As I was reading the blog post from our first impressions coordinator, it made me think of my experience as a guest at a church last weekend. I was out of town and I visited a large church where I expected them to have quite an impressive first impressions team to help make me and my family feel welcomed. To my surprise it seemed that everyone was so busy fighting for a place in line to get some free coffee that we all went unnoticed. I did not really expect people in a church that size to know immediately that I was a visitor but I did think that they would at the least be a bit friendly towards me. It got me thinking the same way I see church members rely on a pastor to do Christian stuff that church members also rely on a "First Impressions Team" to do first impressions stuff. While first impressions are important everywhere, I think that they are super important when it comes to a guest at a church service. I obviously was not nervous about attending this church as a visitor, but it did help me imagine that if I was a little nervous about visiting the way I am treated would have a large bearing on whether I ever come back again. I had to work through the crowd and read signs and basically just help myself, and If I had been in this town looking for a church to be a part of I would have absolutely tried another one. The music was really good and of course the preaching was a lot better than I am used to hearing every Sunday, but for some reason I felt as if I was intruding on "their" church. I know that isn't true but because every member there decided that there was probably some team to help welcome people and therefore that was not their job I felt that way. I firmly believe just as every member of a church is also a preacher, I also believe that on Sunday mornings that every person in church that is not a visitor should see themselves as being on the church's first impressions team; even if they aren't wearing the special can I help you shirt. It helped me to see through a guests eyes and people were not trying to be rude but they were much too involved talking to "their" friends to notice people that they didn't know. It is a hard habit to break while we are at church to spend our time talking to the people that we feel comfortable around but that doesn't help out our mission as much as if we would step away from the people we know well and all of us work on making everyone feel welcomed. People that don't know Jesus are making the decision about church not based on facilities, children's programs, music quality or even if the preaching is good; they are making decisions about church based on how they felt as soon as they walk in. We all have the same human need in church as everywhere else, from the second we arrive we hope to feel welcomed and they we can fit in. I hope that all of us at CrossPointe "me included" can see Sunday's through the eyes of a guest and we can step away from out norm to help people feel and understand that they are welcomed here.
First Impressions Experience
Ray Moore
Lead Pastor