.  You can take those concepts “to the bank,” to use an old saying.  Everything else changes.

         Face it, we age, grass grows and has to be cut, rivers move their banks over time, seasons progress, tides don’t stay in one place.  I could go on, but you get the idea.  Change is inevitable in just about every aspect of our daily lives.  Although we have daily, weekly or even monthly routines, if we think about what happens as we work and play, we will see small changes in our routines that affect us in small ways, or we might see big changes that make significant alterations in our lives.  We learn to adapt to those changes and go on with our lives, whether the changes are enjoyable, like getting a raise at work, or not so enjoyable, like being the victim of downsizing in a company.  We get used to the idea that changes occur, and we learn to deal with those changes to the best of our abilities so our lives can continue.

         How does this idea of inevitable change affect us as a small church?  We have to do the same thing when it comes to “church life” when changes occur, just like we do when other things change in life.  We deal with the changes and go on with our goals of reaching the lost for Jesus and ministering to our communities as the body of Christ is admonished to do in the Bible.  We know we can’t let changes in life defeat us, and we know that we shouldn’t let anything that changes at our place of worship defeat us, either.

         What follows is a brief list of possible changes that we should understand could happen at a place of worship.  These possible changes do not have influence on the spiritual principles and laws of God.  They do not influence whether or not we can approach the throne of grace.  They do not affect our personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus.  They are transitory items that might change from time to time, but a change in these items will not affect whether or not we can experience the presence of the Holy Spirit of God.

    Possible changes at “church”—

    A Pastor/Deacon/Music Leader/Musician/Bible Teacher/Janitor/Door       Greeter/Volunteer/Long-time Member/Anyone Else decides to resign or stop attending services.

    The song books wear out and have to be discarded and replaced.

    Furniture Styles/Decorating Themes/Equipment Upgrades create a new appearance or sound in the building.

    The musicians want to try a new instrument/platform arrangement/song/music style/etc. during the singing portion of the service.

    A safety inspection indicates doors, lighting, fire extinguishers, signage, handrails, entrance thresh holds, etc. have to be addressed and changed to meet safety requirements.

    The average age of new attenders is twenty to forty years younger than the long-standing attenders, and they bring new outlooks on life that are different from the traditional outlooks of older attenders, because the new people have experienced a different kind of world than the long-standing attenders did.

         These are just a few of the changes I have experienced as a small church pastor.  There are numerous others that will occur over the course of time.  The main thing we have to understand is that the vast majority of changes that will occur when it comes to “church life” deal with preferences and not the Biblical doctrines that are the bedrock of Christianity. 

         Biblical doctrines found in scriptures must not change. 

         Preferences, however, have a habit of changing.  We should accept this reality and determine in our hearts that preferences will not determine if we make it to heaven.  They do not establish the foundation for our faith.  Christ’s life, death, burial, resurrection and promise to return do that.  Preferences  should never come between us and those who may hold other preferences than the ones we hold ourselves.  And when changes in preferences bring about changes at church, we should never allow those changes to come between us and our worship of God. 

         If we attend worship services only when our preferences are met, are we attending for the sake of worship and to increase our faith in Christ, or are we attending because we like what is being done that agrees with our preferences?  If we become upset with a change in something at “church,” where is our focus? (Remember, change is inevitable in the negotiables of life.)  Is our focus on Jesus, or is it on what we want? 

         I know these are tough questions to ask, but they need to be asked.  And we need to answer them honestly and ask God to help us deal in love with any changes we experience. After all, changes occur in every temporary area of life, and that includes what goes on in our worship services and building facilities.

    Sincerely,

    A Small Church Pastor

  • Letter #49 (First Impressions–2)

    Dear Small Church,

         In Letter #48 I introduced the idea of creating a first impression based on the facility and general atmosphere we want to create for a first-time visitor.  This letter goes into the actual worship service and how it can impact the first impression. 

         We want visitors to return and become regular attenders and, hopefully, integral parts of our ministry as we endeavor to fulfill our calling as a group of Christ’s disciples.  Therefore, we must determine a few things about the service that will influence their first, second or third impressions of our congregation and ministry. 

         Our primary questions deal with why we attend worship services in the first place.  Are we attending as participants to give praise and honor to God, to minister to each other and to receive ministry from the body of Christ?  Or are we attending as spectators to be encouraged through religious entertainment and an uplifting message from a motivational speaker called a pastor?  If a visitor attends for the first question’s answers, he/she will be disappointed if he/she experiences the answers to the second question.  The service must be geared to fulfill the answers to the first question, not the second one.

         According to information from Gallup polls and Barna Research Group trends, people who attend worship services are seeking a real encounter with God.  They want to experience God’s presence in their lives.  They want to find out if God truly cares about them and can be active in their affairs.  Essentially, people are looking for a spiritual connection they feel is missing in their lives, and they have decided to go to a worship service to see if that connection can be found there. 

         That being said, we must prayerfully (Notice that word “Prayerfully”) approach how a service flows, what is included in a worship service, and what our intended outcome is for the ending portion of the service.  If we have no spiritual goal for why we are doing what we are doing, if we do not have a direction of worship and outcome expected for the culmination of the service, we will not arrive at the end of the service with any appreciable positive spiritual results.  (Please understand the Holy Spirit can override our lack of spiritual preparations and create a great spiritual experience for visitors in spite of our inadequacies and poor choices.  But you don’t need to expect Him to do that on a regular basis.)

         Allow me to caution you here—since you are advertising your worship service schedules, please be prepared for the services when they occur.  Worship involves important aspects of the Christian life.  To throw something together at the last minute without praying or seeking God’s guidance and anointing is perpetuating a travesty on the disciples who gather for worship.  I have to admit I have been guilty of that travesty, and the outcome was not what it could have been had everyone involved in the service had come prepared for their part in the overall experience. 

         As you decide on what needs to be included in the service, remember that worship involves much more than just singing.  Offering prayers, supplications and intercessions to God is involved.  Waiting on God to speak to hearts is involved.  Generosity in tithing and giving offerings is involved.  Hearing the Word of God read and explained in sermons is involved.  Giving testimonies to God’s working in a life is involved.  Encouraging each other is involved.  Giving thanks to God is involved.  Sometimes eating together is involved.  Attending as participants, not just spectators, in worship is involved.  These concepts are just the tip of the iceberg that makes up worship.

         Allow me to share a story about one area of worship from a missionary I know.  He serves in a region where Christian voices are often silenced through social pressure, traditions, laws and even violence.  His ministry involves radio and TV programs that are produced and aired over stations that almost exclusively promote that area’s predominate religion.  However, he never mentions that religion in his broadcasts.  He only talks about Jesus and what Jesus can do in a life that is dedicated to His teachings.  He does not condemn, slander or otherwise denigrate the dominant religion.  His ministry is quite successful and reaches several million listeners and viewers weekly.

         Why the story?  We all have varying preferences when it comes to dress codes, music styles, scriptural translations, building decorations, service times and lengths, traditional activities and any number of other topics that are revealed through our preferences.  If all we do is condemn someone who has different preferences while we are supposed to be involved in worship, we are probably going to make a negative first impression on people. 

         Biblical doctrines speak for themselves and must remain constant in our worship services.  Those are not negotiable.   Preferences, on the other hand, can change over time.  Be sure your worship services focus on the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and not on preferences.

         Keep in mind that a worship service is an opportunity for someone to repent of sins and ask for forgiveness.  It is an opportunity for someone to be born again spiritually.  Make every effort to give that someone the chance to see Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit working in Christ’s church, for His people and through His people.  If you do that, the worship experience will have fulfilled its purpose.

         A worship service that directs visitors to experiencing God in the fullness of His glory and power will make a good first impression.  Pray that that is your church’s first impression on visitors.

    Sincerely,

    A Small Church Pastor

  • Letter #48 (First Impressions)

    Dear Small Church Congregation,

         Example #1: I recently walked into a church building foyer and looked up to see how high the ceiling was. (I’ve spent a good deal of my life involved in construction, and noticing wall height is just something I do out of habit.)  There in that decorated space for an entrance, above the immediate eyesight of most people, was something that desperately needs to be repaired.  An area almost two feet square is water damaged, stained, cracking and with part of the ceiling texture missing, revealing bare sheetrock.  I politely mentioned the ceiling to someone I know who attends there.  The individual was not offended and stated, “Oh, yeah, we’ve been meaning to fix that.”

         I have a question for you:  What kind of a first impression would a damaged, unrepaired ceiling that is known to exist make on someone who had never entered the foyer and looked up?

         Example #2: An evangelist friend related how he had gone to a church recently to minister for some special worship services.  The door greater was the only one who had spoken to him as he had entered and had told him the pastor would be out soon and for him to be seated anywhere.  He entered the sanctuary, found a seat near the front and sat down.  Not long after seating himself, a couple walked in and approached him.  Their greeting was, “We usually sit here.”

         Another question for you: How welcome do you think that evangelist felt?

         First impressions matter.  There is a reason greeters are stationed at entrances.  There is a reason facility repairs are made in a timely manner.  There is a reason hospitality is stressed in scriptures.  There is a reason signs that direct people to commonly needed areas should be well-placed and easily readable.  There is a reason pastors encourage members to greet new people and actually talk to them.  The reason is: FIRST IMPRESSIONS MATTER!  (Yes, I said that really loudly.)

         People do not get a second chance to make a first impression.  When a visitor approaches a place of worship, the first few minutes matter immensely in the perception that visitor will develop of the facility and its attenders.  Some sources site anywhere from the first two or three minutes to the first seven or eight minutes as being the most important time span for a congregation to make a positive impression on a first-time visitor.  That means before a visitor has even looked at where to be seated, the first impression is forming.

         I saw an interesting parking space sign years ago that caught my attention.  It said: Reserved for Elderly and Expectant Mothers.  I believe they understand the needs of multi-generations, which means they want multi-generations.  First impression?

         I mentioned hospitality earlier.  According to the Tecarta Bible Search App, various translations of the Bible hold at least 45 verses that mention the concept of hospitality.  And folks, the amount of hospitality a congregation displays will make a huge impact on a visitor’s first impression.

         I encourage you to ask yourself just how hospitable your congregation is.  Is your entrance easy to locate?  Do obvious signs point new people to the bathrooms, the nursery, discipleship classrooms that are age specific, the sanctuary or even the emergency exists?  Do regular attenders intentionally talk to visitors or just say, “Good to have you with us today?”   Do you help new attenders find a place to sit or where to direct their children after you shake their hand?  Do you give them a 1 or 2 sentence description of what they are about to experience?

         I once filled in for a pastor who had a family emergency.  After the service, I was invited to eat lunch with one of the families.  When was the last time you invited a first-time visitor, or even a repeat visitor, to eat with you after the service?  First impression?

         I haven’t mentioned anything about the actual time of worship yet, have I?  That will come in the next letter, #49, First Impressions—2.  For the time being, just remember that first impressions matter.

    Sincerely,

    A Small Church Pastor