Wednesday 20 January 2010

Being Mystery Worshipped...

We knew we had been visited just before Christmas.

And now our "review" has gone live.

Statements like "They have a lively sense of church community with outreach at their heart. Their many ministries, both domestic and international, are far too numerous to mention here. One definitely senses that they are a very busy church." are definitely not as bad as some churches get.

While Terry got the thumbs up for his welcoming statements "Good morning and welcome to Barnabas Community Church, especially if you are visiting here today. Elder Hotchkiss went on to explain about the church and how the service would be, including songs and the offering. Very good really."

And overall:

"How would you feel about making this church your regular (where 10 = ecstatic, 0 = terminal)?
7 – This is a lively church with a passion for worship, but this may be a difficult place for anyone who doesn't want a full-on experience straightaway but needs to find a way in slowly.

Did the service make you feel glad to be a Christian?
Yes, it did. Overall we enjoyed being part of this time and seeing that sense of desire in people."

I could get all defensive about some of the points made but will try not to. Almost all can be answered fairly quickly, not least the majority of the car park being reserved for disability badge holders, but there you go.

I will take 7/10 and the main complaint being they thought the welcome was OTT. There are worse things to be accused of.

5 comments:

Fat Prophet said...

I thought this was a pretty good review and would certainly not put me off visiting you if I were in Shrewsbury on a Sunday. I agree with you about the welcome, it is not a bad thing to be accused of and there are many churches were there is hardly any welcome.

Ian Matthews said...

For an SoF mystery worshipper report that isn't bad - in fact it is pretty good.

The car park is easily dealt with - the person should probably have explained it is for disabled and needy, rather than saying the car was too big (which probably did sound a bit rude when there were loads of space).

There used to be bibles over near the steps up to the offices - have they gone now? Some bibles on hand is another good suggestion.

I think this generally looks pretty good to be honest - I would be encouraged.

Blue, with a hint of amber said...

There are lending bibles available in the main hall. The scriptures are also available on the powerpoint. The steward did get them a bible!

The car park thing is almost certainly "we don't have enough room" rather than "your car is too big", if that makes sense. All our spaces are standard size, so unless they drove a hummer here they could parked, except that the only spaces left would have been spaces that are reserved for those with limited mobility, and are coned off with signs.

Charles said...

Not bad at all Dave! Loads to be encouraged about there . I doubt we would fare so well .Be encouraged!
I also think these reviews to a great extent reflect both the character and theology of the reviewer

Charles

Anonymous said...

Not bad. Well done for holding in the case for the defense! I'm not sure I'd do so well, so I might just link to this post instead.