The Rev. Laura Everett, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Council of Churches, who visits many churches tweets:
I find this offensive (or at least, not welcoming) as a #church visitor. Says to me "don't disturb our performance." pic.twitter.com/IJO3AqjANh
— Laura Everett (@RevEverett) December 29, 2013
Victoria Weintstein aka Peace Bang responds that she finds it helpful:
When I see this sort of notice in the bulletin, I am grateful that the ushers have a set time to seat latecomers so that I don’t have to figure it out myself (I don’t know the liturgy, so I’d rather not guess when the best time would be to find a seat), and the ushers don’t have to get anxious wondering what the best moment might be to seat me or let me in.
…
Laura writes that she gets a sense of “don’t disturb our performance” from this detail in the program. That’s interesting to think about. When I attend worship as a visitor, I hope that it will be a carefully planned and executed liturgy, with excellent production values.
More discussion here.
What do you think? How do you welcome those who arrive after the service has begun. What instructions do you give to visitors?