First Impressions

They say familiarity breeds contempt, it also breeds a type of blindness.  We become so used to a space or situation that we don't really see it with clarity.  We just see a familiar settinge and are content.  Since our church expects to welcome visitors each week, I thought I'd take a look at our place as though I'd never seen it before.

Entering through the front door, the visitor is met with a set of comfy chairs and a table.  Seems like a nice touch.  

This week there were fresh flowers in the narthex as well.  A sign we living in an area of gardens and gardeners. 

 The bulletin board, while not a work of art, is cheerful.  For the past couple of weeks, members of the congregation have been asked to draw an outline of their hands and add them to the collection.  I'm used to seeing this as a Sunday School project, but adults have entered into the game with enthusiasm.  The outline won't show that some hands are smooth and pale, while others are gnarled and freckled.  Maybe that's a good thing.  We have a display of willing hands, regardless of age or health or circumstances.

There's also a picture of Creative Play.  That's a weekly program held during the summer where children, our own and visitors, are invited to enjoy an activity, led by different members of the congregation.  The program gives parents a safe place for their children during the sermon time, and it gives Sunday School teachers an opportunity to enjoy the whole service uninterrupted.  This bunch looks like they had a good time.

On the opposite bulletin board are sign up sheets, for fellowship, for flowers, for greeters, for readers, for pray-ers and any other need that arises in the congregation.  Here is an opportunity for those hands on the other wall, to do something practical for the congregation.

After the busyness of the narthex, the visitor comes through the double doors of the sanctuary to find a serene room with the usual furnishings of a church -- pews, pulpit, choir loft -- and a bouquet of fresh flowers.

As a member, it is hard for me to see our building with the eyes of a stranger, but I hope the combination of activity and serenity is pleasing and a blessing to all who enter here.