What do people see when they walk into church? It is terribly important. Before you speak word one of your sermon, people have formed an opinion of you and your church based on everything they see in front of them.
It is simply astonishing to me that many pastors have little or no understanding about what the congregation is looking at during worship. We are a highly visually-oriented society. Even our phones show videos, movies, ball games, pictures of families, friends, puppies and kittens, and news events halfway round the world. We expect to see things. We expect to see well!
Let me give you two examples of churches I visited in recent years.
Worship One: The sanctuary was completely invisible from the street. The double front doors, which face the street, remained locked. The choir was still rehearsing just moments before the worship began. The chancel seemed closed off from the nave. The stacking chairs in the nave were about 15 feet from the chancel, and set all the way to the back wall, over a hundred seats. Yet as worship began only about twenty people were in church and most sat in the middle back. The pastor eschewed the pulpit and conducted worship from a music stand on the floor between the front row of chairs. Even with only twenty people in church I could not see the pastor from my seat in the back row. A disembodied voice welcomed us and later preached to us from this position, which was also poorly lit. All the while an elevated pulpit in the chancel was bathed in natural sunlight from an overhead skylight, but it was only used by the liturgist reading scripture. Though the message was good, the visuals were so bad it made the whole experience unfriendly.
Worship Two: The buildings were easy to locate and to find parking nearby, though several signs on the property were obscured by bushes or trees. The worship setting was delightful, the people warm and friendly. The service went well through hymns, announcements and greeting time. But then the service slammed to a complete stop at the children’s time. The children came forward and sat down on the floor in front of the first pew’s modesty panel, under the lectionary podium, where they were invisible. The pastor moved to a central position facing the children but with her back to the congregation. Over the next five minutes the invisible children interacted with the pastor. It was as if the congregation was asked to wait while the pastor spent time with the children. A time which should add energy to the service completely stopped all momentum.
Both services made me feel that no one cared how the service looked. They didn’t expect new people. They expected only the old tried-and-true congregants, who didn’t care that they couldn’t see. A new visitor would not be so complacent and forgiving.
There are several issues about visuals in worship. All are important.
- Outside – first impressions. Do the building and grounds look neat and clean? This tells you that the people who worship there take pride of ownership in their facility. Is there adequate signage to tell you it’s a church and how to find the parking lot, the office and the sanctuary? Are the pathways safe and well lighted?
- Entry – Is every doorway unlocked and open and is there a greeter nearby, preferably outside? If you want people to come visit, you cannot have secret entrances and you must have a charming happy person greeting them. I cannot tell you how many churches I have attended where the front doors were locked and the congregation came in a secret back entry.
- Central Focus – Are the chancel, communion table/altar, chancel furniture and paraments attractive, well lighted and inviting? Is everything in its proper place?
- Video – If a screen(s) is used for video, is it large enough to be seen? Is the screen clear, unobtrusive but convenient, and attractive? Is the text the congregation is expected to read bright and large and logical? Does the background contrast well with the text?
- Sight lines – Can everything that happens in the chancel area be clearly seen by everyone sitting in the sanctuary, balcony included?
- Exits – Is it clear where the congregation is expected to exit? Does the most common exit lead immediately to a hospitality area? Are all the emergency exits signed and unobstructed?
If you fail to have most of these areas well in hand, then people will not feel welcome, and there will be an undefinable discomfort during worship. No matter how brilliant the sermon, music, and liturgy, if people cannot see what is going on, they will feel as if they are not participating in the service.
Take a group of leaders on a quick hike around the property. Look at every aspect of your church visually as if you are seeing it for the very first time.
You will be surprised how easy it is to identify and quickly fix most visual problems. How hard can it be to open the front door?