The Largest Gathering

Continuing from yesterday...

Sunday morning worship is the largest gathering of our church week - numerically. And since we only have one worship service here at University, we are all in the same space at the same time hearing the same music and message. This provides quite a powerful experience that can catapult us into our week or plunge us into despair over the "state of the church".

When we gather together each weekend we invite members of our community to participate with us in worshiping God. We invite those who are not currently connected to us to see what it is we do together in order for them to determine if they would like to remain a part of who we are.

The fact that guests can come and blend in with 150 or so other people during worship gives them an opportunity to check us out from a distance while still gaining enough proximity to form an opinion about us that will stick with them. This blending in provides guests a chance to see how we respond to new people in our midst - to see whether this is a place that welcomes new folks or values only those who are already connected.

Weekend worship is the best place for us to make a great first impression with the community at large. As the adage goes, "we only get one chance to make a first impression." And our chances come along mostly on Sunday mornings. Guests begin to form their impressions from the moment they drive onto our campus - and a general rule is that we have about 10 minutes to "wow" them and gain the best possibility of a repeat visit.

Therefore, their impression of the church may be formed long before I get up to preach or even before the first note of music is played. Further, it is incumbent upon the members of the congregation to extend radical hospitality every weekend. We need to impress upon our guests that we are expecting them and that we are prepared for them. This expectation and readiness shows up in things like signage, greeters/ushers, nursery workers, cleanliness, and a myriad of other ways - most of them small.

Thoughts? Comments?

For more info on making great first impressions, check out this book or this blog!