Having a stand up and greet one another time in the worship service. This response was my greatest surprise for two reasons. First, I was surprised how much guests are really uncomfortable during this time. Second, I was really surprised that it was the most frequent response.

If you attend a church regularly, you’ve probably noticed the phenomenon. A guest shows up for a worship service, but he or she never returns. It is, unfortunately, a common issue in many churches.

I did a Twitter poll to ask these first-time guests why they chose not to return to a particular church. While some of the responses were anticipated, I admit being a bit surprised with some of them.

Though my poll is not scientific, it is nevertheless fascinating. Here are the top ten responses in order of frequency.

1. Having a stand up and greet one another time in the worship service. This response was my greatest surprise for two reasons. First, I was surprised how much guests are really uncomfortable during this time. Second, I was really surprised that it was the most frequent response.
2. Unfriendly church members….
3. Unsafe and unclean children’s area….
4. No place to get information….
5. Bad church website….
6. Poor signage….
7. Insider church language….
8. Boring or bad service….
9. Members telling guests that they were in their seat or pew. Yes, this obviously still takes place in some churches.
10. Dirty facilities.

There you have it. The top ten reasons first-time guests said they did not return to a church.

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