I just got out of a meeting discussing our "State of the Church 2010" project for next year. It's very exciting! We're going to benchmark best practices in healthy churches, starting with "friendliness." In the works is an assessment tool that each church can use to determine whether they are or aren't friendly. And who cares about friendliness? Everyone should! Not just the smile and say hi kind of friendliness, but the kind of friendliness that leads to connection and community that's life-changing in the life of the church. Stay tuned! We keep trying to find new ways to serve you every day!
If you haven't already done so, you might want to check out the work of Jim Henderson of offthemap.com. He is helpful in teaching the church to recognize how the unchurched perceive us. "Jim and Casper go to church" is an eye-opening resource which can be found on his site. We can be perceived as friendly by those who understand our culture, our practices, our lingo. But those who do not might feel alienated, despite the smiles and handshakes, especially if there is a great deal of specialized knowledge (eg, lingo, liturgy which is expected, but not written or explained) required to understand our services. In my area I am reaching out to folks who may have a previous religious background (esp Muslim, Bhuddist and Roman Catholic), but there are also many who have no background. Jim's work has been very helpful to me in helping me to become more relevant.
Posted by: Glen Woods | June 02, 2009 at 08:37 PM
Great idea! I saw that book when it first came out. I'll check it out for my research. Thank you!
Posted by: Chris Yount Jones | June 02, 2009 at 08:53 PM