Spent time with some church leaders and had a good discussion around the size of the 'front door'. One of the things you recognize in the gospels is Jesus' ability to draw a crowd. The other interesting point is that at the end of 3 years of unprecedented ministry he only had a 120 dedicated followers. There may have been more, but the results were not startling.
Some times we wear small as a badge of honor. The problem with small is that visitors often feel left out. They struggle with the inside jokes, the quirkiness of the family, the disorganization, the offhand comments that so easily offend, etc.
The concept of the big front door is to create an opportunity for people to connect, to hear, to belong. The big front door represents an environment that is inclusive not exclusive.
So how do you through open a big front door? Some thoughts....
1. Do not try to be all things to all people? Not everyone will like who you are.
2. Identify who you are and consistently communicate it and live it
3. Get rid of the inside jokes.
4. don't make off hand and potentially offensive comments
5. Make sure people who attend every week are commissioned to welcome new people
6. Make sure that everything that goes on in the service is understood and makes sense to the visitors.
7. Be organized
8. Have a desire to embrace everyone who shows up - celebrate diversity
9. Life is not a formula that can be replicated
10. don't be risk adverse - make the necessary changes to make your group relevant
11. Keep it real - non religious is probably best
12. Open up your homes to the new people - let them see you outside of the services
13. Meet round the table - food and fun go a long way to breaking down the barriers
14. New people centric, not self serving and self indulgent
15. Talk about things that are meaningful to people
There are lots more. Being small is not all bad, but it doesn't have a long term future either. In this environment, people need a real message of hope and change. It is a shame that the church often gets in the way.
Create a bigger front door and once they come, do something meaningful that will drive real and lasting change.
