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When Gaslighting Congregations Becomes Your Recruitment Strategy
All are welcome and come as you are — in this new version of Christianity — oh yeah — until you are not
The ‘all are welcome, come as you are’ mantra is popular in the modern Christian church.
My marketing 101 background tells me this is a flawed strategy. The common school of thought is if you are selling to everyone, you are selling to no one. Today’s contemporary Christian churches are living in an echo chamber, selling to no one.
Sadly, this is not immediately self-evident for the new-to-church visitor.
Once lured inside this lovely new building, the visitor is invariable accosted by a welcoming committee whose role is simply to ensnare the visitor into a warm and fluffy web, propelling them even further into the lair.
You Are Sitting HERE?
Being the newbie in the church can be awkward and fraught with danger at every turn.
First, there is selection of seating.
As every regular church goer knows, there are assigned seats. Every family has their regular pew, their standard order of seating. Not only does the family sit in the exact same spot every single week, but the seating arrangement…
