I believe it’s not just the physical premises, but also the presence of the people and most importantly the presence of God.

You can have a fancy building and people can still feel uncomfortable or even rejected. I believe it is the love that we emanate (and God’s love through His people) which creates the most desirable environment.

think big
communicate on timing
major on the minors
Make sure we capture those who enter Parkway no matter what

And giving away I-pods in service doesn’t hurt…

Yes…venue change was a fickle thing to leave a church over but environment has become an invaluable commodity…part of the experience people are looking for. I think we underestimate the tone (as Craig says) the impact of the environment.

It reminds me of Malcolm Gladwell’s point in “Tipping Point” about the Theory of Broken Windows. People observe their surrounding and the prevailing attitude toward buildings and environments become contagious. I think buildings often reflect the nature of the congregation inside and that is what is even more contagious.

The story goes like this he sent out ambassadors to all the known world to check out the various religions and when they came to the Catholic Orthodox church they felt as though they found a slice of heaven and because of that an entire country was changed and became a Christian nation until the Tzars fell around 1900 AD.

I don’t remember them saying that they were one bit worried about their doctrine, the only thing that influenced them was what they could see with their physical eyes. I think there was a story even in the Bible about the very same thing with the Queen of Sheba?

I would say for most non believers and for many believers enviroment is big? Is it big to God now that is a huge debate.

Our worship is a ’sweet fragrance’ to the Father. Excellent. Intimate. It’s emotional.

Connecting the emotion of an unbeliever with Excellence - engages the mind. The mind brings along body and spirit.

Mind-Body-Spirit comes to church that smells of excellence. Holy Spirit convicts. Son Redeems. World is saved. That is very cool - what a responsibility!

Philippians 4:8-10 Whatever is true, noble, lovely, admirable ……Whatever is excellent.

Keyword: Whatever.

Do ‘whatever’. Just do it….with excellence and purpose.

But what would ministry look like in another country? Where is the money invested? It’s invested in systems and tools that allow the ministry to communicate to the lost within that culture. Environment matters. And the environment looks different depending upon the culture in which the ministry exists.

So our buildings are clean, polished and chalked full of high tech equipment to create an experience that will grab the attention of our audience. Because that is the culture in which we live.

Jason, I agree that the occasional ‘hole in the wall’ has it’s own appeal. The magic is creating the same appeal of the ‘mom & pop’ establishment with the fancy strip mall. That would be remarkable.

Being a portable church, caring about environments takes on a whole new intentionality. We meet in a large community theatre, and we never know what we will find when we arrive on Sunday mornings. Regardless of what we find, we spend hours creating environments.

It’s one thing for the staff to care about environments. The great thing is our volunteers have started caring. Sure, some of that caring comes from us casting the vision that it matters. But they have seen their unchurched friends come into our environments and experience life change. Yes, God does the life change!! But their friends are surprised by the quality of the environments and the attention to details. The environments cause their fear to decrease.

When you see a friend’s life changed, and your friend says it had something to do with the environment, environment matters all of sudden.

From the believers standpoint they should understand that the church is not their to serve them but to be served by them. The appearance of the building, the style of worship, the quality of programs etc. won’t matter to those who are looking to grow closer to Christ and become a vital part of the church.

From the non-believers standpoint they are looking for a place to be fed the Word of God. Craig has said over and over that it drives him crazy when people say things like: “this church just doesn’t meet my needs” or “that church doesn’t have what I’m looking for”. And I agree with him that believers should have a more biblical attitude to such things, but non-believers are different in my opinion. In order to be fed and nurished by the Word of God you need to be in a place of peace and comfort. If a non-believer can’t find this environment, they will look elsewhere or stop looking.

Several years ago my wife & I were trying to get our lives re-centered on Christ and did bounce from church to church. We couldn’t find a church that “met our needs” (but at that point we didn’t even know what our needs were). We did settle down at a church that had a great environment and atmosphere and began to be fed and nourished. Now we are at a place where we understand that we are here to serve the church not the other way around.

So back to the non-believers viewpoint. Non-believers, or those who have been away from church for a while, ARE church shopping. If we don’t create an environment that makes them want to be there, they won’t be there. They will go elsewhere, or worse, stop shopping. So I guess the question is: Do we create the environment that people want or do we just say “it shouldn’t matter” and hope some other church is shallow enough to create an environment that the people want?

For example, outside of my hometown there was a combination KFC/A&W restaurant. The place closed down about 3-years ago but was recently turned into a Mexican restaurant. The food has changed, but the seating, signage and ambiance of A&W is still the same. This could be the most killer Mexican food in the continental United States, but I’m not too interested in trying it because the ‘enviroment’ of the place makes me think it’s a ’shady’ operation.

I believe our church ‘environment’ should be just as intentional as our programming.

… (the rest is on my blog)

http://thedailygaggle.blogspot.com

So I think it DOES matter. Is the pastor a great communicator? Can people relate to him? Do the greeters act like they really are excited that you’re there and want to give any information, or do they seem like they are simply filling a need and would rather be somewhere else? Does the room feel comfortable? Do I see others I think I might identify with?

I’ve sort of watched Life for several years and I’ve been really blessed to see you and your team “throwing yourselves to the wolves” in an effort to reach people for Christ, I really really appreciate that. It’s so refreshing! Thanks for giving away content for free, for trying to create environments that are comfortable for people. Many have stepped through those doors that I personally know and have heard great things. Keep pushing that envelope, stretching, exposing your neck so that some might hear of Christ.

I think it’s important to realize also how diverse the Church is, and how God allows for differences even of style and approach, and how each church goes about it differently.

Sorry for the long post!

I think that the tangible, palpable environment of a church, in and of itself, isn’t what necessarily creates the genuine atmosphere of a church. I think the nice seats and the larger screens, if judged strictly on their own merits, is going to be somewhat meaningless to a person other than, “Wow, that’s a big screen and these are nice seats.” Yet that’s not to say that these things don’t matter. Not at all.

These things will certainly catch the eye and attract a first visit, like your example of the new shopping centers, however if that is “all there is to offer,” then a one-time visit may be all it ever attracts.

What ultimately determines the effectiveness of an environment is the role that these things play in making an individual feel as if the church they are visiting/attending actually cares about the person sitting in those nice seats, so they can be comfortable to listen/focus, and looking at the big screen, so that they can clearly see the video or pastor who is delivering the message. But more so, the environment of a church largely depends upon how much they show the person there just how passionate they are about sharing the message of Christ.

If “environmental” items are separated from that notion of “they do this because they care about the message of Christ and me, the person sitting here,” all of those wonderfully nice things can appear cold, impersonal and even overtly extravagant.

But if the individual visiting or attending feels that these tools and things are used because the church cares about drawing people closer to Christ and helping draw people to the Church so that can happen no matter what, then the tangible environment can greatly influence the spiritual and emotional environment, that most certainly does and always will matter.