Featured Baptist Church Offers Lounge Option

I didn't quote anyone and wasn't answering anyone's specific question. I wonder myself where the "comfort" line is drawn. I suppose when it becomes a distraction. But, I'm distracted every Sunday by the mom that will allow her child to just talk, talk, talk during the service. Then there's the guy that gets up every service to go to the bathroom. He's not the only one. And the ones that forget to turn off their mobile phones, or change the batteries in their hearing aides and the thing whistles through half the service. Poor guy, he can't hear it.

Then there's all those Casio watch guys whose watch promptly beeps for 30 seconds right at noon and they don't even try to muffle it. There’s the pen clickers, the pew kickers and the talk whisperers.

The lounge option in the OP probably would not work at the church I attend. However, we do have video/audio running to the nursery and the social hall. That way our workers can see and hear the services.

I don't have an issue with an overflow room, but would have some concerns if things in the room became a distraction. I can worship with a water bottle in my hand, but would have a hard time concentrating if several around me were talk whispering, typing on their MacBooks, sharing pics on their phones. The sounds of sodas and snacks dropping from vending machines, coffee pots percolating, laughter and talking as people were coming and going.

 

I don't have any issues with an overflow room (that's a good problem to have) or a 'crying room' for parents with small children. That's a means of accommodating people while allowing them to participate.

I think the problem comes in when we have a building-basing ministry model and we are trying to design places to attract people as a replacement for being salt and light in the community. Too many churches keep their members so busy that they don't have time to have social relationships with people outside the church. Moreover, there is a habit of creating "safe" spaces for Christians to be separated from society where we don't have to be troubled by the things of the world. That's what a lot of the coffee shop and recreation center thinking comes from. They are not evil things in themselves - in fact, they can be amazing tools for outreach to the community. But they should be an only part of a balanced program of ministry to the community.

I have a friend who used to go to a doughnut shop every morning and drink coffee and eat a doughnut for an hour. He did it very intentionally to build relationships with the community. He prayed earnestly that God would bring him people to begin relationships with and God blessed that time. He ministered to many people in crisis (including the employees of the shop) and saw a number of folks come to faith in Christ. He did that in a "secular" doughnut shop, not a church-based one.

As long as we are outward focused to the needs of the community and not just relying on the building to be the draw, these accommodations to the felt needs of people can be very effective.

 

At least those people are likely to get something out of the message. Some people, inexplicably, can't get themselves organized to the extent they can make it to church on time. Others just don't want to sit through music they don't like, but get something out of the message.

This "lounge" creates an atmosphere wherein they don't even have to pay attention, yet they can say, "Yeah, I went to church Sunday." They don't get anything out of it, nothing in their life changes, they have no basis for fellowship or worship they couldn't get in a Starbuck's or a shopping mall, but hey! They went to church, right?

:BangHead:

 

Well have an overflow that, see my above post, fills up occasionally and is not as full other weeks. We have started new campuses and planted churches in the area. Our growth continues because of this. So we are happy to support our overflow space while encouraging those who use it to find their own space in the worship center. We only have a handful of regulars, often these are mothers or fathers (single parents too) that are watching their children for a season of life.

Okay, well some of us use them effectively and continue to see growth. They are helpful in our context.