Well-Being Australia chairman Mark Tronson says that the article set him off in a train of thought as to what Churches are the easiest to attend.
Mark Tronson says that it will depend on whether you are a regular church attender but are looking for a different type of church, whether you are thinking about what church to attend as a first timer, or whether you are wanting to become re-established within a church community that you were once a part of.
If a family are regular church attenders, but is wondering about their future needs in a congregation, then they would want to be looking at what type of church meets their needs. For example, a young family with primary school children would be looking at church that provide after school activities and school holiday functions, a Sunday School and family church camps.
The family with teenagers would be looking for a church that caters for youth, perhaps with bible study meetings, youth rallies and sporting teams, computer facilities and within-Church online social networks, outward bound activities, excursions and other things that might attract the younger generation.
A young married couple might prefer a mid-week home bible study group in the evening, and a single might look for a church that provides activities where he or she can meet other unattached Christian people.
Others, such as Prince Philip, may choose a Church depending on the length of the Minister's sermon (according to his recorded comments celebrating his 90th birthday)! And others may prefer one type of music or another – traditional hymns or modern adaptations.
Joking and trivial matters aside, an important part of Protestantism is the quality of the preaching, and this is often a critical factor in helping people decide whether to go back to a particular church or look for another. However, I think one of the factors that stands above many of the other variables is whether the people in the congregation who are welcoming and friendly and inviting. That makes a whole lot of difference in new congregants' decisions.
For the family or the individual thinking about re-engaging in the Christian community through Sunday worship, they will be in for a bit of a shock because of the changes that have taken place over the past few decades.
Three examples to illustrate this:
Mark Tronson said he and his wife Delma were showing guests around the area and decided to take them to their week-day Baptist church coffee shop. This is well-appointed and welcoming, with beautiful flower settings and a professional and sophisticated menu. Their guests were somewhat "stunned".
But that was only half the story, as the visitors peered into the Sanctuary and exclaimed: "A Repertory Theatre and Cinema"! There were huge spotlights, all manner of modern technology, a huge screen, seating set out something like a cinema. In this instance their conception of a church was given a bit of a paradigm shift.
On another occasion he said his family took a young lady in her twenties, who was from a traditional European Catholic congregation, to their local Baptist church service. She was blown away not only by the setting, but by the informal nature of the worship service, the lively yet "family member" style of preaching and the after-church cuppa where everyone sat around chatting like long lost friends.
For those re-engaging into a Christian congregation, it depends entirely where they first set their tentative feet. If it's a full blown Pentecostal church they won't know what hit them. Of it's a main stream Protestant church they will see many differences from their past recollections. On the other they might enter a church door and think that nothing has changed and feel quite pleased with such a spiritual comfort.
So what's the easiest church to attend? Today it's a smorgasbord to choose from.
