Making your church welcoming
for visitors: • Open your church so people can get in. 40% of rural churches try really hard to have their church building open during daylight hours. This takes a significant act of loving care by many members of the congregation, which needs to be regularly supported through prayer and thanksgiving. Locked churches give a clear message that God has gone away and that the worshipping community does not want to share the gospel with others. The Ecclesiastical Insurance Group emphasises that keeping churches open provides better security than keeping them locked. Locking a church and listing named key holders is full of difficulties and may put the key holder in a vulnerable position. Such a system may only work for a rarely visited church where the key holder lives very close by.
• The church needs to be well signposted. Information on how to find the church and when services are held can be displayed in other local businesses and tourist attractions. There is much to be said for a moveable sign at the church entrance or at the lych gate saying ‘Church Open: Welcome’.
• Develop a joint project with a local primary school or the Sunday school, and get them to help you write the
resources
visitors’ guide in simple, clear language. A densely typed, badly photocopied leaflet about the architectural merits of the building will not attract anyone to find out more about the worshipping congregation inside the beautiful building.
• Essential items of church furniture, such as the font, lectern and altar offer an opportunity to explain the significance of baptism as the water of life, cleansing and regenerating; the lectern as the word of life and the strength of tradition and culture; and the altar as the rewards of sacrifice for us and the place of sharing. Stained glass gives another opportunity to tell gospel or Old Testament stories as well as interesting local history. Above all aim to present the sense that these things are used regularly as part of a living faith to those who are just looking.
• Many visitors value praying in church and it is a good idea to have a few small prayer cards available to help with this. Creating a quiet space or corner is also helpful. Affirming the visitor by regularly offering their prayer requests to God as part of regular Sunday worship is very important. Also make sure that there is a visitors’ book available to be signed, it will help estimate numbers of visitors (one in eight visitors sign the book) and know where the visitors have come from. Their comments will help improve the quality of welcome offered.
For more information on making your church welcoming to visitors see:
Rural Visitors (ACORA Publishing 2001) This publication provides some excellent factually based information on the different things tourists want and respond to when visiting rural churches. Churches Tourism Association
www.churchestourismassociation.info Open Churches Trust
www.openchurchestrust.org.uk Ecclesiastical Insurance Group
www.ecclesiastical.co.uk National Churchwatch Scheme
www.nationalchurchwatch.com
Tourist Boxes for Small Rural Churches – giving an
informed welcome Some churches in a remote area of rural Suffolk have a visitors’ box to greet the visitor. Some churches put the box in the porch, others in a prominent position inside, either way the waterproof box keeps the contents dry. Inside is all the information a visitor would need: e.g. a Bible, a book of prayers, leaflets on Christian belief and a leaflet on local attractions. Some boxes include neat plastic pockets with clear, well presented sheets on the local area, maps and information on local shops, pubs, B&Bs, restaurants, toilets and garages. This is a very simple way to give an informed and warm welcome.
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