The First Thing People Notice

  If you walk into my house through the front door, the first thing you notice is the mirror on the wall. It’s a round mirror with a metal rose and ivy design I bought on clearance from Hobby Lobby. I put the mirror there for the obvious reason: so I could check my face before I leave the house. Above the mirror is a painted picture I bought with a quote from Joshua 24: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” It was one of my grandfather’s favorite Bible verses, so that verse holds a special meaning for me. We are strategic about what we put right inside the door of our homes. It’s kind of like a prelude: here’s a taste of what you will get if you come into this home. 

            I hope my choices say “Here we love Jesus and your face is important to us.” Well, your whole self is important to us, but the mirror only reflects your face.

            I wonder what people notice first when they come into the church. What impression does that first glimpse give them of our church?

            When I saw my church where I serve now as pastor for the first time, the first thing I noticed was the doors. They are painted a beautiful shade of purple. I saw those doors and a part of my heart was instantly taken. I loved them. I also loved how big the church parking lot was (so many spaces!...it’s the little things, isn’t it?) but what I really loved about what I saw first were the purple doors. All the outside doors are purple, and I love that. Purple is the color of Lent and Advent, a color of waiting and anticipation. In the church calendar, we use the color purple to mark seasons of preparation. In my mind, having purple church doors tells me, “Something is going to happen here” and I wanted to be a part of it.

            Of course, the challenge now is most people can’t see the doors. During the pandemic, the way we reach people is not by inviting them to our building. So since our building isn’t attracting people because we really can’t attract people during the pandemic, the question becomes this: how do we get the word out that something is happening here? How do we – and the larger church – thrive as a force for good in our communities? 

            That really has become the important question churches are asking, especially churches that have, in the past, pressed against a digital ministry. I feel blessed where I serve because the foundation for digital ministry is already here. Folks worked on that long before I got here and they’ve been building on it ever since. The pandemic just pushed us a little further up and further in a little faster than we (or anyone) expected. The joke among pastors is that we all became televangelists overnight. 

            (Also, special shout-out to Mark Perry, my college broadcast professor. Thanks for teaching me how to talk to a camera!)

            Over the course of the last couple of months, we’ve learned how to adapt and survive, and I think that’s awesome. Now we’ve landed at this crossroad where our task is to not just survive, but thrive. We could survive and keep doing what we’re doing. Or we could thrive. I want us to thrive! I want every church to thrive and follow God into the wilds of a ministry that balances the in-person attendance with the online person attendance. To do that, I think we have to start by being intentional about the first thing people notice. What’s the ministry, the message, the images on social media that people see first? Those are our new purple doors. 

            I don’t have great answers yet, because I myself am still exploring that question. It’s an exciting question to me, because as a young Christian woman, I don’t want to just survive. I, personally, want to thrive. I don’t want to just adapt and respond. I want to be innovative and creative. My ten-year anniversary of ordination (or my ordinaversary) is coming up this month, so I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. In my ten years of being a pastor, I have sometimes questioned my call. I have sometimes wondered what God is up to. But I took a vow to serve with imagination, intelligence, energy, and love. I think all four of those things are needed so I grow as a pastor and as a woman of faith. 

            The first thing people notice about you might not be the beautiful purple doors or a mirror by your front door. But I hope the first thing people notice is that something is happening here. God is doing something amazing. I have no idea what it is yet, so let’s wonder together. 

            What is something you are doing these days to thrive and not just survive? What is making you come alive?  



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