Floaters frustrate me.
Do you know what I mean by “floaters?”
Floaters are the people who float from church to church so frequently that they never settle in one place long enough to really be a part of a church family.
Floaters frustrate me.
I knew a family of floaters one time. The head floater of this family told me that his family simply couldn’t find a church family that suited them. Oh they’d find churches where they liked the music fine, but didn’t much like the sermons. They’d find a place where they liked the sermons, but didn’t much like the music. And the members of these churches seemed friendly enough, but the floater family never could seem to make friends (probably because they wouldn’t stay put long enough to really get to know anyone.)
Floaters frustrate me.
But they are also a valuable source of insight and information for a church.
You see, floaters have had far more first experiences with churches than you or I probably ever will. They are hyper aware of their surroundings each and every time they step into a worship service. Because of this, they will see things and experience things you miss due to familiarity.
What do I mean? When we become familiar with our building, our worship style, our Bible class style, the layout of our building and parking lot, we overlook certain things that might be off-putting to visitors simply because they are familiar.
I’ll give you a couple of examples. I visited a church a few years ago that had a serious odor as soon as you walked in the front door. It was bad. It smelled like an open sewer the moment you cracked the front door. Turns out that there were bathrooms just inside the front doors that were causing the problem (huge problem), but nobody there seemed to notice.
Another example was a church that had a lighting problem. Over the years a large number of bulbs and fixtures stopped working, and nobody bothered to fix the problem. It was so bad that I witnessed people getting out flashlights in order to read their Bible. And no, I’m not exaggerating.
We become blind to the way other people view us, our worship, and our facilities. It’s a good idea every once in a while to ask visitors, or frequent floaters how things could be improved.
If nothing else, ask yourself some of these questions as if you were visiting your church for the very first time:
- When I pull in the parking lot, can the entrances clearly be identified, or am I going to have to drive around the building a few times in hopes of finding an entrance?
- Does the exterior of the building look like this church cares about its facilities, or is the landscaping and appearance an absolute mess?
- If I am stepping into this building for the first time, do I have any idea where I’m going? Are there signs and people here to help me find my way?
- Will anyone explain to me what I’m going to experience during my time here? How long is the service? What are we going to do? Why are we going to do these things? How am I supposed to find this information out?
- If I visit the church website (yes, you absolutely need one) will I be able to answer all of the previously mentioned questions, as well as get a sense that this is a loving, vibrant, and active congregation that cares deeply about people? All people?
And quite possibly the biggest question of them all:
- If I were to attend this church as a visitor, would I feel that my presence was greatly appreciated, that people cared about me enough to get to know me, and that my time here was the highlight of my week?
If you are unsure about that last question, then I would suggest your congregation do some serious rethinking of how you do things, because you just might be the reason those floaters keep floating by.
And floaters frustrate me.
Living in the Word 