The Ken Johnson Group / April 4, 2006 Featured Article

Growing a Guest-Friendly Community — Part 2

by Ken Johnson

How do your buildings and grounds fit into a guest friendly church?

What do your buildings and grounds look like?

1. Are they inviting?

Have you kept the outside of your church inviting?
Is your lawn well kept?
Are your trees, bushes and plants well cared for?
Is the paint on the buildings peeling or?
What about the sidewalks around the building are they in good shape or could someone trip on the cracks?

2. What about the parking lot?

Is your parking lot well kept?
Are there holes in the pavement?
If you don’t have pavement is the lot graveled so it doesn’t get too muddy when there is moisture?
Can you see the parking space lines?
Do you have guest parking spaces close to the building?
Do you have handicapped/senior parking spaces close to the building?

3. What about outside signage? Is it adequate?

Is what you have on the sign readable from a distance?
Do you have your service times on the sign?
Have you given the people driving by a way to contact the church and the pastor’s name(s)?
If you have sayings on the sign are they demeaning to non-Christians?

4. Are your buildings easy to navigate?

Is it easy to find the sanctuary and offices from the parking lot?
When you get inside your buildings is it easy to find restrooms (the most important rooms), the sanctuary and the classrooms?

5. What about inside signage? Is it adequate?

Do you have inviting signage that is where people can see it so people know where to go?
If your buildings are large enough that you need a map do you have one available?

6. Is the inside of the building well kept?

Are the hallways brightly painted and well lighted?
Are the classrooms brightly painted and well lighted?
Is the sanctuary brightly painted and well lighted?
Sometimes even nice looking plants or greenery are good for an overall look and feel in the sanctuary.
What about the offices—are they brightly painted and well lighted?

7. Last but certainly not least is the cleaning of the inside of the buildings.

The most important rooms that need to be spic and span are the nursery/childcare area, the restrooms, the kitchen and the dining hall. How are yours?
Actually everything needs to be well kept and clean.

You can say that you don’t have the money to do some of these things, but many of the things on this list can be done with some cleaning supplies, donated paint, and lots of church member labor. It’s amazing what taking care of these things will do to make a guest feel welcome in your church and maybe even return nest week..

These are some of the things I look for when I do a consult and they are part of what makes a community friendly.

How do you fair on each of these items?

In Part 3 we will talk about what your current community needs to do to become more guest friendly.

Go to Part 3