7 Key Points on How to Maximize the Lobby of Your Church
A church structure’s main function is to offer a setting for two events: a platform where people create an interaction with God and a chance to form deep connections with other people. It is possible to satisfy these two requirements for solemn and interpersonal space through the physical structure and architecture of the building. This post will discuss how to make the most of your lobby to promote social space.
The lobby is the area that matters most for fostering a congregation’s sense of community. It is the main location where people gather to socialize. For most churches, lobbies are crucial to their missions. They enable individuals to build relationships with one another, which is crucial for the Body of Christ to flourish in its entirety. They provide people with the place, support, and encouragement to do so. The number of time individuals spend interacting in the lobby would surely increase with a welcoming atmosphere.
Here are a few factors to take into account when planning, constructing, or assessing your church lobby.
The Hub
The lobby is considered the main hub of the entire church building. Similar to the main page on a website, a lobby must be the focal point to access all types of information and entrances to other areas of the religious building, such as the classrooms, restrooms, and the sanctuary.
The lobby must be built as the church’s “communication hub.” Aside from obtaining information, interested churchgoers should also be able to know about the church’s mission and, if they choose, find out more about it there.
Every lobby should feature a guest counter or station that is visible as soon as one enters through the main doors. This area supplies the visitors with the necessary information so that they don’t need to search the facility or feel lost. It provides a response to the most popular questions: Where can I find restrooms? How do I attend services? Where can I check my children in? Which spot do I go to for a cup of coffee?
First-time guests will feel supported and at home in your church if there are clear church signs and a welcoming desk in the lobby.
Multipurpose Space
The lobby serves as more than just a place where people may meet and socialize. It is the main multipurpose facility for the church, eliminating the requirement for a separate community room. A lot of churches host activities such as showers, memorial service dinners, and others in their lobbies.
So, what is the most ideal size for a church lobby? Preferably, it should match the worship area exactly. Regardless of how aggressive this is when it comes to using the space, however, if the size of the lobby is the same as the space for worship, it’ll be big enough to accommodate the flow of attendees entering and leaving the holy place.
The activities that take place on Sunday mornings shouldn’t be limited to the worship service. To aid in everyone’s spiritual development, the lobby may be purposely built in the same way as a safe haven.
Aesthetic Guidelines
The lobby serves as a window into what visitors can experience when they visit your institution. The glass panels in the lobby’s external walls allow passersby to have an idea of the activities taking place within the church. Giving guests a glimpse of your church provides a warm atmosphere that welcomes communities and highlights the activities taken on inside the walls.
Glass windows and doors that peek into the auditorium will offer guests a preview of what to expect during service at your church once they enter the lobby. A place with a seemingly impenetrable exterior wall or doors that cannot be seen inside can be daunting — particularly for a new visitor or guest.
Visual Accessibility
Glass windows and doors provide a space perception of visual clarity so that visitors don’t feel scared or uncertain of what awaits them behind a door when they approach a new area. The idea of communicating the church’s purpose and values visually is equally important. Choosing particular interior design components, such as finishes, furniture, and floors, will help you express your identity as a church and highlight what is most important to you as a spiritual community.
Individuals must be able to tell what the church is all about the moment they step inside the lobby of the church
Natural Lighting
The more natural light from the sun, the better. The use of natural light should be encouraged, particularly in the lobby. You can control the light that passes through the windows with the use of curtains if it is absolutely necessary given the church’s direction. What’s good about this is t his light won’t need directing; it will just come in naturally.
It’s crucial to have visibility both inside and outside the building, as previously mentioned. Natural light is calming and provides visual access to connecting areas outside.
Signage & Branding
Glass doors and windows let you see the layout of a room before you enter it, but there still needs to be clear signs stating what that room is for. While members may be aware of where the restrooms, nursery, sanctuary, and other important areas are, a guest or visitor who has just entered the church facility for the first time may not be. A positive visitor/guest experience depends on signage and branding.
Think about the navigation signs in airports: they are all located above people’s heads so they can see how to move across a room or to another room by looking up. Signage for wayfinding should be created using fonts, colors, and a visual aesthetic that complements your church’s brand guidelines. It should complement and compliment the interior decor of your church and make it easier for visitors to find their way around.
Since signage and branding are made primarily for visitors and newcomers, they are essential to a visitor’s sense of comfort, especially when they are visiting a church for the first time.
There should be labels on each door. The foyer will have wayfinding signs pointing to all the important areas. The church signs should be uniform throughout. All of the building’s signage, whether it’s for the sanctuary, restrooms, or utility/mechanical rooms, should be uniform.
Activity Center
In your church, this may go by a different name, but the activity center is the place where someone goes specifically to advance in their spiritual life. You may see here where there are ministry opportunities, small group opportunities, and mission options. Activity centers are designed to provide information and a way for people to participate.
In worship, there is frequently—or ought to be—a call to action that encourages listeners to think about doing some sort of action. The activity center will be the designated area in the lobby where these people may determine just how to “take action” or take the next step in signing up to join a small group. An example would be “joining a small group.”
On a Sunday morning, the church intentionally plans its programming to provide people a chance to worship God, make sacrifices through offerings and stewardship, share in communion, and hear a sermon that touches their hearts in the comfort of the church seats, inspires them, confronts them, and convicts them of sin. After a church service, the congregation is nearly always asked to do something. They are urged to become a little bit nearer to Jesus.
Before getting into their automobile or before Monday morning, a person can go to the activity center to take the next step. When someone encounters God and feels convicted, inspired, or encouraged, it gives them a way to respond. The church should offer those possibilities to people at the time and location where they are considering doing so; they cannot rely on people doing so later in the week. Activity centers give churchgoers a venue to take their spiritual journey to the next level right away.
Before someone exits the church lobby, the place should be simple to find and straightforward to access. It could be staffed or unstaffed. Action centers should combine digital paper options with live-person encounters if they are to be effective. After service, it ought to be placed in the foyer for easy access and visibility.
What other strategies have you found to make the most of your church lobby, bringing people together and fostering relationships inside the church?
