Some lay leaders in some congregations actually say this about visitors/guests when it is suggested that better signage or greeters outside the facilities and not just inside one part of the facilities might help visitors/guests find their way in the church facilities the first time.
Perhaps this is not a tremendously bad statement. Perhaps it is. Here are some problems with this statement:
1. It suggests an attitude of low openness to new people connecting with the congregation. I wonder if such congregations either do not need more people to connect with them, or feel that is not a necessary part of congregational ministry?
2. It suggests as caste system that the current members' viewpoint is better than the viewpoint of visitors/guests. New people must learn how to see things from the perspective of existing and especially long-term members. If they can figure out the culture of the longer tenured people in the congregation and follow it, then they are welcome.
3. It suggests not only a lack of sufficient sensitivity to new people, but also suggests that if such attitudes persist that even once people visit multiple time they may find it difficult to be assimilated into the congregation. They may be made to feel like outsiders for a long time.
Actually very few congregation proactively and openly act like this. Many, however, unintentionally act like this. They are myopic and do not realize what they are doing.
Where is your congregation in its openness and sensitivity to the viewpoint of visitors/guests?
