Fresh Eyes from a Visitor: A Street Level View

by Reba Collins

Have you ever been given driving directions with the reassurance that: “You can’t miss it. You can’t miss us. We’re located on the corner of…. The farm is only four miles from you. Head north. Make the first right turn. Then the second left. It’s the fourth place down. You can’t miss it.” Well, if you’re like me, sometimes you will miss it, especially if it isn’t very well marked. Then, when we do miss it, we often arrive a little frustrated or even downright angry.

That’s okay if the people at your it destination don’t care how you feel when you arrive – like the clerks at a mall. But if a church group wants you to arrive in good spirits and ready to engage, then they need to make your arrival easy.

For example, I recently visited a small church where I had to really hunt for the proper access points from the street entrance to the main building entrance. There simply weren’t any good signs. From the road, the church building appeared accessible. But it turned out not to be.

Like so many churches built on a main road, this group relied upon the building itself to be its main roadside sign. I would have had to pass three driveways before seeing a sign, and it shared space with its next door neighbor, Walgreens. On my initial drive-by, there appeared to be several “front doors” facing the main road, but there wasn’t any parking at the front of the building. It was left entirely up to me to figure out which driveway was the main entrance and how to find the parking lot.

Eventually, I worked my way through the driveway maze to the back of the building. There I saw a choice between two main entrances, but no visitor parking spots. Hmmm. I went with instinct, and parked with the larger share of cars. Then I headed toward the doors where people were leaving after the first worship service. I had to guess that this door was close to the worship venue.

On my way inside, I was greeted at the door, and was pleasantly surprised by the warm welcome – as if they anticipated my visit – because it didn’t appear from the street or parking lot that they expected me to visit.

As good as my experience was inside the building, I remember more strongly the negative experience of trying to find my way in. From the street to the main entrance, I had been stressed out by several split-second decisions, and I arrived with doubts that this church cared about me showing up. Sadly, a lot of churches fit this scenario.

Many churches don’t think of the driveway, parking lot, and route to the main doors as important parts of their welcome. But they are. If our arrival is full of second guesses because we’ve not been directed on where to enter their property, where to park, and where to access their building, they have created a more anxious experience for their guests. This carries over into our negative perceptions of a church before we ever enter the building.

In the end, our first impressions – and our decisions to come back – hinge on whether or not we see a place of welcome at every turn.