"Your church is beautiful. I love the prayer room and the coffee shop!" "I'm impressed with your facilities. All the signs made it really easy to find my way around."
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Roger has heard several compliments like these comments from guests since arriving at his church. Even though he's been a pastor for a few years, Roger never considered the importance of the church building. While he knows the true focus of the church should be to make disciples of all people, Roger now views his church facilities as an important "first time impression" that hinders or helps the goal of reaching people for Christ.
Our research team at Rainer Research interviewed over 350 people across the U.S. who are new to a church. We asked them about their perceptions of the facilities. Did it affect their decision to attend the church? What they told us was surprising. Here are some insights we gained from our interviews.
The church facility plays an important role in attracting the unchurched. While some may argue that the church building is of minimal importance, our research concludes the opposite. Unique situations do call for different types of churches, styles, venues, and sizes. In short, however, excellent church facilities help attract the unchurched. Church leaders need to take great care of their church facilities in order to maximize their evangelistic efforts.
The church building is not the primary motivating factor for the unchurched. Attractive church buildings help draw unchurched people. But while the appearance of the church building is clearly important in attracting the unchurched, it is not the primary reason for them coming to church. The unchurched are primarily motivated to go to church due to a feeling of emptiness, and the simple fact that someone invited them. Therefore, the main factors are the work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of the unchurched and the obedience of churchgoers to the Great Commission.
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