Next time you’re buying a coffee think about the service. How served do you feel? Most cafes do a pretty good job don’t they? And we appreciate being served well. We might even build a connection and come back. Of course if you don’t drink coffee… I’m sorry. I really am. It’s more than the service you’re missing out on!
Interesting that word ‘service’. It’s the one we still use to refer to our ‘corporate’ time together as a church each week. ‘Gathering’ is a good word, but it’s a bit of a mouthful.’Meeting’ doesn’t sound that inviting. So for now, it’s still a ‘service’. But is it?
When someone joins with us at SCPC for the first time, I wonder how served they feel? Our welcoming teams do a terrific job. And to be honest, I’m pretty confident we are – on the whole – a friendly church. I had an encouraging conversation just the other day with a couple who’ve only been with us a few months but feel incredibly welcomed and already very much at ‘home’. That’s great.
It’s always worthwhile reflecting, however, how we can make sure in every possible way we are welcoming to outsiders. This is especially the case as we build towards connect09 and wanting to welcome many new people among us. Because what’s on offer through the body of Christ is much more than a nice cuppa. This isn’t connecting for another cup of coffee. This is connecting to Jesus the only hope.
So, speaking of coffee, here’s a link to play a video where one Christian group asked the question ‘What if Starbucks marketed like the church?’. I’ve always been a fan of the power of negative modelling – and the video does a good job of showing how to get things wrong at just about every point. The challenge isn’t t just that we become slick at marketing. It’s about being genuine and sincere. It’s about being aware of how we really come across to new people. It’s about being aware of what it’s like for them to step into church for the first time. Warning, the cringe factor is very high. Let’s make sure we’re not this unaware how we’re really coming across. Click here.
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