My wife gave me a brilliant idea. She suggested, each time I visit a church, I share on my blog three things the church did right. I always look for these sorts of things when I visit a church, so it was a great suggestion.
I don’t visit churches nearly as often as I’d like. But I figured, as it happens, I could share my findings with you—my audience. Regardless of how you feel about Joel Osteen, his church is reaching people. And any time a white man can reach a crowd as diverse as you find in Lakewood’s seats, you know there’s something there.
Joel wasn’t speaking last Sunday, and this blog isn’t about him at all. It’s about the structural and creative things they did that any church can learn from. So without further ado, here are my three things I think Lakewood does really well.
1. Individual Prayer
It amazes me that a church with over 10,000 people in one service can provide personal prayer during the service. After a rather lengthy musical worship time, they call prayer teams forward and invite anyone who wants prayer to get come to the front. It works remarkably well, and it isn’t a bore for those who aren’t getting prayed for.
They have everyone sit down as they call people forward. Then the band plays a less responsive song. You can still sing along and focus on God, but it’s obvious you aren’t required to pour your heart out in worship.
Of course, the whole stage is cram-packed with prayer teams. But they actually have just as many people guiding the congregants to prayer teams. There’s a whole team that keeps everything in order. They watch for available prayer teams and escort the person as soon as they become available. Remarkably smooth and it allows the church to do something they place great value on—praying for people.
2. Giving Guests a Priority Seat
The first few rows of the church are reserved for family and staff. I’m sure much of this is for security reasons since the church is so high profile. But right behind those seats, they have a huge section reserved exclusively for first-time guests. You don’t have to sit there if you don’t want. But you’re invited to sit closer if you’d like. What a great way to honor guests in such a huge church. It gives them a chance to really experience the service…and the room doesn’t feel all that big if you’re sitting up in the front. (In case you didn’t know: It’s the largest church in the USA and it meets in a stadium.)
3. Parking
You think parking is a nightmare at your church? Lakewood has three services and thousands of cars entering and leaving between services. But it doesn’t feel chaotic. They’ve made excellent use of their parking garage—using separate levels for different services.
Obviously your church probably doesn’t have a parking garage…but can you focus on using different areas and different traffic flows depending on what service you’re preparing for?
What are the best things you’ve seen at a church you visited? What can other churches learn from that? Share it in a comment!