By Rev. Dr. Libby Grammer
On October 15th, our church celebrated the dedication of two sweet babies. The day was lovely for so many reasons, but one way that surprised me might also surprise you: the church felt full.
Now, realistically, we know it’s not actually full – hardly any congregation’s worship space is these days. Our church was built when church was a priority for most families and when the city of Martinsville was in its population growth heyday.
We have over 500 seats in our Sanctuary, but our average attendance is around 40 people on any given Sunday, with rotating membership present (except a very faithful choir – they are here most every week to share their musical gifts in worship -thanks, choir!). I believe that if we had everyone there on the same Sunday together, we might be more likely to have 75+ in attendance in-person, but again, that’s rare, due to things we both can and cannot control.
So, all to say, we fill about 8-15% of our worship space with people worshiping in-person each week.
With about 150 active church members at FBC (which by the way, would fill 30% of our worship space if all were together at once), I have a few observations as to why our current attending number of members remains low:
- Some of our members are homebound (or have become homebound during the pandemic) and unable physically to come to worship regularly. For them, our outreach in visits, phone calls, cards, and virtual church (online and by phone) are indispensable. These long-time dedicated members are gifts to our younger membership, and we should endeavor to include them however we can.
- Some of our members have rotating schedules caring for older family members or grandchildren and travel more frequently than periodic vacations. When they’re in town, they’re in worship, and when they aren’t, they join us online. These folks generally are serving in other ways, and I consider them regular attenders, even if I don’t see them every week. This is simply a stage of life for some of our members, and we are grateful for their commitment to both the Body of Christ and to their family members.
- Some of our members have simply gotten out of a good habit. To be sure, we needed to take a break from in-person worship during the pandemic, but unfortunately that habit of jammies and coffee on Sunday morning has remained and made it tough for people to make in-person worship a priority again.
Did you know that making good use of our space is important to the Christian hospitality of our worshiping congregation?
How this is about hospitality, you ask?
I recently read about what studies call the 80/40 rule of thumb and what it means for guests/visitors to a worship service:
- If your church worship space is 80% full or more, you might inadvertently give off the signal that you are too full to accommodate newcomers. There may literally be space for people, but they internalize “There’s no room for us here.”
- If your church worship space is 40% full or less, newcomers might come to a totally different conclusion: “There’s nothing of value happening here.”
Fair or not, these assessments by our guests are real. There are plenty of wonderful things happening at First Baptist, whether there are 8% or 40% or 100% seats filled in the Sanctuary! But for someone not familiar with the congregation and its ministries, a worship service is a first impression, and when they see a lack of critical mass in the Sanctuary, with people scattered about in a large room that feels vacant, it makes sense that they would come that conclusion.
The article I read gave some ideas for becoming a more hospitable space for guests, whatever your size:
- When the worship space is approaching 80% full, start another worship service.
- When the worship space is 40% or less full, move worship to another, more intimate space, in the building.
- When the worship space is 40% or less full, rope off sections, gathering people into a central section, creating critical mass.
So, what can we do at First Baptist to be a more hospitable place for guests in our worship service?
Right now, our setup is such that the Sanctuary offers the best musical and A/V setup of the whole building. Moving to a different space for worship isn’t an entirely off-the-table idea (the Chapel and Fellowship Hall come to mind), but it would require a lot more planning and probably some spending of funds to make it happen. I don’t think as a congregation I’ve heard enough interest in this as of yet.
So, since we are remaining in the Sanctuary for worship, we need to make the space we have more inviting.
Here are my suggestions for making our space more hospitable for guests and members alike:
- Come to worship in person. Regularly. Don’t skip. Don’t choose a computer screen over the fellowship of believers. Make the in-person gathering of God’s people a weekly priority again. There are loads and loads of reasons to be together in person for the worship of God in community. My promise to you (and one we all will make an effort towards) is that we will not shame you for not having been here in person lately. We will welcome you, hug you (or fist bump you!), and be overjoyed at the family reunion.
- Sit together. Up front. Do you see the image above and below? Do you feel the family atmosphere as the gathered family sits close together in the front of the church to experience worship more fully? Can you picture what a guest would see if the entirely of the worshiping congregation chose to be near each other and the worship leaders so as to hear Scripture and music and preaching? Yes, it might feel odd to be “out of place” at first – especially if you’ve sat in a certain row or space in the church for decades. But isn’t the welcome of our congregation far more important than the comfort of an old pew? And I promise you – that new seat, that space among God’s people to worship, will become “old hat” too with some time. I think you’ll find it a joy to be in the presence of God sitting closely with your church family each week.
My prayer for our church is always that we may be shining lights of God’s presence in this world, and we do that best in regular fellowship and worship together with our church family.
So, come and sit together near the front this week. Invite our guests to sit with us, worshiping God not as separate family units or individuals scattered over a vast room, but as a church family, warmly welcoming all to be a part of God’s work in this world.
See you Sunday,
Libby