First Impressions
My wife and I have had the opportunity to attend several different church gatherings (a.k.a. services) in the last few months. At one church we visited, we experienced these actual events in the following order:
1. We sat down in our seats about 10 minutes before the start. My wife, Abby, was in the aisle seat. A man came down the aisle and tapped her on the back and said exuberantly, “Hey!” As he walked around in front of her, his face sank and he said, “Sorry, thought that you were someone else”. He proceeded to walk down to the front. We thought it was odd that he didn't bother to introduce himself or say more to two obvious outsiders. We chalked it up to him possibly being shy, or maybe being a newcomer himself. We later found out that he was the pastor! Strike 1.
2. After a few announcements were given, the leader asked, “Could we have all the first-time visitors stand up? We want to give an appropriate [insert name of church] welcome.” The appropriate welcome was a round of applause. Needless to say, we didn't stand and we didn't feel welcomed. Strike 2.
3. Three offerings were collected in the span of 20 minutes. It is uncomfortable when everyone around you is giving money and you know that they know that you aren't. Repeat this three times and it doesn't make an outsider feel terribly secure. The worst was the second offering when the pastor proclaimed, “It is now time to take the Joash offering”. That is all he said, and all of a sudden music started playing and people started to walk around, chat with friends and mosey to the front of the auditorium to drop money in a box. We had no idea what was going on and, again, felt rather uncomfortable. Strike 3.
4. The guest speaker gave a 25-minute introduction about himself, sang a song and then—1 hour and 25 minutes into the service—said, “I need a short break and then I'll start my message.” Strike 4.
Generally, one only gets three strikes. We were being generous and gave them four, and then we exited during the pre-sermon break.
Abby and I are telling the experience not because we want to point out faults, but because we feel everybody could learn from it. This is how not to make a good first impression.