Do I have to talk to anyone at church?

For a lot of people this is the actual barrier. Not the theology, not the music, but the prospect of being drawn into a conversation with a stranger while you are already out of your depth.

So let us be specific about where interaction can happen and how to skip it. There is someone at the door who will greet you. You can say hi and keep walking. There is coffee, which you can get without talking to anyone. There is no greeting time built into the service where you have to turn and meet your neighbors. Afterward the lobby has people talking, and you can walk straight through it to the parking lot.

If you are the kind of person who would rather be invisible for the first few visits, you are not being rude and nobody is offended. Some of the people most involved here now spent their first month or two coming in late, sitting in the back, and leaving during the last song. That is a completely legitimate way to check out a church.

When you do want to talk to someone, there is a clear way to do it rather than having to guess. There is a spot in the lobby where you can ask a question, and there is a person whose actual job is helping new people find their footing here. You get to choose when that happens.

The one thing we will do is follow up if you tell us you are coming, and even that is a short message you can ignore.