It seems that as the years pass, a smaller and smaller percentage of attendees are actually participating in church life.

Some of this arises from seeing our involvement as only during the time we are together on Sunday. We give our two hours on Sunday which is finely focused in our church gatherings, rather than an all week commitment to others.

Some have described the trend towards the ‘professionalisation’ of ministry: the ministry we should all be engaged in from the pew is done to us and for us by the people in charge. 

Over the last few weeks I have been considering what can be done about this - so I have been watching the many congregational gatherings I have been part of. 

I notice that:

    "¢ people tend to sit in the same places in church each week

    "¢ visitors tend to sit at the sides and back of the church

    "¢ anything that gets in the way of visitors making it to the 'coffee area' is enough reason to slip out. 

So here are some suggestions about how we minister from the pew based on the geography of the church meeting. 

1. Ask the good welcomers who sit in various parts of the building to be responsible for welcoming and enfolding all those around them. Their responsibility is to welcome both visitors and regulars to their geographical patch and to assist in building the relationships between people. Perhaps they could even be catalysts in organising lunch or dinner between those sitting near each other?
 
2. Have good welcomers sit where the visitors are likely to sit. For example parents with young children tend to work out where to sit. Have people who can help out with young kids already seated there. In some ways this is much more natural than pairing up visitors with welcomers at the door.
 
3. Have morning tea/supper near the exits. For many years churches put morning tea away from the exits to prevent people escaping. These days, if it is not easy to access, people will leave. At some of the churches I have been watching things like chairs in the way, insufficient room to stand and chat in groups, and 'clumps' of regulars in groups around the coffee are enough to turn people away. I have noticed how during these times it is almost impossible for people not in a group to join any of these 'clumps'.
 
4. Have coffee where there is something else for the visitor to do, so they don't feel obviously out of place. Let's take a leaf out of the bookshop trade. People love drinking coffee and browsing books. Perhaps coffee near the bookshop. Visitors like looking busy so they don't look conspicuous. Of course, we need to have regulars stationed at the bookshop as well to engage the readers.

All this may sound manipulative, but it is for the sake of the people God is calling to Himself. God gives us each other to help each other. This is just a plea to think about the geography of what happens in church so that we may do this.

(Feature photo: Photo: Flickr by smaedli)