Visitor's Perspective

Churches can be great at putting together an amazing worship experience for Easter, but not so good at doing follow-up the next week.  We all know the importance of Easter—along with the opportunity and openness to reach new people in our community. 

It’s not uncommon to ramp it up for Easter and then take the next week off.  However, it’s that following week where we have just as much opportunity to make an impression on someone new.  It’s also our chance to show how the church helps...

My mother-in-law was shocked after church this past Sunday.  It had nothing to do with the service we went to, but instead the reaction my wife and I had to it.  We both liked it.  It harkens back to the classic Life cereal commercials where there’s no conceivable way Mikey would like a healthy morning meal, but in disbelief he liked it. 

See, the churches my wife and I have attended in our lives are fairly contemporary.  New music fills the theater-like worship center while churchgoers...

Sometimes when it comes to design, we make decisions based on wanting something to look cool.  In fact many times we may judge design solely on it looking good without taking into effect how it communicates something or how it can better help our organizations connect with people.

Fast Co. Design had an interesting article recently that looked at what good design can do for a business.  As I read through the list, I couldn’t help but think there are some good principles for churches to...

Thanks to everyone who came to our workshop about being a welcoming church at the Edmonton Day of Encouragement.  I appreciate your interaction and great questions.  A few of you asked for a copy of the presentation, so here it is.

My wife and I recently tagged along with my in-laws to a Sunday service at a popular church in the south suburbs of Chicago.  As I was drinking my free coffee (major bonus points) and walking around the building, my wife pointed out something she saw all around the church: information kiosks.  While it’s not uncommon to see racks of brochures about programs in a church, it was clear to me that this church had made a conscious decision to have them in multiple places.  Clearly, these kiosks were...

I’ve always been a fan of good welcome videos on church websites.  It’s not a must for everyone, but if you have the people with the talent to do it in your congregation, it can add a lot of perspective to a visitor who’s coming to your website.  Here are a couple of welcome videos I particularly like from WestGate Church and The Chapel.

Here are some of the reasons I think these videos work:

• I get to see the church from parking lot to sanctuary.  I know which door to use to go into the...

How are you planning for the weekend after Easter?  I’m sure in the hustle surrounding the weeks leading up to Easter weekend this is not exactly the question you might want to hear.  But every year I get this idea stuck in my head that we need to do a better job of following up our revved up Good Friday and Easter weekend festivities.

First, don’t fall victim to the letdown.  As church staff, leaders and volunteers, it’s natural to want to take a breather after a big weekend like Easter. ...

Throughout its history, the people behind Twitter have been good at catering to what their community of users find useful.  I was recen­tly listening to an interview with Biz Stone, one of Twitter’s founders, when I was reminded that some of Twitter’s most popular features are ones that weren’t conceived by the company.  For example, two popular features, @replies and hashtags, were started by the community of users.  And in the response to the popularity of the features, Twitter integrated...

Willow Creek is one of those churches that can be divisive for people.  One side loves the worship experience.  Others think this massive church has been a bad influence on smaller congregations around the country.  So I wasn’t completely sure what my reaction would be as my wife and I visited the main campus this past weekend.

I think the most successful communications achievement at Willow Creek is making a big place feel personable and non-intimidating.  Finding a place to park was easy. ...

For the past couple of days, I’ve lived in captivity of the glass domed mini-city that is the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville.  You may remember that last May, massive floods in Tennessee left part of the Opryland underwater.  After months of rebuilding and renovations the compound has reopened.

This is the fourth year I have been a guest of the Gaylord for work.  It’s interesting to see what’s changed because of flood damage and what parts have stayed the same.  I was chatting with an...