Healthy Self-Assessment

Did you know that our church was infiltrated by spies last fall?

As she began her work in our church as Director of Community Outreach, Liz Fledderjohann asked some people who were not members of our church to visit a worship service, and then meet with her to discuss their initial impressions. She informed the Elders that there would be some. She used an inquiry approach to help us determine how visitors might perceive our church.
At our Council Meeting on February 16, Liz presented the results of her research to the Council. We were pleased to discover that many of the visitors had positive comments about the worship service, singing, and the sanctuary. One person said that “it really felt like church.” Another added, “the liturgy was refreshing.”

Along with positive comments about the friendliness of our church, we also noticed comments that reveal the need to be prepared to welcome people who are not familiar with our church customs. Some visitors pointed out that it was too noisy and crowded to visit after the worship service. Others said that they would have liked to stay for Adult Education while their kids were in Sunday School. One visitor struggled to find our nursery, and wished there had been a more convenient place to change her child’s diaper.

In the coming months, Council will continue to discuss the comments from this informal study, so that we truly are prepared to welcome people into our church fellowship.