Have you ever visited a church outside of your own tradition? Were you nervous going in? Uncomfortable or confused at any point? Now imagine it is not another Christian congregation you’re visiting, but something completely outside of your previous experience—a synagogue or mosque, for example. What kinds of feelings and concerns would you be going in with? What kinds of questions would you be asking?
An increasing number of people who come to our worship services have no prior church experience. How can we make their visit as comfortable and beneficial as possible? Of course, practical considerations like a good website, clear signage, and warm greeters can help put them at ease as they enter the building, but their experience during the worship service itself is at least as important. If we want this time to be meaningful to them, we need to answer the three questions they are naturally asking:
- What are we doing?
- Why are we doing it?
- How can I engage?
Regularly addressing these questions during worship can help our worship services become powerful tools for evangelism.
Question One: What are we doing?
The first question may be the most obvious one, but it is not necessarily the easiest. We need to explain what is happening in our service in words that a visitor can understand. This means identifying and replacing language that is only meaningful to insiders. For example, in some traditions it might be natural to begin the music with the invitation “Let’s worship the Lord!” Insiders know that this means “We’re all going to stand up and sing songs together that express praise, thanks, trust, etc. to God.” To an unchurched newcomer, however, that meaning is far from obvious.
Even more confusing is the invitation to “take the Lord’s supper” (especially since most people are taught that it’s not nice to steal food that isn’t yours!). The words “Communion” and “the Eucharist” are also meaningless to someone without a church background. Furthermore, there are so many ways of receiving the bread and cup that a concrete description of how it happens in a particular congregation can be very helpful even for those who were born and raised in the church. Who is allowed to participate? Do I come to the front, or are the bread and cup passed around? Will we take it all together, or as individuals? Will it be wine or grape juice? Describing the parts of a service in simple, clear, concrete language makes it more accessible to all visitors, churched or otherwise. Reflect: How would you describe what happens during each element of your service to someone who had never attended a church service before?
Question Two: Why are we doing it?
Once visitors can picture what we are going to do, they naturally want to know why we are doing it. This is where evangelistic efforts can be more direct, as we help them understand how the various elements of our service relate to Christian beliefs. How can we explain to a non-Christian why we celebrate Communion? Simply explaining “because Jesus instructed us to” or “to remember Christ and his death” isn’t enough. Both are true statements, but they don’t really get to the heart of the matter—the why beneath the why.
In my own tradition, I might say something like this:
“Christians believe that Jesus’s death was not a tragic accident, but something he freely chose, an important part of his mission. By offering himself in this way, he brought healing to the broken relationship with God that all humans are born into. So, as he taught us to do, we regularly celebrate that event by eating bread and drinking wine, which are symbols of his body broken and his blood poured out for our sake. Eating and drinking in this way reminds us that our very lives depend on him and his sacrifice.”
That’s not a perfect or exhaustive explanation, nor does it have to be. What is important is that it is given in language newcomers can understand, and that it helps them begin to understand the gospel.
Reflect: How would you explain to an outsider why we sing songs? Listen to a sermon? Recite the creed?
Question Three: How should I engage?
Regular attendees engage in a worship service as participants. They feel at home, and most can engage their hearts, minds, and bodies in the various parts of worship. Newcomers, however, primarily experience the service as observers, maintaining an emotional distance. Answering this final question is about inviting them to begin to connect with what is happening in a more personal way.
Once again, Communion is a good example. Many churches gently explain that this aspect of worship is reserved for members or baptized Christians. In other words, they clearly tell visitors how they can’t engage. But what if we were to go one step further, and cast a vision for how they can?
“Communion is open to all baptized Christians. But if that’s not you, if you’re visiting with us, or still figuring out what you believe about all of this, this is a good chance for you to do some reflection. Keep your eyes open. Watch what is happening as people go up empty-handed and receive a gift given out of God’s sheer generosity. Watch as they eat and drink and think about what that means on a spiritual level. This is the invitation of the Christian life, being acted out right here in a visible, tangible way. And it is an invitation that is being offered to you, one you should carefully consider.”
Non-Christians might engage in a worship service in a variety of ways: by reflecting on the meaning of Christian beliefs, by beginning to open their hearts and ears to a God who is personally communicating with them, or by taking tentative first steps to express themselves to God through prayer or singing. But none of those things are necessarily obvious to them, so a little coaching and encouragement from the front can go a long way.
Reflect: How would you coach people who don’t know the songs or believe the lyrics to engage in a time of singing? What could be their mindset as prayers and creeds are said?
Bonus Benefits
Some of these questions might be answered on the website, in the bulletin, or on slides. But regularly addressing them from the front, during the service, not only helps visitors but has surprising benefits for regulars too. First, conducting every service as if newcomers are present sends the message that they should be, and is a powerful way of casting a vision for becoming a welcoming, inviting church. Doing this week after week may seem repetitive, but it is reassuring for regular attendees to know that if they invite friends, they will be consistently welcomed and cared for no matter the Sunday. Furthermore, giving down-to-earth accessible explanations for what we do in worship can be surprisingly instructive for those who have been attending church for a long time. Not only can this offer a fresh perspective on age-old traditions, but it also models how to talk about the Christian faith using non-insider language—an essential evangelistic skill in our post-Christian society.
Reflect: How might answering the “what,” “why,” and “how” questions for newcomers benefit regular attendees in your own context?