What I Do Part Dos

View Commentstony • 7th Mar 2007 • Hospitality

One of the things that I am passionate about is hospitality. I really enjoy inviting people in and “entertaining” them. As a church, we take this very seriously and it really one of the areas that we put more time, energy and money into. We spend about $50 bucks a week on supplies/food/drinks for the people that come to Journey. There are some people that would scoff at that amount of cash as being nothing, but lets just say that our worship leader gets paid the same amount each week! My team of volunteers is about 6-7 each week, the other areas have 1-2. It takes a lot of time and energy to set up and prepare for the scale that we have set up.
Why do we do things this way? I am convinced that people are craving community. People want to go places where everyone knows their name. People want to be known and loved for who they are, not for what they can offer.

One of the biggest areas of influence on Sunday mornings is what we call Bagel Cafe. We have a couple of coffee selections, hot water for tea and hot cocoa, bagels, some pastries and usually some sort special of the week. People really look forward to having a good cup of coffee and a small “breakfast” while hanging out and talking. We honestly have struggled to get people INTO the theater so that we can start the service! We do Bagel Cafe for a half an hour before the service starts and more and more people are showing up at 9:30 just to hang out. I can guarantee that if didn’t have Bagel Cafe, people would not show up at 9:30!

For people that spend a lot of time in coffee shops and bars throughout the week, this is a natural venue for us. We have the lobby of our movie theater set up like a coffee shop/cafe where people can relax, wake up and nurse their hangover. (Yes, people who go to Church sometimes also go to bars. The two aren’t mutually exclusive. I know of churches who meet in bars that have had more people meet Christ and have their lives radically changed. How is your church doing? When was your last baptism? Sorry. /rant) I am very intentional about the lighting, music and overall flow of the area. Everything tells a story and gives off a vibe. Usability is huge for me and I think through the process of how people will be using the area. There have been some huge adjustments in this area. We had a church planter visit us this past week and I described this area as being an evolving area. It is almost never the same as it was the last week and there are always things being changed and added/subtracted.

I firmly believe that if you are a church that is reaching unchurched/dechurched/disillusioned folks and you aren’t doing something like this to create community, then you are missing out. It is a low pressure way for your people to meet your guests. It doesn’t have to be as elaborate as our set up. I am a keep it simple kind of guy. For us, this is simple.

If you want other pics, contact me and I would be glad to hook you up.

Here is a pic of our Bagel Cafe area:

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