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Ask any estate agent. As you prepare to sell your home, it’s a good idea to trim the shrubs, plant some flowers, maybe even invest in a gallon or two of paint. Just before potential buyers are scheduled to visit, your agent might suggest you turn on all the lights and light a fragrant candle. As they enter for the first time, you want the prospective buyers to feel ‘at home.’ It’s a bit like the way you prepare when you know company is coming. You clean up the house. You lay out a fresh towel and open the curtains in the guest bedroom. You want your visitors to feel welcome. Those nice touches are no less important to the potential member – the church visitor. The fact is, new people are looking at our churches week in and week out. The first impressions they get when they enter our buildings, or even merely pass by, last for long time – especially if they never come again. Some of those people are in the market for a new church home. The way we present our physical site can help let those passers-by or visitors know they are welcome in God’s house – our congregation. And if you take a look at your building and the task seems daunting, keep in mind that a few inexpensive improvements can go a long way. One good way to start is for the committee responsible in your church for outreach once a year to visit places where people enter the church, such as the main entrance and the entrance from the car-park, if you have one. Have them assume the role of a visitor – not just any visitor – but someone who has never visited your church but whom you would like to attract. You might try thinking of yourself as a parent carrying an infant and shepherding a 4-year-old or an elderly person with a heavy bag. Pay particular attention to the needs of those with restricted mobility and those with disabilities. Here you have to ask whether the congregation is willing to get really serious. Make a statement of welcome by dealing with accessibility issues. The excuse ‘We don’t have anyone who needs us to be accessible’ can only be answered with ‘Of course not. They can’t get in!’ Accessibility may mean allowing all people easy mobility access, but it may also mean positive help for those with special needs such as learning disabilities, or hearing or sight impairments. Do your visitors know where to enter? Some churches never bother to unlock their main entrance because no one ever comes in that door. The entrance that ‘everyone’ uses is actually the single kitchen door at the back. In fact, the ‘everyone’ often includes only the magic circle of current members – visitors simply go away frustrated. Continue the audit of your church’s welcome by examining everything from outdoor signs to the Sunday notice-sheet. Will visitors’ first impression be a tired, worn-out building or a place that is jumping with energy? Pretend to be a visitor and then try to find Junior Church classrooms and toilets. Inspect the room for the crèche and the children’s toilet with the eye of the cautious parent – would you want to leave your young child in your building? Then, when you have finished the process of audit, remember that you need to do it all again in a year’s time. And remember, too, that you don’t necessarily have to do all the work yourselves. Local disability groups will often be delighted to help you conduct an accessibility audit. Members of the Toddler Club might be flattered to be asked for their views on the building – especially if they see that their views are being taken seriously. What all this work often shows is that we make visiting difficult for the very people we may be trying to attract. It also shows that being welcoming takes diligence, requiring regular reviews not a one-off approach. But every year that you assess your premises with an open mind, your church will become more welcoming. Even better, if you encourage everyone to contribute, every year members will become more aware of making the church visitor friendly. Here are more practical tips for your congregation to consider. First of all, tell people who you are. Place exterior signs perpendicular to the street so people – especially drivers – do not have to turn their head at a right angle to see the church sign. The signs should be big enough to be read easily by someone driving at the speed limit. How many times have you driven – or even walked – past a church and been left wondering just what it was called? Often, churches err on the side of putting too much on the sign, in lettering that is too small. A sign is not a notice-board. For a sign, the name of the church and the time of service(s) are really all that’s needed. A URC logo can help those specifically looking for URC congregation. The rest is clutter. On the exterior, consider the look of the church. Cut back overgrown shrubs and trees so people actually can see the church. Overgrown buildings look dark and mysterious. Cutting back overgrown plants on the path leading up to the church can sometimes produce amazing results. Keep the weeds under control in the landscape beds and plant some flowers – if someone is ready to tend them. Dead flowers aren’t high on the good impression scale. Once you can see the building, you’ll likely need to wash the windows on the outside and fix a few unsightly places on the building. Care also will be noticed when paths are swept and snow is shoveled. Check local forecasts for predictions of snow or ice in your area and have a crew on call to clear paths. The priorities inside should be clean, clean, clean – organize, organize, organize. In the Second Book of Kings, the Temple is renovated. The contractors find a Book of the Law in the clutter. In many URC congregations the chances are that the book would have been found right next to the 1957 Christmas decorations or under the hall chairs broken in 1961, which someone held onto to fix ‘someday.’ Dumping virtually useless junk is sometimes hard. Members may think of it as good stewardship to keep items that ‘might be useful’ again someday. But providing usable space rather than just storage cupboards is part of the congregation’s stewardship responsibility, too. In short – if it’s broken, fix it; if it’s dirty, clean it; if it needs to be put away, store and label it. Above all, if it’s lost its usefulness, recycle it or throw it away! Once you’ve provided space for the life of the church, another high priority is to be sure new people know how to find the particular space they are looking for. Wandering lost through an unfamiliar building can be an unsettling and frustrating experience. Point the way to childcare areas, the sanctuary and the toilets. Childcare and Junior Church rooms also should be labelled as to age. ‘Minnows’ or ‘The Mushrooms’ doesn’t mean much to most of the visitors who will come through the door. If you have adult activities, tell visitors on the sign what is going on and, if appropriate, the age range or gender. Do the same in your Sunday notice sheet. You might be surprised by what regular members will learn when such signs go up! You will also save the embarrassment of those who fail to understand the codes and turn up for a ‘Women’s Group’ which is actually a bunch of friends in their 80s who have known each other for 60 years. The third thing you can do is to make the church buildings more like a home and less like an institution. A coat of paint, a houseplant here and there – living plants if someone will take care of them, silk if not – tablecloths and banners can make a big difference in the appearance and feel of a space. The goal is a lively, active, comfortable feel – but also a reverent space. To find simple items like houseplants, flowers and tablecloths, pick people with tastes you can trust and then try to stay out of their way as much as possible. Many people have done a lot with a little in their own homes. Seek them out and let them have a go at the church without a full debate at the Church meeting over every move they make. How many churches have you seen where the replastering was finished five years ago but the wall never repainted. Ask yourself what that says to others about the respect people have for the building and the ministry which goes on there. In the toilets and church hall, there should be fresh paint with attractive borders and plants here and there. The condition should make it clear that you care about the impression your building makes on all who enter. It’s simply another way of saying: You are welcome here. Don’t know how to prioritize your spruce-up? Keep in mind another piece of estate agents’ advice: the kitchen and bathroom will give you greatest return on an investment in remodelling your home. When translated to church buildings, the equivalent of the kitchen and bath are the nursery, the women’s toilets and the hall in which people most often gather. Start here to spruce things up. Give these rooms a fresh coat of paint and add some colour through plants, flowers or hangings. But be aware, when one area gets attention, it will bring to light other areas that should be next. And that is as it should be. There is a life-changing story being told inside our buildings. Will you keep the story to yourselves, or make space for others who could hear it? This article is adapted from a piece by Ryan D Hazen, a general consultant with Board of Church Extension of the Disciples of Christ in the USA. The
original appeared in Disciple Magazine, May 2000. Copyright © 2000,
Christian Board of Publication. |
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