We were recently on vacation and attended church. Have you ever wondered what visitors see when they visit your church?

This is our experience….We entered the church and proceeded to the welcome area for coffee. We stood around drinking our coffee. I approached the greeter at the sanctuary door, but was not offered one of the programs he was handing out. Then we took our coffee into the sanctuary and waited for the service to begin.

We worshiped in song as you might expect. However, the songs were in a key that was not easy for congregations to sing.

The preaching was excellent. However, I did have to switch to my phone for the scripture reading because the sanctuary was a little too dark for me to see well.

A visitor will decide whether to return or not based on their first experience. Based on this experience, would I return to this church? I would not. Do you know why? Did you see what was missing in my experience?

We were not greeted or acknowledged. Interestingly enough there was a special luncheon for anyone new who was interested in knowing more about the church. The other thing that makes this even more striking was the topic of the sermon was about showing grace and generosity to others.

Honestly, this experience has made me evaluate what visitors see when they come to my church. Do people feel welcome when they walk into my church? Do they walk away feeling empty? Is the music singable for the majority?

When you go to church next Sunday, greet someone and make them feel welcome. Their return may depend upon how you interact with them.