Churches have much to learn from Golden Arches.(ENI)--Churches should take a leaf from the 750-page training manual of global restaurant giant McDonald's and make first-time visitors feel more welcome, a study has found. McDonald's "entire ethos e·thos n. The disposition, character, or fundamental values peculiar to a specific person, people, culture, or movement: "They cultivated a subversive alternative ethos" Anthony Burgess. is geared around making us feel welcome and ensuring that we 'call again,'" says Alison Gilchrist in her study, entitled en·ti·tle tr.v. en·ti·tled, en·ti·tling, en·ti·tles 1. To give a name or title to. 2. To furnish with a right or claim to something: Creating A culture of Welcome. Even a "fairly reserved" official body like the English Tourist Board takes hospitality seriously and offers a Welcome Host training course. By contrast, she says many British churches combine hot coffee with a cold shoulder. "Fellowship time after the service is often an exclusive club where the outsider Outsider often refers to one identified as on the periphery of social norms, one living or working apart from mainstream society, or one observing a group from the outside, as used in:
In the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , one man visited 195 churches and reported that he was spoken to only once apart from the official greeters: he was asked to move his feet. Ms. Gilchrist recommends the "three-minute rule" of spending that time after the service talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to visitors before chatting to friends. Creating A Culture of Welcome says visitors need to be clear what is going on in the service. "Some of the most 'upset people' are those who felt excluded from the worship because a lack of 'stage directions' meant they could not join in," she says. Among Ms. Gilchrist's other tips to bring in newcomers: keep the grass cut, and take outdated out·dat·ed adj. Out-of-date; old-fashioned. outdated Adjective old-fashioned or obsolete Adj. 1. notices off the board. Meanwhile, Ship of Fools The ship of fools is an old allegory that has long been used in Western culture in literature and paintings. With a sense of self-criticism, it describes the world and its human inhabitants as a vessel whose deranged passengers neither know nor care where they are going. , "the magazine of Christian unrest," has reported that it sent a team of "mystery worshippers" to rate "the comfort of the pews, the warmth of the welcome and the length of the sermon" around various places of worship in Britain and beyond. The verdicts, which range from "wonderful worship (and coffee) to serious sermon, canned praise" can be found at the Web site www.shipoffools.com |
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