One never gets a second chance at making a first impression. The same is true in a church worship experience
Recently, I was fortunate to take a rare Sunday off from my regular role on a church staff and used that time to visit a couple local churches where I have friends who attend.
It was the first time in years that I had attended an unfamiliar church as a visiting attendee, and the experience reminded me how much I've forgotten what it's like to be a guest in a Sunday worship service.
For those of us who work in a church or even serve consistently, it can be easy to lose sight of what it feels like to be a first-timer in a new place. We are so used to being part of the atmosphere that it can become easy to take for granted that everyone is just as familiar with it as we are. But once we lose sight of the perspective of the visitor, we can unintentionally help create an environment that can seem distant and exclusive, not inviting and engaging.
After my “visitor” experiences, I was reminded of three quick thoughts that church techs need to constantly consider as we help create a guest-friendly worship experience.
1. The opening worship set is a make-or-break experience.
Anytime I meet someone new, I aspire to put my best foot forward during that introduction. After all, one never gets a second chance at making a first impression.
The same is true in a church worship experience. A visitor's first impression of who you are as a church is typically going to be formed during the first few minutes of their time there.
For any new creative piece, it’s important to ask the question, “Would a new visitor understand this?”
During worship, this rises and falls on the quality of the audio experience, and I'm reminded of three C's: clarity, coverage, and consistency.
The first goal of mixing the audio for worship should be ensuring that the vocals are clear and intelligible, not trying to see how loud we can get the mix or how much low-end energy can get created. As an audience member, volume is irrelevant if it makes the vocals muddy.
Coverage is also important, because most visitors tend to sit in the back of the auditorium, or in an aisle seat near an exit. In essence, wherever they can get in and out the fastest and easiest. But in many rooms, the audio engineer dials in the PA based on two sweet spots: what the pastor is hearing on the front row, and what is being heard at the mix position. Through this, it's important to remember that every seat in the house may be used by a guest, and even though we may be limited by the gear we are using, we should still do everything we can to help every seat get the best experience possible.
Consistency in the mix is also critical, both from song to song and from week to week. The volume and mix quality shouldn't change dramatically during the worship set (people shouldn't get jarred unexpectedly because of how loud a song's lead-in is). Remember, the goal is for people to be comfortable enough in the environment to be willing to engage, and consistency breeds comfort. Weekly consistency in the mix is important too, because I should want a visitor to be able to experience a comparable product on any given Sunday (technique and staffing are two critical areas for this that each require more investment as stand-alone topics), and my regular congregants should feel comfortable bringing a guest any week and feel that the experience will be just as good for that guest.
2. Appropriate use of lyrics and verses on screen is a must.
For those who are active in a church, singing certain songs has become second nature because we are so used to hearing some of the same ones week after week. We don't need the words on the screen on time (or even on the screen at all) because we know them so well.
But for the uninitiated guest, this is a clear way for us to unintentionally exclude them from being part of the experience. They can't sing along if they don't know the words. That's why it's critical to have lyrics on the screen during all congregational worship elements. Nothing excludes a visitor faster than having them be the one person in the room who has to stand there without singing, just because they don't know the words.
And beyond just having the words on screen, they must be done in a timely manner, and each line's text should be on screen before it has to be sung. Try have the new slide of lyrics on screen even before the last word on the previous slide is being sung. The mind reads faster than a person can sing. So as we read the last word of a slide, the mind is already wondering what's next. Having words on screen early is much, much better than lagging behind by even just a millisecond.
Using graphic support during the sermon itself is critical also. Most guests don't bring a Bible with them and are likely unfamiliar with scripture, even ones regarded as being “well-known.” Putting scripture on screen when it's referenced by the pastor helps the congregation follow along more easily. It also can help any skeptical visitors see that the pastor isn't just making up a quote that helps support his point, but he's referencing an actual scripture in the Bible that one can later read on his own and in context with additional text.
3. Avoid using “insider language” when at all possible.
All of our churches have certain terms or phrases we use to describe places in our building, events, membership classes, etc., and it can become easy for these to be a common part of announcement videos, bulletins, or even talking points from the stage. However, if we're not clear in offering context or an explanation of what these things mean, we're doing nothing to help guests get more engaged; we're just adding more questions in their minds.
Many church TDs also serve in a creative capacity to help create videos, signage, or social media materials during the week. When we grow accustomed to using the same language over and over, it gets easier to gloss over explaining them because we know a majority of the congregation is overly familiar with it and we don't want to waste their time having to re-explain it all once again.
However, while this may be true, our churches should be focused on the people who aren't plugged in yet, not those who are. At times, it's OK to take the step of making our “regulars” uncomfortable, simply because we aren't trying to reach them…they're already plugged in. It's always better to over-communicate than to assume.
Also, for any new creative piece, it's important to ask the question, “Would a new visitor understand this?” It's worth considering asking someone who doesn't even go to that church to read the material or watch the video, then ask them if it's clear enough for them to understand as a non-attender.
The primary focus of a healthy church should be on reaching and welcoming those from the outside and helping them see a clear path of engagement and spiritual growth. To do this effectively, we must regularly examine our worship services through the lens of the uninitiated to see where we can continue to improve.
