user friendly

I had a chat with a friend not long ago. This friend has visited a number of churches in his town over the past year, seeking to find a place to put down some roots. As an outsider, with previous inside-church experience, his take on church's user friendliness is fascinating and instructive.

His best story concerned a traditional church that he has visited the most over the past year. We may consider it his church home by default. Each Sunday as he enters, the same older gentleman greets him at the door. They shake hands, say hello, perhaps engage in a bit of banter. My friend felt like they were building a relationship. One Sunday, my friend got there late and no one was at the door. But, he did see his greeter-friend in the congregation and during the time of welcome, when congregants leave their seats to say hello to one another, he rushed over to greet him. As he walked up to the man and said hello, he added, "I missed you at the door this morning!" The man returned his cordial introduction with a blank stare of befuddlement. In a moment, the oblivious response revealed the perceived connection and relationship as fraudulent.

Clearly, this greeter had no idea who my friend was and performed the perfunctory task of saying hello to all who entered. Perhaps the faithful greeter understood his position to entail only that. But, for someone seeking to form a tie to a church, this entrance does not suffice. Most of us have a story about walking into a church and feeling excluded (intentionally or otherwise) and ignored. Those are rarely churches that we return to and seldom places where we encounter Jesus in our midst.

In chewing on this episode for some weeks, I have considered how user-friendly Calvary is. Do visitors know where to go when they enter our church? Are they welcomed and met (implying more than just a standard hello and handshake)? Do they feel appreciated and do we seek to make connections to them? Is there a transcendent spirit of hospitality and care made manifest in the words and actions of these followers of Christ?

These are some things for all of us to consider.