Last month I got one of those mailings from a nearby church inviting me to their Easter service with the words: “If you don’t have other plans… Come Have Free Breakfast with Your Neighbors This Sunday“.  They had me at free.

What’s it cost?
I went to https://www.usps.com/business/every-door-direct-mail.htm and punched in my zipcode and figured it would cost about 15 cents postage a piece. There were 12,000 addresses in my zipcode! ….so fortunately you can select “Carrier Routes” within your zipcode to target specific neighborhoods. GREAT, I thought, but which carrier routes should I select? The usps site was no help.

I did some googling and came up with Search Bug.  SEARCH BUG tells me (for free) what the carrier routes are in my zipcode, how many households are in each, and what the avg INCOME of that route is.  Most importantly, there’s a MAP showing the carrier routes, so that I can target people living around the church. http://www.searchbug.com/tools/cartzip.aspx

The USPS site tells you to find a printer in your area who can print the piece AND mail it using the Every Door Direct Mail protocols. Figure your printed piece will cost you another 25 cents a piece. More if it’s in color. The printer will prepare them for mailing and all you have to do is tell them what carrier routes you want it sent to.

Direct Mail has it’s purposes, strengths and weaknesses.

Forget a “generic” mailing. Most people in your neighborhood already know:

-where you are
-when your service is (they can read your sign)
-and why they don’t come

I think it would make MOST SENSE to use it to advertise “community events” that bring people on your property. Things like neighborhood VBS’, carnivals, concerts, mission yard sales, and yes, even “free Easter breakfast.”

I would also advertise what makes you different, for example, an alternative worship service, or counseling services, or the fact that you have a new preacher who’s a lot better than the old one! (actually, not kidding about that)

When people come to THOSE events, hit them with your church flyers.  Then remember to personally follow up on them to welcome them back. (See my recent posts about “shopping for a new church” for how BEST to collect visitor info).

OTHER OPTIONS:

You can view neighborhood addresses online and create your OWN mailing addresses by cutting and pasting from those online lists.  Go to your local tax assessor’s property tax website. The names and address of every homeowner in your neighborhood is a matter of public record, and most municipalities have them online now.

You can also have your youth group walk the neighborhood with flyers. Order some PENS emblazoned with your church’s name and website and attach them to the flyer so it can be dropped off at a front door and not blow away.  A dozen kids can do 200 homes in no time at all.

At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit blew the Disciples out of their safe upperroom and into the crowd milling about in the neighborhood. And it gave them the gift of speaking in new ways.

Maybe it’s time for a few new approaches in your church too.

Check out my software at http://sundaysoftware.com

Do you know that people may be posting online reviews of your church?

I was googling a church near Houston recently, looking at the Google map to find it, and there was a **REVIEW** option, which allows regis

tered Google users to leave comments about any business on the map.  And yes, according to Google your church is a business.

That’s a handy feature for restaurants, but, what if someone leaves a negative review about your church?

Think it won’t happen? Think again.  I have found negative reviews of some churches on the Google map screen.

“people unfriendly”   “won’t go back”   “too liberal”

Here’s a screenshot of that church near Houston and the reviews of other nearby churches that fit my criteria.  You and I could leave reviews too… all you need is a Google account, such as a gmail account.Your church listing needs a good photo. This is the default.

Screenshot of Google Maps showing 'reviews' next to church addresses.

If it were me, I’d go post at least one good review of your church and identify yourself as a member and why you like your church.  Then, from time to time visit your map location and watch how others review you… some people are malicious.  Fortunately only registered Google users can leave reviews, so you can send them a polite request.

You can also ‘flag’ their comment as unhelpful or inappropriate to get Google’s attention. Have other reviewers do the same if it is indeed a bogus review (if the review is correct, flag yourself!).

More about Google and your church…

Most churches are automatically listed in Google maps because Google has collected the church/business info from places like the Yellow Pages. Occasionally, however, you can see a church listing that doesn’t have the address or phone number listed in a Google search, or doesn’t appear on the map, or who’s website isn’t listed with their address listing. I’ve even seen churches that had the WRONG street address with their listing because of the wrong info Google swept up.

Your church listing needs a good photo, otherwise Goolge will put in the default streetview.

You can FIX these things by logging into Google (use your gmail acct for example) and going to GOOGLE PLACES to create your place on their maps. http://www.google.com/local/add/businessCenter

You really want to do this because Google allows you to “claim ownership” of the business/church date/location which Google  associates with your church. Google will mail you a postcard with a PIN number so that you have permanent control over your record in their system. How nice.

Once you are the “verified owner” of the map listing, you can upload photos. I’m amazed how many churches don’t do this. By default, Google will place a picture of the “streetview” address it has for your church, which often means a PHOTO OF A CURB or tree representing your church.

Check out my software!

All six churches we’ve been visiting have had a good message and authentic worship, and I realize that picking a church shouldn’t be just about “appearances” and first impressions. But here’s the thing: a lot of the things we experienced are probably things they would change if they could, …assuming new member outreach is important to them. And more typical visitors might be put-off by some of the things we experienced, and never coming back.

I know from previous church experiences that once I fall in love with a congregation, I start to ignore some of the negatives. We all do that, but that’s not necessarily a good thing for those trying to attract new members. Some visitors don’t get past the negatives, and many of those negatives can be easily negated! I hope these posts help you do that.

I usually don't wear my hat to church.

Do you know what is it like to worship as a visitor in your Sanctuary?

You’re probably so familiar with it that you don’t really know. Surprisingly, the CHOIR has loomed large in the “visual impression” we experienced in all six churches.

In our last three church homes, we didn’t have a choir sitting up front. Yet, four of the six churches we visited featured rows of be-robed people sitting behind or next to the chancel/communion table.  That’s new to us, and let me tell you, in some of those churches, watching people stare blankly back at you is not that appealing. It can feel –cold. This is especially true if the choir is mostly older folks staring blankly back at you, -as they have in several of the churches we visited. Old faces can look “dour” due to gravity. It’s simply an unfortunate reality, and as you can see by my photo above, I’m not immune to gravity.

But here’s the thing: Some of the choirs were more visually prominent than others, and thus, their appearance left a major impression on us sitting in the pews. In one church they dominated the chancel area, and thus our field of view for 60 minutes.  And many of these prominent folks looked particularly dour. It left an overall impression of an “old people’s church.” The bland matching robes probably didn’t help. As a visitor, I have no connection with those people, so I don’t know how wonderful they are. In two of the churches, the choirs were tucked away.

The appearance of the chancel (front) matters. It’s what we visitors form a strong visual memory about because you have us looking at it for an hour. It’s colors and textures tell us a lot about you. Some churches are trapped by their architecture. But we all know there are things that can be done to affect it. I’m just saying that it is IMPORTANT to US VISITORS who don’t know your congregation yet. When I think of each of the six churches, I see the chancel.

What you can do
1) Talk to the choir members about their unique visual role.
2) Improve the demographics of the choir, such as, adding some young people.
3) Be careful about designing worship space that features the choir at the center.
4) Give the congregation OTHER INTERESTING VISUALS to look at up front.
5) Make sure you liturgy, movement, and demeanor projects what you want it to project, especially if your building sends another message.

The Pastor Up Front
Like it or not, visitors are watching the pastor, –intently. I know this because I have been a pastor-in-the-pew for over a decade ow, and we are on our third town and church shopping experience. The pastor is a major impresssion, not only how they act, but how they appear and move and interact.

Five of the six churches we attended had pastors who presented a “friendly moving target”. One seemed frozen behind the pulpit or in their “talking spot out front” for the announcements. One in particular seemed happy and natural in his movements. Others seemed a bit stiff or uncomfortable or professorial at times. One had some ‘stagey’ moments, –movements that looked a bit theatrical rather than authentic. As we have shopped for churches, my wife and I realize that “how the pastor was up front” also matched our opinion of the church and desire to go back.

Perhaps not so coincidentally, I also liked the sermon of the “natural moving target” pastor the most. It felt more authentic and personal. Moving around as you speak, btw, has the added benefit of causing people to focus, -it’s a brain thing. Suggestion: As the pastor, you probably don’t know how you come across. Ask someone to video tape your next two worship services, then watch it with some trusted friends. If you discover you’re not what you should be, get some professional help, -there are people who train teachers, sales people and CEOs to give presentations. Every pastor could benefit.

Sunday Software, New Tools for a New Generation

The “appearance” of the pastor mattered to us
I was kind of surprised to see ministers in robes in all six churches. Was sort of expecting to see some in suits or sleeves -especially after being part of an island church for the past several years. Pretty ‘formal’ still up here in Florida. Wonder why? Some of them acted like they were in robes too… a bit stiff. Now let me get even more ridiculous about the pastor’s appearance….

In all six churches they wore robes, though not all black. I was MOST intrigued by the “stoles” some of them wore, as some were bright and very creative. And not having seen such regularly for the last couple of years, it’s something that definitely catches the eye and creates an impression. In general, I would say that the TYPE of stole they wore did indeed reflect their worship style and message. Also have to say that the pastor in the blue robe and two who wore white robes caught my eye the most. Blue is nice, and so is white as long as it has a colorful stoll. I’m laughing as I type this…. these are things I didn’t think I’d didn’t think I’d notice as a visitor.  But yeah, I noticed how you were dressed. A lot of little things, including sub-conscious things, go into forming the visitor’s impression, and FOR US plain-ness apparently isn’t appealing!

I enjoyed the services, though some more than others. The pastors all seemed relatively approachable and pretty good at being in front of people. But that’s not the same as ‘personally reaching out’ to potential new members like us. Like it or not, pastor, we visitors are trying to make a connection with YOU as much as the rest of the church. That means YOUR SERMON is a major factor. As visitors, we’re trying to figure out if we “can stand listening to this person every week.” If that weren’t so sad and impossibly true, it would be hilarious. I liked the pastors who moved around and shared some of their own life experience in the sermon. But I winced when they went back into “boilerplate theological language mode” during their sermons, as if their seminary professor was grading them.

This isn’t the post to talk about their sermon “styles”, but suffice to say, they were all interestingly different, and that means that WE as Church Shoppers are being presented with some interesting choices. For you in the church, it means you have some interesting competition.

Our experience meeting the pastors AFTER worship was an important moment, and I addressed that in my previous “Part II” post here. I would recommend every pastor read it.

What does your church “SMELL” like?
It’s something we noticed. We walked into one church and it smelled like a funeral home. Could be due to the flowers or to someone’s over-use of perfume, but back in the car after worship both my wife and I mentioned it as a turn off.  I have dust allergies, btw, and that makes my sinuses sensitive to certain floral smells. Hyacinth make my head close down.

Recently, my wife and I walked in a local grocery store that smelled like rotting meat. The next time it still faintly smelled like rotting meat, …and we stopped going there. There now exists a huge amount of research data on the importance of ‘smells’ in how people perceive things. Retailers everywhere are treating the air their shoppers are breathing. Churches take note. (Add: my wife and I are even comparing the lighting and natural light between sanctuaries. In our last church on the island of St Croix, we didn’t have pews and the sanctuary was also the fellowship hall, so it’s not that our standards are high. In one of the churches we visited here, there was almost no natural light. What I’m saying is that we are comparing YOUR facility to the others we are visiting. And if yours lacks light, or ambience or some modicum of attractiveness, it is probably working against your outreach. Just saying.)

In my software ministry, I made a fun game for kids about the reasons why we should worship and go to church, and the excuses we use to avoid connecting! Click the image to see the program.

Church Building, Signage and Website
As visitors, we first checked you out by visiting your website. And I have to say that the style and quality of the website did indeed match our opinion of the church after visiting. That’s not a good thing for some, as in some cases the website and signage reinforced our visitation experience. I’ve written a lot up here about “making a better church website”, and our visitation experiences here simply confirm my advice about freshness and great photos.

In 5 of the 6 churches, we also did a weekday DRIVE BY before coming on Sunday. That seems kindof funny to me, but I guess we really were “trying before buying.” I really don’t know what we were looking for… perhaps just a sense of “can I see myself walking in there?” What do people see when they drive by your church?

As people relatively new to the area THERE WERE TWO PIECES OF INFORMATION that we really needed:   A map and worship times. I’d make sure those were CLEARLY MARKED on your church’s homepage and not buried in some crazy drop-down-slide-over menu that takes you two tries to figure out. Because we drove by your church, worship times out front are also helpful. In three of the six churches, it would have been nice to have more clear parking signage (as in “more parking back here”).  And in four of the six churches, the “campuses” were complex enough that we weren’t sure where everything was when we decided to explore your campus after worship. Yes, we wanted to see your classrooms and fellowship areas. Probably trying to imagine ourselves in there.

Here’s an interesting point:
I’ve signed up at three of the six church websites for their email newsletters. The other three sites didn’t have this feature. If I were in charge of visitation at those churches that DID have email newsletters, I would be paying attention to who was signing up, and contacting them personally. I’m sure the pastor doesn’t know how to check subscriptions, so I’m going to suggest they find out! One EZ way to set this up: have the webform send a copy of every new registration to the pastor’s email address. Or give the pastor a link to check the subscription list. Better yet, call the visitor and offer to sign them up yourself.

Things we heard….

The Liturgist and Scripture Readers
In our last two home churches most of the scripture readers weren’t very good. Many of them stumbled through the scripture like they were reading it for the first time, misprounounced words, and read the text like a horse heading for the barn. In the six churches we’ve just visited, some readers fared better than others, but most I’d generously give a B-.  This includes some of the pastors who did their own reading. They tend to make it all one run-on passage, and voice every phrase and line and character like the next. As a visitor comparing experiences in various churches (let alone for the members!), this is something that attracts or distracts.

Why should scripture be read with any less preparation and PASSION than the music, prayers and sermon? One church did better than most, and it was the one with the Associate Minister doing the reading. We heard some “better than usual” lay readers, but there was plenty of room for improvement.

The Prayers in all six churches were decent, though some were better than others. It’s hard to “pray the list” of everything everyone thinks is important. I could easily tell who was “reading” their prayer, and who was “praying” their written prayer, and who was “making it up as they go” praying. I prefer to hear someone who has crafted a good written prayer and knows how to ”pray” it aloud from the heart, rather than “say it” out loud from a piece of paper. (Note: It should be a heartfelt prayer and not a thesaurus-infused sermonette.)

My best advice for all six church liturgies is to SLOW DOWN (and drop the seminary language). You’re excited up there, but we have been sitting still. You have put us in a contemplative mood. Don’t race, and don’t try to fit it all in. Not only will this minister appreciate you losing the boilerplate religious language, but so will your seekers who are looking for something different than their parent’s church.

Speaking of hearing…
The music in all six churches has been of varying quality but all within “okay”. That was a surprise, though in one of the churches, the playing of the organ/piano seemed a bit overwrought and overly loud. I’m not a big fan of church-y choir or organ music, so I’m not going to pick a church based on who has the best choir!  (as long as it isn’t hideous)  I’ve come to appreciate that the choir is a way for the musicians and singers to express THEIR faith, so I focus on how THEY are into it, if not me. Please however, see my comments above about “how you look up there.” Several of the churches offered a contemporary service and we’re looking forward to exploring those next. One church choir sang to recorded music with backing vocals. It felt strange to us. One church played some soft music “under” the prayer, and that seemed out of place for our denomination…. kind of like “the way they do it on tv.”

Two of the six churches used projectors during their services. As a media guy, I was intrigued by my response –having never regularly experienced media in worship. It was “just ok”. I still like to hold the hymnbook. One of the churches used the screen to show announcements before worship, including a prayer list. Liked that a lot.

Some final observations…

We don’t have young kids, but we think they are a sign of a healthy congregation. In three of the churches we visited, we saw very few signs of a healthy kids ministry, very few kids (almost none in two churches), and when we went looking for classrooms we were rather disappointed in most. Yes, we’re in Florida, the land of retirement, -but all these churches had neighborhoods around them. It made us wonder “what’s wrong?”

After sorting out our impressions about worship in these churches, we are also looking for adult education and fellowship opportunities. Each of the churches we visited offered something somewhere in their calendar, and in two churches we were actually invited to come to a fellowship meal. We haven’t gone yet, but that invitation DID mean a lot to us. Worship is the place we need to feel comfortable in first, and if we don’t, your program won’t matter. One church had a visitors booth attended by a smiling couple with brochures on various ministries. That was impressive, but strangely enough, they didn’t ask us for our information. The one that gave us a Visitors Bag was also the most proactive about greeting us before and after the service, and asking for our contact info. Fortunately for us, the rest of the service and pastor also seemed pretty good, so we’re definitely going to give that church a LONG LOOK.

I hope you’ve found my 3-part “Visitors” discussion helpful, and pray that something in it helps your church’s outreach to visitors. I realize there are different churches for different folks, but in all my church shopping experiences over the past 12 years (yeah, we’ve moved three times!), I’ve often thought, “do they know how they come across?” and “you know, if only they would ___________.” Mostly, I realize HOW LACKING MY OWN LEADERSHIP has been in this area when I served in the pastorate. It’s been instructive seeing it from the pew, and some of the fixes are thankfully easy. I hope my experiences and suggestions stimulate discussion in your church and help your ministry.

We’re really excited about connecting with a new church home, and that’s the goal of all these posts…. to help churches turn visitors into members for the Glory of God.

<>< Neil MacQueen
www.SundayResources.net and www.sundaysoftware.com

We’ve now visited six local congregations in our new town looking for a new church home, several of them two or three times. Over the past 12 twelve years my family and I have moved three times, and thus done church shopping in three different places. Hoping this next church will be the last.

I’m sure each of the six churches would say that “welcoming visitors” was an important ministry. Each church seemed nice, had a nice service, and seemed to be doing some good ministry. But with the exception of one, their outreach to visitors was not one of those things, -if our experience was typical. More importantly, what they COULD HAVE DONE BETTER would have been very EASY TO DO. As I mentioned in Part I, we’re probably not your average visitor, especially considering that I’ve pastored churches. We also know we need to ‘overlook’ some shortcomings. The question is, will other visitors do the same? And why should a church leave stumbling blocks in place if they can easily be moved? With that in mind, here are some suggestions for you…

Dear Pastor,

1) Please have your CARD ready in your pocket when visitors walk up to you. None did. It will give you an opportunity to break the ice and extend an invitation for contact. Then do #2…

2) Please have a note card and pen ready to write down our names and a phone number as we come through the line and introduce ourselves.  We have signed six pew pads and marked ourselves as “visitors” but didn’t include contact info. In my experience, most visitors don’t. (We did, however, write a check for each offering that did have our contact info on it. This could be important information for a pastor. To date, only one of the six churches has gotten in contact with us, and that may be because I already knew the pastor.)

In the six churches we have visited, none of the pastors did either of these two things, and only TWO of the nine pastors in the six churches we visited followed up on us. I already knew two of the nine by acquaintance, and one of them did email me and invite me to a Bible study. One of the Associate Pastors invited us after worship to contact him, but didn’t have a card with him, and we had already put our church bulletin in the recyle bin by the door. On a subsequent visit, he greeted us again as we walked out and invited us again to contact him. I told him that I had put my email address next to my name on the pew pad. That was four weeks ago, no contact yet. (Yes, I guess you could say this is sort of a test. But I promise, we will not pick a church based on the perfection of the pastor or myth of our own infalliability! But is contacting a potential new member a good idea? Yes.)

3a) After worship, by the time we got to the pastor via the line, five of the six of you looked shell-shocked and worn out. I understand you’re a bit exhausted by worship and the greeting line. Been there! But as a visitor, we’re looking for a connection of some sort, and not just a worn smile. You should have a stock line you ask visitors to open up a bit of conversation.

One pastor, after saying “hello”, physically turned and stepped away from us for a moment to greet someone else, then turned to speak to us again. He seemed like a nice guy. Even after he talked to us, however, both my wife and I thought he seemed uncomfortable. This is someone who needs training because like they say, you only get one time to make a first impression.

In Part I of this series, I note the one pastor who was welcoming people BEFORE worship. That was nice.

Sunday Software, New Tools for a New Generation

3b) Free up time and space in the greeting line. Suggest to your long-time regular members that they bypass the greeting line if they see it is too long. And ask your members to talk to others in the line instead of shuffling quietly forward.

4) Tell your greeters/elders to stick with visitors they greet and offer them a tour, show them to the coffee (it’s not that easy to find in some churches), and introduce them to others, including the pastor. I’m happy to report that in every church there were members who took the time to talk with us. One couple in one church was especially welcoming, and that was a church we wanted to return to for a second visit.

One church did a great job of greeting us before and after the service, both the members and the pastor. One. (I talk about what they did in Part 1 of this series.)

5) During the “passing of the peace” one pastor did a wonderful thing. He asked his members to stand up FIRST, and look around to see the visitors seated around them. Then he asked the visitors to stand and everyone to pass the peace. It was very effective, and was exactly the opposite of asking nervous visitors to identify themselves first. After worship, several members made sure we were welcome. The following Sunday we went back to that church and he did NOT do it. And guess what, …NOBODY welcomed us after worship.

6) Okay, we signed your pew pad, BUT…. did you look at it the following week? I told one pastor I had signed and put my email address on it. No contact to date. We signed pads in most of the churches, and some fellow pew sitters did look at our name when it was passed back. But not everyone looked or passed them.

We have identified TWO churched we’d like to get to know more. Other than a nice worship experience, here’s what attracted us to them:

a.  The presence of families. Here in Florida, aka “God’s waiting room”, that’s not a given, but we think it’s a sign of health.

b. Pastors and liturgist with energy and a sense of joy.

c. Pleasant worship surroundings. (warm colors, textures and character). (Actually, one of the churches is in borrowed space, but it was their people who provided the warmth and texture!) Some of the other churches were nice and clean, but were nothing to write home about. When you are looking for a new “home” church, things like surroundings matter.

d. Good sermon.  (Which I would say includes the defintion: “5 minutes shorter than you think”. All six churches have had good sermons, but each could have been shorter.)

e. Alternative worship opportunities that look interesting.

f. Interesting Adult education choices.  “A year long study on The Gospel of Mark” isn’t very appealing to a visitor. Would have liked to have had adult ed immediately after worship too. This is something I’ve noticed about our “visitation” choices. We didn’t choose to come to adult ed before the service, but after the service, when we were already there, we would have stayed had you had an offering right after (and not 30 minutes later).

Interestingly, “proximity to our home” has turned into only a passing consideration. The two we are looking at more closely are 20 to 25 minutes away.

Check out my 1st and 3rd posts on this subject at http://sundayresources.net/neil/category/lam/ Each has some different observations and some suggestions for doing things better.

<>< Neil

This post is from http://sundayresources.net/neil/2012/04/09/looking-for-a-new-church-part-ii/

Learn more about Neil’s interactive lesson software about the
Ten Commandments at www.sundaysoftware.com/tenbrief.htm

I would never pick or discount a church based on one visit, but I think that’s what many ‘regular’ visitors do. First impressions matter. I hope the following helps your outreach to visitors.
————————————-

My wife and I are looking for a new church, ….again.

Having recently moved from St Croix to Sarasota Florida, we have been attending local churches in search of a church home. Several years ago in this blog, I wrote about the uncomfortable reasons why we left a former church (that post is in my “Neil on the Loose” category). Then in 2008 I wrote about finding our new home church on St Croix. Both were imperfect churches that we fell in love with, which as imperfect people meant they were a good match.  But each experience has helped sharpen our sense of what we’re looking for, and what we want to avoid. Having now made a permanent move to Sarasota Florida, we are on the hunt again, and needless to say, it has been interesting and enlightening.

Point of View:
Not only do churches want and need visitors, but my wife and I are also probably the kind they would really appreciate walking through their door. Why? Because WE ARE READY TO THROW OURSELVES INTO YOUR CHURCH -if you can get us to come back.

I am a Presbyterian minister doing a publishing ministry, and my wife is a former elder in the Church. I love to do C.E. and she loves fellowship and study. When we join a church, we come regularly, we sign up for stuff, we say “yes” when asked to help, and we give. We don’t expect a perfect church (see my comments about that below), but we are admittedly impressionable, attracted by friendliness, expecting to be reached-out-to in some way after we visit, are on the look-out for dysfunctions we’d just as soon not discover too late, and we do have some basic expectations.  So we are visitors with our radar up, and I imagine this is true of MOST visitors.

INITIAL OBSERVATIONS

The FIRST THING we did to LEARN ABOUT your church was go to your website. In fact, I first looked them up on my iphone. Do you know how your church website looks on a smartphone? Many don’t look that good. We googled churches in our area. Does yours show up high on the list? If it doesn’t, then we might not have seen you.

At only once church did they ask us “how did you find us?” In retrospect, that’s a good question each church should have asked. When we told them “via the web” they acted surprised.

We then did a weekday “drive by” of your church. Weird, I know, but it’s all part of the process. How’s your church look in a drive by?

Next, we checked your site to see if you had a children and youth ministry, and adult education offerings.  I personally consider the existence of such basic ministries A SIGN OF A HEALTHY CHURCH –even though our own kids are grown. This may seem like an obvious thing for a church to have, but I kid you not: TWO of the churches we have attended did not have a Sunday School, and none of these were small churches. In fact, in two of the churches we saw zero children.

Sunday Software, New Tools for a New Generation

We also read your  online “ABOUT US” statement.

I can’t imagine a visitor wanting to waste time visiting a church that will make them wince. But it’s more than just beliefs… we’re reading your tone and personalityand beginning to form an impression about you. You can tell A LOT about a church by the way they describe themselves.The “about us” statements I’ve been reading at many church websites often read like a conservative catechism (oy!) or seminary exercise (double oy!).  You are welcome to BE those things I may disagree with, but please BE SOMETHING MORE than just a pile of theological words. Preferably, PLEASE SOUND INVITING and ACCESSIBLE, –and leave off the boilerplate and flowery language, -unless you want me to conclude that this is how you really are.

(For more of what I consider to be a “better church website” go to posts in this blog at http://sundayresources.net/neil/category/churchsite/)

Next….we looked at worship times.
Seriously, 9 am for Worship?  8:30 AM for Sunday School? Who are they kidding. My wife works nights and some weekends. Not all of us like to get up early. 10 am is our “visitor” starting time, and begrudgingly 9 am –once we become members and get hooked.

ONLINE SERMONS MATTER, but…
I skimmed the pastor’s online sermons at four of the church’s we’ve visited. One didn’t have any.  Disappointingly, I didn’t read ONE that I thought was that good in writing, that is, until I clicked the “audio sermon” option on one site. It made me realize how important the AUDIO SERMON is to the quality of the content and judging  “the voice” of the sermon and pastor. With one of the pastors, I’m glad we heard them in person because their online content didn’t do them justice.

In our last church home, I did the website and wondered if anyone listened to the entire audio sermons. I THOUGHT it was important that they did.  Now I realized I WAS A LITTLE WRONG about that.  As a visitor this past month perusing your websites, I just wanted to get A TASTE of the preacher’s voice and demeanor. That was enough. Didn’t need to hear the whole thing. Word to the wise.

WALKING IN

All the churches we’ve visited so far did a nice job of greeting us as we walked in. And I have to admit, it felt good to be stopped and greeted.  One, however, immediately asked us to fill out a “hello” nametag rather than just talk to us. We put them on, then noticed that NO ONE ELSE in the congregation had a nametag, –not even the greeter at the door. The people did notice us during the passing of the peace and glanced at our tags. However, immediately following the service, NOBODY SPOKE TO US –except the pastor in the receiving line.  And neither my wife nor I can remember anyone at that church greeting us with THEIR NAME. (In subsequent churches this improved a little bit, but not much).

At one particular church they did an awesome job of greeting us. Several people came up to us, and I noticed one greeter get the pastor to come over and greet us. This pastor’s welcome contrasts to the huge mistake I used to make when I used to pastor a church. I hid out in the wings just prior to worship, making a few last notes, etc, –when I should have been out greeting people.

That same “awesome greeting church” also gave us a “Visitor Bag” –and I have to say, that impressed us. It had a colorful plastic cup with the name of the church on it, a newsletter and very nice brochure about the church. That was also the church where the pastor greeted us BEFORE worship and After, and emailed us on Monday. By contrast, in two other churches we visited where they did an ‘ok’ job of greeting us, –one had a visitor’s booth that waited for us to go up and get stuff, and neither of those churches ever followed up on our visit.

That “awesome greeting church” was also the only one of six that MADE SURE they had our contact info. After worship, one of their greeters asked us to write down our contact info and stayed to get it from us. Of course, now wondering if they’ll follow up on it in some way. See my suggestions about GETTING VISITOR CONTACT INFO in POST II on this subject at

WALKING OUT

Of the six we visited, only in 3 did people really try to engage us after the service. We joined the exit line to greet the pastor and most people just smiled. At two churches AFTER worship we stood around wondering what to do rather than just leave. Neither had anything planned other than coffee immediately following the service. The class “one-half an hour later in the parlor” at one of the churches doesn’t count because as visitors we weren’t going to stand there for 30 minutes. Had there been a group discussion a few minutes following, we would have walked in.

After worship in one church I had a GOLDEN INSIGHT.  In that church after worship only one person spoke to us as we milled out of the service. He was welcoming and enthusiastic about the church for a minute or two, but then as we entered the narthex, he left us to go talk to his friends. (Should have taken us over to introduce us around, IMHO, but I digress).  We stopped for coffee on the way out and accidentally bumped into a lady who immediately chatted us up. It gave me two good ideas…

1)  EVERY CHURCH should put a “greeter” by the coffee (not a server) to watch for visitors. Indeed, being greeted AFTER worship is as important as being greeted as we first entered your church. In sales, I supposed they would call this “sealing the deal”. We had questions and impressions AFTER worship and it would have been interesting to engage someone. But few churches engaged us after worship, and the line leading to the pastor, and pastor him/herself is a bit of a hog-wrassle.

2) Coffee should be strategically located between your visitors and The Exit, and clearly marked.  As a visitor in many churches over the years, there’s this golden minute or so of “what should we do now?” as you exit worship.  If we make it to the door without an invitation, we’re probably gone. And in a crowd, the coffee table is not so easy to find.

“PEOPLE LIKE US”
After the first couple of church visits, it became apparent to us how IMPORTANT the congregation’s demographics were to us. In the first three churches we visited, we were some of the youngest people in the service (and I’m 52!) In one church, my wife and I were definitely the youngest. Granted, we are in Florida, but there are plenty of un-retired folks living in the neighborhoods around those churches. Somehow, those congregations had driven themselves into a demographic hole. In one church they volunteered to us that they wanted to attract young families. They had a new minister and had just built a new million dollar sanctuary. But the minister appeared to be in his late 50′s, and they had no Sunday School. We wondered what dysfunction had allowed this to happen, but decided not to go back and find out. (The cost of their new sign would have paid for a part-time family ministry and new members pastor, …but I digress.)

I feel like I should say it again that we are not looking for the perfect church.
We are looking for one that “feels right” to us. One with an authentic air; one that seems friendly,  -one that has a “family feeling” in worship and not stiff, -and a message that comes across as heartfelt and hand-crafted, and not book-crafted or bland. We are looking for a minister who doesn’t put us to sleep -but also isn’t in a rush.

Now About the Ministers

All the ministers we’ve met have been nice, and each has been interestingly different. I’m sure I would enjoy hanging with each of them.

All the sermons we’ve heard have been interesting, though many lacked a bit of what I call “self-story”, disclosure, i.e. “what it means to me in my life” –that moment when the preacher because the listener.As visitors (and members) we can’t separate the message from the messenger. We’re listening for how YOU connect. This goes to our overall impression of your authenticity and approachability, and how we feel about coming back for another visit. Some of you did well on this score. Others need to work on it. (I make a few suggestions in subsequent posts here.)

Seems like many ministers I’ve known have two personalities: Public and Private. I find it disappointing when personable pastors put on their “holy formal” demeanor when they get up front. Noticed that in several churches we visited.

It would have been nice to be contacted by a church after we visited.
Only two of the eight pastors in the six churches have done so, –and they did it via email. No pastors have called. None have asked to visit. And we haven’t been contacted by any volunteers either. I found this odd because one of my jobs as an Associate Minister was to call/contact/visit the visitors, and several of the churches we visited expressed the importance of welcoming visitors in their liturgy, print materials, and website.

So Here’s a Tip:
Give us a “hello call” Sunday evening. Then send us a personal email on Thursday or Friday saying you hope to see us again on Sunday and mentioning what’s going on. As a visitor we begin discussing “where do we want to go THIS Sunday?” late in the week, and often on Saturday. A well-timed invitation might help us come back.

When asked about my background, or what I did for a living (which was rare, and usually I volunteered the info), I identified myself as a minister on the loose, and my wife and I said we were looking for a new church home. Many of the congregations here in Florida have retired ministers in them (though I’m not retired). I don’t know if that’s why they didn’t follow up on us. But why should it matter? (I realize these pastors are busy busy people with lots of mouths to feed. But reaching out to ALL potential new members in even a simple way would seem like an easy and important thing to do.)

I haven’t mentioned it yet, but the church music a major feature of any visitor’s experience, has been “okay” in each of the churches we’ve visited. One was really well done, but sounded a bit “high-church” for us. In several services we sang off of projected screens, which was new to us, and I have to admit it felt a bit strange and disconnected as a visitor who hadn’t previously experienced that.  In Post II, you will read more about how much the VISUAL impression of the choir loomed large in several church (and not necesssarily in a good way).

More to come…!

See all three posts on this subject at my Neil on the Loose category of posts
 

And now along comes GOOGLE. For many years Google has been developing a free blog site called “Blogger” (aka “Blogspot”). I’ve been using it for the past four years to maintain my family’s blog, and I recently built a website for a friend’s business using blogspot.com (www.mayanwindpower.blogspot.com).  Until now, I have not recommended Blogspot for church websites because some of their features were weak. Not any more.

Google’s Blogger/Blogspot is ready for church websites.

In fact, if I were re-developing my church’s wordpress-built website, or this SundayResources site, I might now do it in Google’s Blogspot instead of WordPress. Both are good choices and very inexpensive. Depends on your needs.

But check this out…. Blogspot’s interface and templates have a slightly more updated feel, and Blogspot now gives you more control over the look of your pages, fonts, backgrounds and color schemes. They’re both good.

Key Reasons to Consider using Blogger (or WordPress) for your church’s website:

• Blogger/Blogspot is free to start (so is WordPress), and the tools are all online meaning you can work on your site from any computer, even your smartphone, and have people help you from their own computers. You do pay for upgrades, but they are much cheaper than ‘site creation’ companies charge.
• It’s extremely easy to use.
• Free professional looking templates that give your site instant credibility.
• Navigation at your site is automatically updated site-wide every time you create a new page or post.
• Photos and videos are easy to upload and manage. They are automatically formatted for webs viewing for you. Blogspot creates a Picassa photo gallery for you, with online graphic and photo editing tools.
• You can create a test site, and if you like it, follow the instructions to have your church’s domain name (web address) start pointing to your new Blogspot site, instead of the site you have now.
• Blogger/Blogspot is Google, meaning, it will continue to be improved and be no or low-cost.
• Blogger/Blogspot offers a free email newsletter service (see note below).
• Smartphone visitors to your site will automatically be given a Mobile format for viewing.

Here are some of my tips on using Blogger to create a typical church website.

1. Create a free account and make a test site. Your church probably already owns a domain name (i.e. yourchurchname.org) and when you’re ready to switch to your newly created blogspot site, just follow Google’s instructions and Google will point your domain name to your new blogspot website. (It’s called “domain mapping”)

2. You need to understand how blogs are organized. In a blog there are “static pages” such as your “Home” page, or your “About Us” page. And then there are your announcements. In blog language, announcements are called “posts” and they are listed under “Categories” you create and visitors can search.  In fact, one of your main navigational items will be a list of your categories and posts. For example, you could have the category of “Mission News” and create a posting once a month. It is that posting which Feedburner will email to all your site’s subscribers. Feedburner does not email copies of your ‘pages.’

Unfortunately, Blogger currently puts your last post as your “Home Page”, i.e., at the top of your Main page, whereas, you’d like to have a static homepage that acts like a main menu. But unlike WordPress.com, Blogger sortof does not let you create a static home page. Why? Because blogs are all about your latest musings. But we are using blog software to create a website, so here’s how I worked around that:

Blogger will show your newest post as your Home page, so I created a post called “Home” page, and gave it a date far in the future to fool Blogger into thinking it was always my latest, and thus, it always puts that post on the top of my main page. This might seem confusing, but when you play with the interface, it will be obvious. I also choose not to display the date of my “home” post so people don’t ask “why does that post say it was made in 2019?”     Note: Google is always improving Blogger and I suspect they’ll eventually give us a “make this page my static home page” option. Watch for it.

3. If you’re working with a cool background image for your site that you don’t want your posts to completely obscure, open up the advanced Template control panel and play with the percentage of ‘transparency’ for each post’s fill. This allows your background image to be visible behind your posts which have a solid background …until you adjust the transparency control. For example, at my buddy’s www.mayanwindpower.blogspot.com website, you can see I made the box behind each post slightly transparent.

4. Keep your Categories to a minimum. You don’t need one for every ministry, and if people don’t keep your site updated with new posts, all those categories with old posts will look dead. Instead, create ‘catch-all’ categories like:  “Announcements”.  For more ‘static’ information, i.e. info that doesn’t often change, create “pages”. These pages will appear as ‘tabs’ at the top of your site. (Lots of options to play with like this.)

5. Keep the Doo-dads to a minimum. Don’t make your church site look like it was designed by a 12 year old web-wannabe.  Keep it clean, uncluttered, fresh. And don’t make new posts too often. People don’t like to have their inbox spammed.

6. Invite others to help you maintain the blog, er…., church website. It’s easy to set up additional ‘authors’ who can come in and help you. And because the control panels are all online, there’s no special software to download.

A Great Feature:
In a previous post here, I described how to set up a free church email newsletter on your website using Google’s “Feedburner” service. I’m happy to report that Feedburner is an option you can now activate with a click on your Blogger dashboard (aka “control panel”), –and it gets automatically set up behind the scenes. Very impressive. The point is that Feedburner sends an email copy of every new post you make at your website to everyone who has provided their email address to your Feedburner subscription page. Powerful, simple, free.

Note: Google also offers a “Google Sites” application, but inexplicably, it is ridiculously clunky. Wouldn’t surprise me someday if they merged Blogger with their ‘Sites’ app some day. For church purposes, Blogger (or WordPress) is all you need.

<>< Neil MacQueen
www.SundayResources.net and www.sundaysoftware.com

This is an awesome piece of software I designed for Sunday School. Click the pic to check it out.

Last month the family and I brought our St Croix USVI adventure to a close and relocated to Sarasota Florida, otherwise known as, “civilization.” We had a wonderful 3.5 years on the island of St Croix and will miss our friends and church there very much. My wife is now working at Sarasota Memorial Hospital, and I have relocated our Sunday Software operations here to Florida. I’ve been visiting Sarasota since 1969 and our family has vacationed here many times.

Our heart goes out to St Croix which as we left was beginning to suffer from the effects of large layoffs in government and the closing of a refinery, the island’s largest employers. Tough times ahead and wish we could have stayed and supported the wonderful people. But family and job circumstances required us to get to Florida, and even now many of our island friends are moving as well as the economy there reels.

I’m looking forward to “church shopping” again, not only because we have to, but because there’s a certain excitement about finding a new church to throw your heart into.  In this blog, I’ve written about some of our past “church shopping” experiences, and in the coming months I’ll post again about what it’s like to be a visitor. It is my hope that you will be able to use some of my experiences and ideas to improve your own church’s visitor experience.

<>< Neil MacQueen

www.sundayresources.net

neil@sundayresources.net

Click the image to view Cal and Marty's Scripture Memory Game CD

I don’t know anything about Kenda Dean, other than she does youth ministry in S. Africa, and is blessed with some great insights.

My own ”Top 10″ would have been “The Top Ten Things I’d Do Dfferently in my youth groups if I could do it all over again.”

Here are some of my thoughts on that…

My #1 “Thing I’d Do Differently” would be to do much more one-on-one pastoring and “2 or 3″ small group pastoring. I’d spend less time on “group” ministry.

My #2 “Thing I’d Do Differently” would be to spend less time OVERALL on youth ministry, –and more time ministering to specific adults who have come back to the church at some stage in their life.  When I look back on all my years in youth ministry, I now realize how I OVER-SPENT my staff time on youth ministry and didn’t spend enough time on ministering to individuals who were “taking a run” at the church. Sometimes that individual was a young adult, or a middle-age person, or senior who had for some reason have decided to give the church a second chance.  As I look back, I see the faces of so many who crossed my path, and I didn’t have the time to connect with them at a deeper level, because sometimes I was spending too much time on cajoling some youth who were not receptive or ready to connect.

This is not to denigrate the importance of youth ministry. Rather, it simply recognizes that we have a finite amount of time. It also recognizes that “there is a time and season” when someone is ready for faith, and ready for greater involvement in the church, and we often MISS these people when its their time because we’re over-spent on those not ready. In some cases, they were kids who floated through “youth groups past” and are now taking another run at the church years later.

If you’re focused on youth ministry this surely sounds like heresy. But looking back through my several decades of youth ministry, I realize that I came in contact with so many ”second runners” that I didn’t take time for because my job description and focus didn’t understand the opportunity and importance.  I wish ”Now Neil” could go back in time and talk to “Then Neil”.  But would he listen?

I’ve written some other things about youth ministry in this blog, including “Confessions of an Old Youth Minister” http://sundayresources.net/neil/2010/02/18/confessions-of-a-youth-minister/ You can see more of my thoughts on CE here at http://sundayresources.net/neil/category/christian-education-ideas-and-advice/

<>< Neil

In my software ministry, I made a fun game about the reasons why we should worship and go to church, and the excuses we use to avoid connecting! www.sundaysoftware.com/zombies

Here are my notes on the subject.

The New Year’s Ritual of Tashlikh

“Tashlikh” is the Hebrew word for “throwing away”. It is a tradition in which we throw away our sins at the start of the new year, to make a fresh new beginning.

Tashlikh seems to have begun in Medieval times, as a practice in Jewish communities where after prayer, stones were thrown in a natural body of water on the afternoon of “Rosh Hashanah“–the Jewish New Year (which occurred in the fall for them, see note below). After prayer, participants would also shake their clothing to symbolically shake sins which have clung to them. Rabbis insisted the water be a natural body, preferably running, and contain fish.

It was described in the Mishnah, and based on Micah 7:19, “God will cover our sins, God will hurl all our sins into the depth of the sea.”

It also seems previewed in Ecclesiastes 3:5… “a time to scatter stones.”

Coincidentally, in the Letter to the Hebrews we read, “Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every weight that slows us down, and the sin that clings to us, and run the race with endurance that is set before us.”

Rosh Hashanah, following the Jewish calendar, takes place in the fall. As part of the celebration, worshippers dip apples into honey and recite a blessing, “Shana Tova Umetukah” –which is Hebrew for “A Good and Sweet Year.” (שנה טובה ומתוקה)

The date of New Years Day has varied widely throughout history. Some ancient cultures placed it in the Spring, others in the Fall. Many, like the Romans placed it after the winter solstice…which in the Julian and Gregorian calendars became January 1st. By the 17th Century most of Europe had followed suit.

The dating of New Years is rather irrelevant. The important thread is that God has given us time and ritual to remind us of what’s important.

-Neil

If you want to receive copies of blog posts like this one with fresh ministry ideas, challenging points of view and tech notes for churches, then Click here to subscribe! The link will take you to my Google “feedburner” page where you can add your email address. Then, when I post something new to this site, you’ll get an email copy of it.

A fun game about the reasons why we should worship and go to church.

Seems harmless. But to many of us coming in the door, it comes across as passive aggressive, -judgmental. “Missed you last Sunday” sounds a lot like, “You should have been here.”

Worse, it sounds too much like our mother saying, “Where were you last night?” And indeed, some pastors and parishioners I’ve met mean it exactly like that. They didn’t really miss you. They want to know why you weren’t there. And even if they don’t, that’s what it makes you feel like. …and nobody likes that feeling.

I accept that some pastors say “Missed you” without even thinking about it, and probably without any twinge of judgementalism. But the effect is often the same: you feel judged.  So I offer this advice: 

There are some things a pastor SHOULDN’T SAY,
….and “Missed you last Sunday” is one of them.

The problem isn’t just with the pastor. Well-meaning (?) CHURCH members often say the same thing, only they’ll come right out and say, “Where were you?”  In fact, in every church there seems to be one person who excels at it, and I know exactly who it is at my church (and indeed, when I was on staff, it was regrettably sometimes me).

I find it interesting that even when I have a “good” excuse –I still feel a bit defensive and guilty when someone “misses” me. And no, that’s not just me, ask around. (Update: an hour after I posted this someone emailed and said “me too!”)

About the only two “good” excuses people seem to accept are: “I was out of town,” and “I wasn’t feeling well.” God-forbid I slept in, or overslept, or went diving, or went out to breakfast, or went to watch my kid play in a soccer tournament.

Funny thing is, if I say, “I wasn’t feeling well”, they understand. But if I say, “I’ve been tired and needed to sleep in”, or, “my daughter and I wanted to go diving and it was her only day off,” then I’m probably in for  a “must be nice” response.

Okay, some of those excuses are probably not “good” excuses, but choosing to occasionally do something different than going to church is not a “bad” excuse either. In fact, I hate the fact that I’m even using the word “excuse” here. Attendance is not a measure of godliness. (See my “thought” question at the end for more on this).

Aside: When I was a church staff minister, I wasn’t fully aware and paid little attention to the SUBTLE POWER I had to CONVEY GUILT.  And since leaving the pulpit to reside in the pew, I’ve come to appreciate how MY attendance not voluntary, but PAID FOR. For 20 years it wasn’t an option to NOT be there, except when I was on vacation. Now that I’m a pastor in the pew, volunteering on staff (while running my CE software company during the week), I have a REAL CHOICE not to go to church. It was an eye-opener for sure, and there are many other posts in this blog about WHAT ELSE I’ve learned.

I know from experience that many people feel the same way I do about this subject. And if REGULAR MEMBERS feel this way, imagine how the “irregular” members feel when we ask them where they’ve been?  (in our subtle ways, of course).  In fact, with our irregular members, “Missed You” could be doing more harm than good.

Why? Because nobody likes to feel guilty or judged, …even if you didn’t intend to make them feel that way.

Guilt often backfires, especially among those of us reared under “Grace” instead of “Damnation”. We don’t equate NOT being there with lack of faith. Problem is, we still feel guilty about it.  (Such is life.)

So my point is, DON’T HELP US by making us feel MORE guilty. Rather, LISTEN to what we’re saying to you. Listen to how we spent our time, or what we felt our needs were, and respond to those.

____

I’m especially concerned about how we unwittingly GUILT the kids and teens…

Years ago, I had this conversation with one of the teens at our church. Only later did I realize how it had affected her, and what a missed opportunity it was for me as her minister.

Amy: (slinking in another door to enter the Sanctuary)

Neil:  Hi Amy, Can you come to Youth Group tonight? (he said walking towards her)

Amy: No, sorry, I’m running tonight.

Neil:  (not listening) Oh, well, we miss you in youth group. We’re playing volleyball tonight.

Amy: Sounds like fun. I feel awful about not being able to come.

Neil: Well, maybe next Sunday.

Amy:  (Cringing)  Oh, sorry, I can’t make that either, I’m so sorry Neil!  (Amy goes into Worship.)

The following week I found out that Amy was in the state track meet and won first place in the mile. Sunday night was training, and the following Sunday was the meet.
What I should have done and said was affirm her, ….and brought the youth group to see her!  But all I did was end up with a kid who avoided me most Sundays, because nobody likes to feel like a slacker.

___________________________________________
FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
How many of your members feel guilty about not attending sometimes?

What will they tell you are the subtle ways the church/pastor “makes them” feel this way?

What are some better ways to inquire about people’s lives without sounding like “missed you last Sunday?”

____________________________________________

Advertisement: I made a software game about “The Importance of Going to Church.” It’s called, Attack of the Sunday School Zombies CD, www.sundaysoftware.com/zombies, and deals with the ‘excuses’ some people make for not going, and the poor attitude some people bring with when they DO go! (How funny is that?)

Fav icons make the bookmark or browser tab
“Fav” is short for “favorite”, and even if you didn’t know they were called that, you’ve seen “Fav” or “Favorite” icons all over your Browser window. A “fav” icon is a simple custom graphic provided by your website that appears next to the name of the webpage.

Here you can see the “fav icons” in my browser window Favorites Menu.  For example, you can see that I have a Google “favicon” in my favorites bar.  Your internet browser may show them differently.

Note: Not all webpages can or have ‘fave’ icons. Instead, they use the default brower’s icon, such as Internet explorer’s standard favicon:

One of the BIG advantages of having a custom fav icon is that it makes your link/bookmark STAND OUT to the user. And if you’re like me, you’ve created a mini menubar of “favorite sites” on the top of your browser windows. You do this by dragging the faveicon of any site down on to the toolbar. Very slick, and you can see the visual impact in the image above.

Another big advantage is that you can encourage church members to “drag the church’s website onto your browser toolbar” so it will always be staring at them one click away when they browse the internet.

FAV ICONS ARE TERRIFIC REMINDERS that say “come visit me!”
…and they are really easy to make and install.

To  add  your  own favicon.ico to a web page you need put the icon graphic file on the server into  the same directory as the web  page it is for.  So, if your main page is located at www.yourchurchsite.org/index.htm Then you need to upload your favicon.ico to www.yourchurchsite.org, i.e, the same folder as the page you want an icon for.  That  is the  first place a  browser will search.

Note: By putting the faveicon.ico file in the main folder/directory, it will become the default favicon for all the  pages in  your  domain.

Next… Depending  on the user’s browser, the favicon.ico may not always be picked up by simply uploading it. Sometimes you have to put a piece of code in the main index page of your site to say “show my favicon.” Here’s the html code you’d slip into the <head> section of your webpage’s code to be sure every browser sees your favicon.

<link rel="icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon">
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon">

You don’t have to create a custom favicon. Just google “christian fav icon” to look for free ready-made ones you can copy to your website. Chose one that is between 32×32 pixels and 64×64 pixels and visually stands out. Icons need to be simple, so don’t look for one that has a lot of text because the image is so small it won’t be readable.

Your favicon does not have to be in the .ico file format. Most web browsers can support jpg, gif and png favicons as well as “ico”, (thus, you can upload favicon.jpg, or favicon.gif, or favicon.png). Your choice.

Tip: Favicons need to be simple “icon” graphics, not photos as they can only be 16×16 pixels.

Tip:  Include the favicon image in newsletters and emails to help members MAKE THE CONNECTION. Every little bit helps when trying to get & stay in front of your members’ attention.

<>< Neil MacQueen
www.sundayresources.net
www.sundaysoftware.com

Check out Name Badger at www.sundaysoftware.com/namebadger

Having led many “Pastoral Prayers” over the years in several churches, I think it’s one of the most CHALLENGING parts of worship, and one that needs improvement. …And the past two months spent looking for a new congregation to call home in our new town has done nothing to dispel this conclusion. Some prayed “okay” but only one was rather compelling and heartfelt in his public prayer, and oddly enough, he was a retired minister.

Honestly, I never felt quite comfortable delivering it because I didn’t have a really good “Holy Joe” voice. I’ve always felt that prayer was something more personal, and less “speechy.”  And as a “pastor in the pew” I’ve listened with some inside experience to a lot of other pastor’s Pastoral Prayers.

Having come at it from both directions, and tried many tweaks, I offer these insights and suggestions with the hope of stimulating your own.

Here are  8 “problems” with the Pastoral Prayer and the Pastor who delivers them, and suggestions for change.

1. The Audacity of thinking one person or one prayer can pray for a whole group of people, and meet their needs.

I’ve often mentioned this “audacity” to congregations, both before and during the prayer, and occasionally in a sermon. This helps them (and me) with our expectations, and gives permission to change. Many have a rigid idea of the correct form of the prayer.  I’ve told them some of the things on my mind, and let them know if I was going to leave space for their silent prayers (such a concept!).  I’ve mentioned to them that when I pause, it’s not because I’ve lost my place, but because I’m leaving space for their thoughts. They like that.

In particular, I’ve found it helpful expand on ideas such as, “Lord, how should we speak to you?” “How can we pretend to speak when we have failed to listen?”  “What words suffice when our hearts are heavy with…”

One of the most well-received forms I’ve used is what I call “The Pause Prayer.” I tell the congregation that I’m going to introduce an idea, and then CUE them to pause to let them think about it in their own prayer, then after 10 seconds, move on saying “Lord, hear our prayer.” I’m sure you’ve experienced some form of this prayer.

Sometimes you see these “Pause Prayers” written in the program as litanies.  I’m not a huge fan of litanies, because reading doesn’t feel like praying. Too many litanies sound like sermons, or worse, –the prayer writer’s attempt to impress people with their Holy Joe skills. Even litanies with space for silent prayer often leave people looking at the printed text and wondering when the pastor is going to start up again.

(Note to pastors: When you put us “in the mello mood of silent prayer, don’t burst-in over the microphone with a loud voice. SOFTLY cue us back into listening.)

2. The TUG between the “Holy Joe” language of public prayer-leading versus the heart-felt ramblings of personal prayer.

From time to time I have written out the prayer using no “Holy” words, instead using common language to express the same idea. It has taught me to keep it real. It sounds more authentic and makes prayer-as-something-I-should-do-more-often more accessible to the average worshipper. I’ve also slowed-down and let silence fall between ideas in my spoken prayer… to let the people feel the comment, process it, and converse with it. Pastoral Prayers should not be speeches.

“Holy” language can backfires on our intent. We want our people to pray, but if we set the “language bar” for prayer too far above the average person’s verbal level, we are undermining their feeling of adequacy. Flowery prayer sound powerful to some, but it has also taught generations of people to be stiff and formal in their own prayers, or left them not praying at all because they feel inadequate. (And you see the effect when the pastor asks someone else to lead a prayer…  the comfort level and language ain’t there.)

TRUTH: One of the reasons pastors fall back on “holy language” is because it’s easier to write “holy” prayers, than heart-felt. And pastors often leave the pastoral prayer to Sunday morning’s preparation when they are busy polishing the sermon and doing countless other things.  This is one of the reasons the “preacher” should not lead the pastoral prayer. Or at least, should focus on it prior to Sunday morning.

BTW… I think the Pastoral Prayer should be written out, and not extemporaneous. Meaningful ad-libbing is fine, but when you’re praying for a group, you have a responsibility not to get tongue-tied or have brain-freeze.  Writing out the prayer will also help you avoid boilerplate Holy Joe prayer language that you fall back on when your brain infarcts!

[Holy Joe Addendum:  Why do some pastors affect a "somber voice" when praying? I noticed this recently while visiting several churches. Is a prayer a mini-funeral?]

3. The Lack of Variety when one person is the regular prayer leader.

Pastoral Prayers should not always be led by the pastor!  That’s not what “pastoral” means. Elders should be invited to pray, and perhaps should be taught in a “pastoral prayer workshop” once a year.  There are books of prayers, and many online sites with new prayers submitted from many different traditions. MINE them.

4. The “Exhausted Pastor Syndrome”...having to lead the prayer after a lengthy exhausting sermon.

Take my word for it… after a sermon, the preacher’s mind is exhausted and still whirling.  Therefore, either a) Find help to do the prayer, or b) put several worship items between the sermon and the prayer in the program.  And if you ARE that exhausted pastor, have your pastoral prayer written out ahead of time, otherwise you’ll fall back on Holy language and platitudes.

5. The Pastoral Prayer Shopping List. “The form” we have been taught goes like this: Praise to, Thanksgiving for, prayers about the world, the community, and lastly us.   It’s too much. It turns the prayer into a check-list.

There is no rule that a pastoral prayer has to start off with praise and thanksgiving. You can go right to the personal stuff. While these other elements are important, other parts of the worship service can (and do) deal with them. Give TIME to subjects in your prayer. Rather than viewing your pastoral prayer as a “catch all”, let other parts of the service carry some of the weight. View the service content in an integrated fashion, rather than as separate items with their own agendas.

6. The Horror of Things Left Out. …the pastoral prayer as lip-service to the disaster of the day, impending holiday, or other noteworthy event one must mention. Failure to mention it will certain mean it gets mentioned to you at the end of the service! Create a practice where you invite people to submit suggestions for the prayer. And then always look at your calendar and the morning paper before writing your prayer.  Doesn’t hurt to check CNN or your text messages and email.  Make a habit of inviting prayer concerns prior to the beginning of worship.

(I’m NOT a huge fan of inviting prayer requests DURING worship. Inevitably a few people dominate, and many who won’t speak in public won’t share in public either. It also takes too much time in worship. Sad, but true.)

7. The Pastoral Prayer as Sermon Summary. In a word, “don’t“.
IMHO…  Using the prayer to summarize the sermon is the worst thing that can happen to the pastoral prayer. “Touch on” a key point or allude to something, yes, –but recap? No!  If your sermon isn’t memorable enough without including it in the pastoral prayer, you have a sermon problem.

8. The Adrenaline-Rushed Pastor speeding through the prayer.

CHANGE three things:
a) Cut your prayer word count, then you won’t have to rush.
b) Start the pastoral prayer with silent prayer, and remember to pray yourself (for one thing it lowers your heartrate).
c)  Let someone else do the pastoral prayer.

Many speakers, including many pastors, are unaware of the SPEED at which they pray. Some whip through the Praises. Some whip through it all!   At a church where I attended as a “pastor in the pew” every Sunday the Senior Pastor would lead us on a nice & slow pastoral prayer, then WHIP THROUGH the Lord’s Prayer. He was like a horse headed to the barn. You could actually hear him AHEAD of the congregation pulling us through the Lord’s Prayer.  The problem: he had put us all in a mello mood during the prayer, then he got prefunctory with the Lord’s Prayer and sped up.   Word to the pastor…. step back from the microphone after you start the Lord’s Prayer. Let the congregation lead it.

9.  ________________ This one is left open for your struggle and solution.

<>< Neil

See my article about, Tips on Teaching Children to Pray and Using Software to Teach Children to Pray

www.sundaysoftware.com/lessons/prayer.htm

Advertisement!

www.sundaysoftware.com/namebadger