How important is the atmosphere?

The first impression, the first 30 seconds. We’ve all no doubt heard various opinions and even research on how this goes. When you meet a new person, you naturally judge them immediately. This is not necessarily negative judgment, just a human response to your brain asking questions like, ‘do I like you, do you like me?’ They say we take about 30 seconds to form a fairly solid opinion, then the future relationship can unpick and change some of this formed idea.

When it’s meeting a person, we tend to look for similarities as ways of connecting. Questions around where we are from, what job we do, family life and so on, are as much to see how we can connect, as they are just questions of interest. We spend the first so called ‘small talk’ building a picture of how we connect. Maybe we grew up in a similar area, or even had an uncles friend who was a teacher at a school in the town! We’ll willingly go a few-times-removed to find that link.

Generally speaking, humans enjoy belonging. If someone is walking into church for the first time, this is almost definitely what they’re looking for! Heart racing, feeling nervous and unsure, scanning the way in for a friendly face or an instruction of what on earth to do here.

Imagine walking into a welcoming home, where nothing is too much trouble. Some kind of wonderful hybrid of comfort and familiarity, and excellent hospitality. Before you even speak with someone, you can tell you like this place. It’s warm and welcoming. There’s lively chatter all around. It’s clear what’s happening and how you can join in. There are comfy chairs, somewhere to go and get a drink. The lighting is warm, and the whole place looks a bit lived in (in a good way), the children are clearly welcome here! Someone friendly has spotted you and asked if you’d like a coffee. They chat with you as they make it, letting you know a bit of what to expect during the morning. They introduce you to someone, together you take a seat and natter over your drinks. A couple of other people join you too, one remarking on ‘loving this song’. You’d not really noticed the background music until now, but it had certainly muted the potential for awkward silence.

If your first few minutes visiting a new church helped you feel connected, find things in common and feel accepted, how more likely are you to go back?

The judgment is made, do they like you? Do you like it here? Your opinion of this church is already fairly formed, and it’s not based on the sermon! If these first few minutes have helped you feel connected, find things in common, feel accepted, you’ll be willing to give it a good go.

Church doesn’t need to be flash or big budget, but I do think it’s important to move a way from the feeling of providing a service in a clinical setting, to welcoming people home. A few simple changes, which are in truth, a shift in our approach, can go a long way to seeing people find Jesus, simply because the connection and welcome were genuine.

A few simple steps…