What Are "THEY" Saying?

One of the pleasures that I receive in ministry (most of the time ) is seeing what the people who visit hyde park are saying about their experience. 

When a person or family drops in on us one of the things we do in follow up is send a self-addressed, stamped postcard that ask a few questions:

1. I came to Hyde Park because:
2. This is what I like best:
3. Here are my suggestions:
4. Sex and age-range

I wanted to share the last few that we received with you (each number represents the same card)...

I came to Hyde Park because: 

1. Looking for a church and knew some of our members
2. to see what you had to offer - we like what we experienced
3. a friend
4. we heard that it offered contemporary worship which I enjoy
5. of the pastor's friendship over the years and wanted to hear him and was very impressed.

This is what I like best:

1. the laid back but friendly atmosphere and the music
2. teaching, music, atmosphere, hospitality and enthusiasm of the people
3. I like a friendly atmosphere which this community exhibits
4. the worship music and the friendly family atmosphere
5. the music, teaching and friendliness of the people

Here are my suggestions:

1. none
2. none
3. for newcomers, a welcome committee for such events as fun as well as employments (? )
4. to shorten the service a little bit. It's quite lengthy. (once again, )
5. none

Sex and Age

1. Female / 30-40 years old
2. Female / 60+
3. Male / 50-60
4. Female / 18-30
5. Male / 60+

Here's what I see from the loose data:

• 4 of the 5 mentioned the atmosphere. They are obviously referencing the environment that we create each Sunday morning - the look, the servants, the service itself, the lights - you name it, it's all atmosphere. (Either that or they are referring to the mass of air surrounding the Earth; "there was great heat as the comet entered the atmosphere" )
• All 5 mentioned the friendliness or the hospitality of Hyde Park's people. The people ARE the church.
• 4 of the 5 mentioned the music (word.)
• 4 of the 5 came because they were invited.
• 3 of the 5 were over 50. So much for the thought that what we're doing only appeals to young people.

The cards I've mentioned here are not "carefully selected" - they were the last 5 cards we've received. We've always gotten favorable responses on this card (1 time a person said our friendliness was overwhelming - I told our volunteers that I'll lose them for that reason ANYTIME!). Sometimes it's easy to look at the glass the wrong way - it looks like half of the water's gone when in reality we have a half-glass full of refreshing water to offer.

I wanted to share with you what "THEY" were saying - you know, the people that God has placed us here to reach.

Comments

[Alan]

Cool! So refreshing to see new comments and opinions from new commers. Nice reminder to members and long timers that had the same first time comments and responses. May the long timers never forget the breath of fresh air the first time we came to visit the Holy Spirit at HPBC.