Combine 5 Senses, Common Sense to Ignite Church Growth

First impressions of your church campus and facility last. They are automatic – taken in and recorded by our senses, often registered for later recall. More often than not, they make an immediate impact on our decision to participate and to return – or to not return. We may not agree with it, but the consumer mentality of the world we live in has moved full force into our church world. Our churches don’t compete with the “world” so much as the experiences of the world. How can churches learn from this?

Think about the experiences your typical guests or attenders encounter during their daily routines. Do they have a favorite morning coffee stop? Do they listen to a particular style of music on the radio on the drive in to work, or do they travel in silence? Once at work (or school, or wherever they spend the greater part of their weekday), what is the environment like? Do they have favorite pictures around them, reminding them of what’s really important in life? Do they have a candle or aromatic device nearby, silently wafting a pleasant scent in the air around them? When it’s break time, or lunch time, do they go out to eat, to the same place most days, or do they bring something from home? On the way home, do they listen to the same music (or silence) as the ride in, or do they switch to something more relaxing or energizing?

If your goal is to create a space and an experience that will positively impact people, you must first plan and evaluate it from the perspective of its quality. You start that process by examining the daily places and routines in the offices, retail and recreation spaces of the people you are trying to reach. The homes they live in, the offices they work in and the stores they shop in communicate a level of expectation they have for their space.

One subtle but powerful expression of this expectation is in our five classical senses: Sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. Leonardo da Vinci reflected sadly that the average human “looks without seeing, listens without hearing, touches without feeling, eats without tasting, moves without physical awareness, inhales without awareness of odor or fragrance and talks without thinking.” How can the church capture the powerful experiences of our senses and use them in their facilities?