First Church of Christ

FIRST IMPRESSIONS ARE SO IMPORTANT!
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For a first time guest at First Church, the first fifteen minutes of their visit affect everything. Think about it-imagine that you've been invited by a friend to come to First Church. You're driving down Juniata Gap… you turn onto Good Shepherd Road and instantly you begin to form an impression of this church. Is the grass cut/snow removed? Are the grounds maintained? Does it look like people actually care about this place and what goes on here? Then you park. You get out of your car and you begin walking toward the main entrance. "Hmm, what will I experience on the other side of those doors" you wonder… As you approach the entrance, someone opens the door for you with a warm smile and a heartfelt, "Welcome to First Church" (score a positive impression mark for the "First Friends First" team!). Upon entering, you're not sure where to take your little 3 year old, so you ask one of the First Friends Team where the kids classes are. They say, "I'd love to show you, follow me and I'll introduce you to our toddler class and their teacher" (cha-ching! Score another positive mark for the First Friends Team). After helping you deliver your child safely to her class, the First Friends Team member leads you to the Café area and invites you to have a cup of coffee. You sit down at a café table and enjoy a nice little introductory chat. And then it's off to the worship service. You walk in, find a seat near the back, and take it in-the announcement slides are running on the screen-and as you read them-you note some really cool opportunities to grow spiritually and connect with others that are coming up. The music playing over the sound system is great… there's just a really warm and loving spirit about the place…

Note-by this point-you've been at First Church for about 15-20 minutes. You haven't sung a song or heard anything spoken from the stage-but you've definitely already decided whether you like this place or not. And if the above experience was close to what really happened-my guess is you like this place!

Yes, I know that a lot of people won't arrive 20 minutes early for church---a whole bunch of them will walk in three minutes before the service begins-but that makes the First Friend Team Member's role that much more important! As they welcome guests and help them find everything they need and answer any questions they have-wonderful, powerful, positive first impressions are being made! And as a result guests are learning that. "They matter to us… and they matter to God." What an awesome way to serve!