I read an article by Doug Powe that led me to think, “Is change in the church something that I can do or something that I leave to others to do?” I visit a different church almost every week and when I go in I find myself asking, “Is it okay to sit here!” I know how people like to sit in the same seat every Sunday. In Winchester, we built an addition on to the sanctuary. We doubled the sanctuary and on the first Sunday to worship in new sanctuary, we had taken a plastic wall out and turned the entire seating around, so when everyone came in the entire sanctuary was different. The pulpit was at the opposite end of the sanctuary and every pew had been turned around and an equal number of new pews had been added. There was chaos! No one knew where to sit. It took about a month and the church finally felt normal to everyone. They stacked out new ground and then always sat in the same pew.
Do you sit in the same pew every Sunday? Have you ever thought about a new person coming to your church and not knowing where to sit? Try something new this week. Find a new pew and sit there and meet the folks who sit in the new area. This may seem like a small thing but think how you would feel if someone said to you, “You’re sitting in my seat.” This may sound like a small thing to you but to the outsider these habits come off as inhospitable.
Doug Powe suggests to change four things:
- Change seats. Move around and sit where there is an opening. In many churches there is always room “up front”. This change can make a big difference to visitors.
- Plan to arrive on time. Some arrive late to worship because they prefer to skip the announcements. Think about how it looks to a visitor when some come in late. Being part of the announcements is vital in knowing what is going on in the church.
- When it comes to passing the peace or shaking hands at the end of the service, we often gravitate to those that we know. Instead seek those you don’t know and introduce yourself.
- Stop watching time. What message does it send to visitors if the choir or the pastor, sing or preach too long. We can get so engrossed in what time it is, that we miss out on the blessing of the worship service. I had one church where there was a clock embedded in the pulpit. These folks wanted me to know when lunch was. Often if we watch the clock too closely, we don’t give the Holy Spirit a chance to bless us.
These habits may seem small to you but changing even these small things may make a big difference in your hospitality to visitors. Change begins with us!