"Working Together to Make Church Better"
Seeing Through the Eyes of Your First Time Guests
ChurchSync Helps You See What Your Guests See
Have someone who has never been in your church service before come in and mystery shop it, so to speak. Give them an evaluation form to fill out and have them be brutally honest with you on their perspective as an outsider. Better yet, as a minister on staff, associate pastor or senior pastor make it a point to have yourself go to another church one Sunday and see how you feel and are treated as a first time guest. You can be like “The Under Cover Boss!” Filter the experience through the eyes and ears of one who is seeing and hearing everything for the first time. Take note of your emotions and your feelings towards the entire experience. Take on the role of the first time guest and use that experience as a learning tool to help you better your attention and focus towards gearing your services with first time guests in mind.
I’ve been to churches where the Pastor will continually refer to specific first names of people he may know and maybe even the majority of the church members who have been attending for quite some time now may know, but as a first time guest I have no clue who brother so and so or who sister so and so is. This is just an example of how after doing the same thing over and over for such a long time that Pastor’s can sometimes forget that there may be some new people in the crowd.
I also here many ministers and Pastors quote a scripture and say, “Let’s turn to a scripture everybody in here knows…” How awkward is that to someone who doesn’t know it? I’m sure that makes them feel less spiritual than others. I‘ve also heard someone say, “We all know what the Bible says in Jeremiah 29:11, right?” and then keep on talking without ever mentioning, quoting or reading the actual scripture. Not everybody knows the scriptures like you; especially first time guests who are not saved. Keep in mind that you may hopefully have new guests visiting and seeing if this church is for them and their families. There are many different developmental stages to spiritual growth and you may have levels of spiritual understanding that ranges from infancy up to adulthood in your congregation. You have to do your best to make sure that your communication is precise and easy to understand to those who hear you. Communicate in a way that allows all who hear the best opportunity to understand.
Now some pastors and churches will never do this. However, if you want to stay fresh, relevant and in tune with the people the Lord is trying to send to build His Kingdom and grow His church, then we need to see things from a different view point then how we’ve been seeing before.
Here are some questions to help you evaluate your services and tweak them to become more streamlined and fluent:
Ask yourself these questions as you are in the role of the first time guest going to another church for the first time.
What is my first impression of the entrance onto the church property?
What is my first impression of the signage?
What is my first impression of the landscaping?
What is my first impression of the building itself?
What is my first impression of the driveway and pavement?
What is my first impression of the parking conditions?
What is my first impression of the entrance way into the church?
What is my first impression of the person or people I meet?
What is my first impression of the layout of the church?
What is my first impression of the colors of the church?
What is my first impression of the childrens facilities?
What is my first impression of the bathrooms?
What is my first impression of the hallways?
What is my first impression of the sanctuary?
What is my first impression of the ushers?
What is my first impression of the seating arrangements?
What is my first impression of the music?
What is my first impression of the prayer?
What is my first impression of the announcements?
What is my first impression of the person speaking first?
What is my first impression of the message?
What is my first impression of the visual appearance of the minister or pastor?
What is my first impression of the minister or pastor overall?
What is my first impression of the children’s and youth workers?
What is my first impression of the youth rooms?
First impressions are very powerful. They set the tone for what people can look forward to the next time they see, experience and handle the situation or place again. For many of us, if we have an outstanding first time experience it can leave us with a very good first impression that we may never forget, helping draw us to want to come back again. The same is true if we had a horrible first time experience. It can leave us with a very bad first time impression causing us to never want to come back and give it another chance.
So I hope you can see the value of focusing on creating a climate, an atmosphere and environment that will provide guests a lasting, good first time experience.
Does that make a difference?
100% YES! Your choice to see through the eyes of your first time guests will provide to you the ability to see:
What areas are weak and need improvement?
What areas are strong and can be strengthened?
What areas are stable and effective?
This entire process will help you in having a better understanding for how your potential members feel during their first visit to your services. This will also help you in structuring your services to be more focused towards the goal of having first time visitors come back for a second, third, and fourth service and hopefully become a lifetime member.
I’ve been to churches where the Pastor will continually refer to specific first names of people he may know and maybe even the majority of the church members who have been attending for quite some time now may know, but as a first time guest I have no clue who brother so and so or who sister so and so is. This is just an example of how after doing the same thing over and over for such a long time that Pastor’s can sometimes forget that there may be some new people in the crowd.
I also here many ministers and Pastors quote a scripture and say, “Let’s turn to a scripture everybody in here knows…” How awkward is that to someone who doesn’t know it? I’m sure that makes them feel less spiritual than others. I‘ve also heard someone say, “We all know what the Bible says in Jeremiah 29:11, right?” and then keep on talking without ever mentioning, quoting or reading the actual scripture. Not everybody knows the scriptures like you; especially first time guests who are not saved. Keep in mind that you may hopefully have new guests visiting and seeing if this church is for them and their families. There are many different developmental stages to spiritual growth and you may have levels of spiritual understanding that ranges from infancy up to adulthood in your congregation. You have to do your best to make sure that your communication is precise and easy to understand to those who hear you. Communicate in a way that allows all who hear the best opportunity to understand.
Now some pastors and churches will never do this. However, if you want to stay fresh, relevant and in tune with the people the Lord is trying to send to build His Kingdom and grow His church, then we need to see things from a different view point then how we’ve been seeing before.
Here are some questions to help you evaluate your services and tweak them to become more streamlined and fluent:
Ask yourself these questions as you are in the role of the first time guest going to another church for the first time.
What is my first impression of the entrance onto the church property?
What is my first impression of the signage?
What is my first impression of the landscaping?
What is my first impression of the building itself?
What is my first impression of the driveway and pavement?
What is my first impression of the parking conditions?
What is my first impression of the entrance way into the church?
What is my first impression of the person or people I meet?
What is my first impression of the layout of the church?
What is my first impression of the colors of the church?
What is my first impression of the childrens facilities?
What is my first impression of the bathrooms?
What is my first impression of the hallways?
What is my first impression of the sanctuary?
What is my first impression of the ushers?
What is my first impression of the seating arrangements?
What is my first impression of the music?
What is my first impression of the prayer?
What is my first impression of the announcements?
What is my first impression of the person speaking first?
What is my first impression of the message?
What is my first impression of the visual appearance of the minister or pastor?
What is my first impression of the minister or pastor overall?
What is my first impression of the children’s and youth workers?
What is my first impression of the youth rooms?
First impressions are very powerful. They set the tone for what people can look forward to the next time they see, experience and handle the situation or place again. For many of us, if we have an outstanding first time experience it can leave us with a very good first impression that we may never forget, helping draw us to want to come back again. The same is true if we had a horrible first time experience. It can leave us with a very bad first time impression causing us to never want to come back and give it another chance.
So I hope you can see the value of focusing on creating a climate, an atmosphere and environment that will provide guests a lasting, good first time experience.
Does that make a difference?
100% YES! Your choice to see through the eyes of your first time guests will provide to you the ability to see:
What areas are weak and need improvement?
What areas are strong and can be strengthened?
What areas are stable and effective?
This entire process will help you in having a better understanding for how your potential members feel during their first visit to your services. This will also help you in structuring your services to be more focused towards the goal of having first time visitors come back for a second, third, and fourth service and hopefully become a lifetime member.