Here’s a continuation to my earlier over-ran 4 parts posts on the Indo churches I’ve visited.
For context, I’ve talked about –
And here lastly are some methinks could be better..
🖐️🖐️ Could be more welcoming & accessible to visitors
I’ve visited a few, and so noticed differences in ways of welcoming newcomers among the churches, but in general there isn’t much welcome and a lack of culture that look out for visitors. They had a time of greeting each other, but there’s little warmth. Some of them has a formality of asking if there’s any newcomers and have them stand where they are (which I find very strange in a reserved culture of the East! Won’t people feel uncomfortable with that? 🤔) But what’s disappointing is even after you stood up, noone did follow up afterwards, not the welcoming team nor the people around you who did notice you stood up.
When I visited one of the big buildings where the church was, there was no clear direction of where exactly the service was at. If you’re a first time visitor, it could be very confusing. This is in contrast with a contemporary Presbyterian church I went to where they had signs clearly displayed at the lobby all the way to the theatre where the service was held.
There are also things that would confuse you if you aren’t a regular attendee, such as the different types of offering bags being passed around or even things as ‘trivial’ as the different attires the minister wears. For visitors, it would be helpful to be briefed on things that may not understand at first encounter. Could be as simple as a one sentence of explanation / description accompanying what we’re about to do or see. This is something my church in Melbourne does well, in making newcomers feel welcomed. People up the front speak with the awareness that there may be non-christians amongst us, so speak in a way that is helpful for their understanding. Friendliness is already a culture in the pews, so newcomers are likely to meet smiles and greetings from the regulars.
Lastly, I learnt that one of the Sunday Schools was very strict in terms of admission. You have to be cathechised before you are allowed to join their Sunday School. While I can understand their earnestness in ensuring the kids are taught basics, I personally feel that puts up too high a barrier for what it’s worth. It will bar people who are exploring the faith to come along. For a seminary that trains preachers, I think the stricter the requirements the better, not so much for Sunday School, or church service in general. Unless their Sunday School is meant to solely be training ground for believing children and none to evangelism (which I also do not agree with).
Could be more of a family / community for the members 🏘
Not only as an observer, I also speak on behalf of a friend who has been in this church and serving for years.
From my brief experience of being there, it did cross my mind how would it grow when it’s generally not welcoming. The fact is it does, and it goes to show it’s the power of the Word that wins people over. But the community within can certainly be improved!
As I mentioned in a previous post, they did have a small group called Organic Small Group. From what I heard, it may not have worked too well. There’s an expectation that everyone shares openly, so when you’re not ready, it felt like you’re not pulling your weight (I’m thinking a lot of this may have to do with the culture too, there’s no much concept of respect for privacy and space). And when you do share your honest struggles, there is much judgement, so people feel uncomfortable sharing. Another common thing here (as with many other churches): cliquish, existing groups aren’t inclined to embrace newcomers. Isn’t this something common to our churches here too? Subconsciously, we’re becoming none other than any other social clubs, held together by common interests instead of Christ.
So, in general, the community felt stiff. But it’s encouraging and hopeful because the ministers are clearly aware of this. During my stay there, they were planning for a potluck initiative after the church service one of the weeks. And yes, they do preach that from the pulpit too, reminding their congregation what a family of God is supposed to look like.
Any church will have its own strengths and weaknesses. I wonder if they have too much emphasis and resources spent on teaching and intensive courses at the expense of fellowship and pastoral care. I learnt that people only go to their pastors for counselling, so in general it means no organic relationship with their own leaders then?
Could be more helpful for everyone 🙂
In my experience, the ministers do feel a bit aloof. Most of them do not greet you out the door at the end of the service (only one of the churches I visited did). It’s a practice in my church here in Melbourne, and I thought that’s a good practice even for the people to just have a closer encounter and interaction with the minister although it’s not possible for everyone to be in close friendship with him.
More than that, when I approached them for a chat after the service, they responded with a nod of thanks and didn’t seem interested to continue the conversation, even when it’s about the sermon (which I thought was a good talk and wanted to chat more about it). Perhaps they’re too modest, but it’s not helpful. It’s very different from my home church here where my minister will warmly welcome general chats and keen to speak further on the sermon too, and humble to receive any encouragement and teachable to receive any feedback. There’s consistency in the experience as an audience listening to him on the pulpit and talking to him down the stage afterwards, and I think that’s very important. With Indo churches, I feel a distance.
One other thing I can think of is there wasn’t much information on the series / theme of their Sunday talks. That is, I am not sure what talk to expect when I turn up on Sunday. I thought that could be better communicated, both in announcements or even at the start of the talk, to give a quick context of what we are or have been going through at present. This is another point I think my home church does well too.
So, there you go, just a few things I could think of that perhaps they could learn from us too!
In all, that was a good two months experience to be able to just turn up to church (and not be on duty), to just take part as an attendee and observe and enjoy :).
But man, did I miss my home church..!
It’s good to be back 🙂