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