Study guide


ost every congregation desires to grow with new members who will bring new energy, ideas, enthusi- asm and resources. And although most every congre-


gation wants to be a welcoming place for everybody, some unintentionally and unconsciously send mixed signals that keep some folks away. But this is something a congregation can work on.


Exercise 1: A visitor’s view Just as a homeowner can get accustomed to living with


kitchen clutter or threadbare carpets that visitors notice right away and find off-putting, churchgoers can get used to aspects of their building that reflect poorly on their congregation. Metaphorically speaking, put on “visitor’s goggles” and


walk through the outside and inside of your church. Make a spreadsheet listing rooms and spaces, and grade each one on such factors as brightness, cleanliness, clutter, flooring, walls, ceiling, lighting, plumbing, furnishings and age. Note what repairs, renovations or updating would put the space aright. Remember to evaluate your parking area, sidewalks and exterior and interior signs. When done, discuss what message your physical spaces convey to visitors and how to fix it.


Exercise 2: Send a spy Most churches think of themselves as friendly, although


some are friendly only to existing members and not visitors. Is yours one of them? Send in a spy. Invite a friend who is unknown to your congregation to attend your church some Sunday. While you purposely ignore your friend, see what kind of reception he or she receives. Ask your friend to come to your study group to provide


feedback about how he or she was treated and about the physical plant (see above). What can you do better?


Exercise 3: Be a visitor To learn more about congregational hospitality, as a


study group plan a Sunday when pairs of you will visit different churches where you are not known. Prepare in advance a list of things to look for in people, such as how you are greeted at the door or narthex and whether they


This study guide excerpt is offered as one example of the more than 400 that are currently available on The Lutheran’s website. Download guides (including a longer version of this one)—free to print and Web subscribers —at www.thelutheran.org (click “study guides”).


20 www.thelutheran.org


By Robert C. Blezard


Welcome: What does it mean? M


talk to you during the sharing of the peace, coffee hour or after the service. Prepare what to look for in the church building, including signage, cleanliness, etc. Share your experiences and discuss what your congregation may do to improve its hospitality.


Exercise 4: Who’s welcome? • How diverse is your neighborhood, county or region in such areas as race, nationality, economic level, educa- tion, family composition, and sexual orientation and identity? How do you know?


• Is that diversity reflected in the regular worshipers of your congregation? If not, why not?


• In what ways might the congregation be unconsciously sending out the message “you’re not welcome here” to certain types of visitors? How can it do better?


Exercise 5: Special effort In addition to becoming more welcoming generally,


does your congregation need to make a special effort to open the door to some groups of people, especially those who haven’t been part of traditional Lutheran culture? Why is this so? How or why might some people feel “left out” or unwelcome in the middle-class, white culture with which most congregations identify? Brainstorm steps your congregation can take to invite


members of the following groups and make them feel at home in your church: African-Americans, Latinos, Asians, non-European immigrants, neighbors who don’t speak English, the very poor, others? What would their presence mean to your congregation?


Exercise 6: Risk and change • Why is it hard for a congregation to change and become more welcoming? Why is it sometimes risky? Who might get upset? What might happen?


• Why is it risky not to change and not to be more welcoming?


• Which risk is worse: changing to be more wel- coming or not changing? 


Author bio: Blezard is an assistant to the bishop of the Lower Susquehanna Synod. He has a master of divinity degree from Boston University and did subsequent study at the Lutheran Theological


Seminary at Gettysburg (Pa.) and the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia.


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