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Below is a small gathering of recent blogs and articles from the web about the experiences of church visitors and the work to help the church become more welcoming.

While the some of the opinions expressed aren't necessarily nice (warning!), and some are perhaps not even completley fair, they are valuable first-hand reports on the experiences of those who walk through church doors for the first time.

Church from a Visitor's Perspective

David Zimmerman is writing a nine-part series on Church Marketing Sucks about the experience of attending church from a visitor's perspective.

"I found myself in an unusual position--for the first time in years I was being welcomed into a church rather than welcoming people into church. Unable to shake my church-planting mentality, I was particularly sensitive to the way churches approached visitors. After visiting a few different churches, I started to realize something: many churches have forgotten what it's like to go to a church for the first time." See Part 1 here.   

Lessons from St. Arbuck's

As he drives to church, the Rev. Greg Asimakoupoulos always notices the Sunday crowd gathered at one of his favorite sanctuaries. There are a dozen religious congregations on Mercer Island, but Asimakoupoulos pays special attention to the flock at the cozy haven with the simple green-and-white sign. Even though he leads the Mercer Island Covenant Church, the evangelical pastor and poet knows this other "church" well, since he visits it faithfully. Asimakoupoulos calls it "St. Arbucks." There are six on the island.

A Month of Sundays 

The Stranger, a Seattle alternative weekly, sent 31 "strangers" to visit 31 local houses of worship and often their take on the experience. (Warning: Readers may find some of these opinions offensive.)

"We are, rather famously, one of the least churched cities in North America. It seems that most of us have better things to do on a Sunday morning than go to church. Seattleites would rather take a hike. Or nurse a hangover. Or fire up the bong. We're just not that into Him."

"As hard as I try to relate the words and songs to my own life, the connections are always glib and trivial. The sermon is on "Reigning": All I can think of is Shawn Kemp. Passages are read from the book of Colossians: I imagine Colossus from the X-Men. The pastor stresses memorization of Bible passages, and each program includes a card with a verse on one side and the acronym on the other. I can't help but think of the Brain Age game for my Nintendo DS."

The Five Churches Experiment

The Drew Marshall radio show paid two participants who had little church experience to visit five church services in the Toronto area in June 2007 and "help the church see itself as you see it." The participants appeared on the Drew Marshall show to share their experiences and later blogged about it here.