My Visit to Naples Church of Christ
Naples Church of Christ moved into their new facility earlier this year. Since their new home is less than half a mile from my home as the bird flies or a short two mile drive and since they are seeking to reach out to the surrounding community, they have sent me multiple mailings in recent months. This morning, I visited their congregation and participated in their only morning worship service. As a first time visitor seeking to learn as much as possible, I noted a number of things that may not be as apparent to those who are regular attendees. To give my readers a better sense of my experience, I will elaborate on five strengths, five growing edges, and five facts worth noting based on this morning’s experience.
Strengths
- Facility
- Curb Appeal. The campus looks postcard perfect. The roadside sign is easily readable when driving and lists the time of the worship service.
- Outside. The parking lot is of adequate size and all spaces are clearly marked and only a short walk to the entrance.
- Inside. The auditorium (their term for the worship space) was casual yet reverent and clean but not sterile. The rectangular room was simply decorated with comfortable padded chairs and without much religious symbolism (a cross and dove hang on the wall behind the baptistery).
- Friendliness
- Those One Expects to be Friendly. As a visitor, I expect those who are greeters, the pastor and others “on duty” to be friendly. In this case, they did not disappoint.
- All Others. I found a seat a dozen minutes before the service and was greeted by seven individuals or couples ranging in age from mid-30s to 70s all of whom were friendly and seemed genuinely happy I was present.
- Strong Lay Leadership
- Worship Leadership. Four volunteer lay leaders were involved in leading worship. These men led the congregational singing, read Scripture, prayed, presided at the table, gave an offering meditation, and shared congregational announcements about upcoming activities.
- Worship Roles. The bulletin listed a total of 21 volunteers in the following roles: announcements, Scripture/prayer, Communion/offering, servers, back servers, closing prayer, computer, nursery, greeters, ushers, and visitor center.
- Sunday School. Children remained in the worship service. Children, youth and adults were encouraged to participate in Sunday School classes, which followed worship and were all taught by lay leaders.
- Accessible Worship
- The various worship leaders provided instruction and every word the congregation was to speak or sing was displayed on two large screens.
- Apart from some of the song lyrics, everything said or sung was in plain English and not “church speak”.
- Diversity
- Age. The gathering included many young families with school age children, a smaller number of empty nesters, and a number of retirees.
- Race. While the congregation was primarily white, a number of minorities were present and they were also reflected in leadership positions.
Growing Edges
- Website. Before attending worship, I visited the church’s website and found limited information about programs and no information about the minister/evangelist besides his name.
- Communion. Since no information was given prior to passing the plates of bread and juice and no explanation was provided in the bulletin, I only knew how to participate appropriately by watching others. (Their tradition is to partake as the elements are passed and to drink the cup and return it to the tray before passing the tray.)
- Contact Information. Several worship bulletin announcements ask those interested in participating or those who want more information to “see a specific person” for more information. In multiple cases no phone number or e-mail is listed, which makes connecting very difficult for newcomers.
- Visitor Center. A Visitor Center is listed in the bulletin, but was never mentioned during the service nor did any of those who conversed with me provide me any information about it.
- Male Leadership. The pastor, deacons and elders are all men. Women’s leadership positions were limited to greeting, ushering, and teaching Sunday School.
Worth Noting
- This congregation is affiliated with the Restoration Movement group known as the Churches of Christ, which is a non-denominational group. This is the only congregation affiliated with that tradition in Collier County,
- The Bible is central to the worship experience. In his 31 minute sermon, the Evangelist/Minister referred to 10 different Scriptures using chapter and verse and alluded to several others. Lay leaders also read directly from the Bible on multiple occasions.
- All singing is a cappella (no instruments are used in worship).
- Today’s church attendance was around 200. According to the worship bulletin, 192 people attended worship last Sunday and 161 attended Sunday School/Bible study.
- The name of this congregation (Naples Church of Christ) is similar enough to another Naples church (Naples United Church of Christ) to cause some confusion. The other congregation is a part of a progressive denomination: United Church of Christ.
So What?
How intentional is your congregation about welcoming visitors? How many people, beyond those with formal greeting duties, welcome the average first time visitor?
How often do you invite people for the purpose of providing feedback such as what I listed above? If you never invite people to perform this duty, what do you do to see things more clearly and completely through the eyes of those who visit your congregation for worship?
What is one practical change your congregation has made in the last few years as the result of visitor feedback?