Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Howdy Doody Time – Part Two

In my previous post I shared how churches that have a greeting time during the worship service as a way of demonstrating warmth and friendliness actually may be demonstrating the exact opposite. You can read that post here. In this post I want to share some other reasons why churches might want to reconsider if it is appropriate to have such a greeting time, which I jokingly refer to as “Howdy Doody” time.

Since Howdy Doody time is often placed in the middle of the worship service, in my experience it takes the focus off of the worship of God and places it on the fellowship of people. While fellowship between believers is important, it should never take the place of the worship of God. If a church really wants to have a fellowship time as part of their order of service, it should be done in such a way that it does not interrupt the flow of worship. For example, I was once in a large church in New Mexico that had a fellowship time right at the end of the service. After the closing prayer the worship leader asked everyone to shake hands with five other people before they left and said that two of them had to be people you did not know. The congregation, which was obviously used to that, did that very thing and I recall it feeling very authentic and appropriate, much better than doing it during the chorus of one of the songs sung during the middle of the worship service. It is important that nothing break the flow of worship once it starts. In the words of one worship leader I know, “Once you go vertical; do not go horizontal again until the service is over.”
Another challenge with Howdy Doody time is that it takes up valuable time, which in some time conscious churches is more of an issue than others. For example, not long ago I was the guest pastor at a rural church and they had a fellowship time right before the sermon. I spoke there several times and it was always awkward as I stood in the pulpit and waited for people to finish. On one particular Sunday one fellow just kept talking and talking and talking. Everyone else was in their seat and I was standing in the pulpit waiting, and he just kept on chatting with his friend in the aisle. Since I was only a guest speaker, I was not quite sure what to do. Finally one of the deacons said something and the fellow realized he was holding up the service. When I asked about it afterwards, I was told it that was a frequent occurrence from that particular person. It seems unfair for the pastor to have to cut his sermon short, or to have to listen to complaints about the service running long, because a handful of people lack the ability to keep appropriate boundaries during Howdy Doody time. It is better to move the fellowship to some other place in the order of service, such as the end, so that it does not take time away from the worship of God or the preaching of His Word.

Finally, it concerns me that sometimes Howdy Doody time simply becomes a time for gossip about who is wearing what and who did what last week. Since gossip is rarely positive, and often sinful, having a Howdy Doody time during the worship service may actually be encouraging sin and perhaps stirring up anger right in the middle of what is supposed to be a sacred time of worship before God. Why in the world would we want to encourage that?
After writing my last post, I heard from a few people who said that their church had a Howdy Doody time that was done right. While I applaud that handful that may be doing it right, I have yet to be in a church that was doing it right. I fear that we often only think we are doing it right because it feels good to us. Do our visitors think we are doing it right? Does God think we are doing it right? Perhaps we should consider those questions in our determination of whether Howdy Doody time fits into a God-honoring worship service or not.

17 comments:

  1. Since the very traditional church I was brought up in didn't have this I find this a big interruption in the focus of the service. A fellowship time after the end of the service gives much more time for meeting and greeting . At the very least, deacons, elders, greeters ushers or others who assist with the service should consider it their ministry to be on the lookout for those who need drawing in. I have often found that is a dear older lady with a wonderful smile

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  2. Thanks for sharing Jane. I completely agree.

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  3. I can't imagine allowing the situation you described continue to delay the service. We have our greeting time before the worship begins, right after announcements. After an appropriate amount of time the music leader gently calls us into the call to worship and we go into the flow of worship. I would never try to have a greeting time in the middle of worship. What is the thinking behind that?

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  4. Randy,
    I do not know what the thinking was behind it. But since I was just a guest speaker for four Sundays while they were in the process of calling a new pastor, I did not attempt to address the situation.

    Terry

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  5. One of the advantages of the greeting time for our church is that our church does not have a main entrance/exit and visitors sometimes come in and go out without giving members a chance to speak to them. Visitors are not pointed out or embarrassed publicly, but our members get a chance to speak to them and welcome them to our service before worship begins. I think it is like everything else there is a right and a wrong way to do things in a particular church and this is not right for everyone, but it can be good and effective if done right.

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  6. I think I state the obvious problem with most churches that THINK they are warm and cuddly. Sure they are to people who look like them, think like them, talk like them, etc. Most churches are closed societies. And most pastors are as deluded as their congregations thinking they are not.

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  7. I've been free-lance for several weeks since retirement ... I've been able to attend some services incognito ... I've intentionally dressed so as to disguise my rank among the "clergy." And, I have found some genuinely warm congregations where I was greeting and cared for with genuine warmth ... without having the "howdy doody" time ...

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  8. If you think it is working, make sure it is working. If it is not working, Throw it OUT! Be the Church, Love people! Seems like an easy enough equation to me.

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  9. This is definitely worth evaluating!

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  10. Kirby, so true. I wish it wasn't, but it is.

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  11. Sam,
    Most pastors don't get the chance you are, of visiting churches without anyone knowing who they are. We could all learn a lot by doing that.

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  12. I'm so relieved to see someone actually say this. I thought maybe it was just my husband and I who found it terribly awkward and uncomfortable. We are fairly new to the congregation we are attending and my husband is still so uncomfortable with the process (after about 6 months) that we are conscientiously late for church just to avoid it.

    I am one for nice clear boundaries. When it's time to worship, worship. I'd like to see that time protected more. We make a real effort to guard that time of private worship - shut off the phone, close the door, turn off the TV. Should we not also guard that time on Sunday morning? I'd like to see the announcements of upcoming events taken out of the service as well for just this reason. It's not worship -

    I think there should be a time to include these things, but I'd like to see them taken care of and tucked away right at the start of the service. Come on in, say hello to your friends, make an effort to say hello to someone you don't know, call folks together for announcements, and then let's get our worship on! Get lost in the music and the word. We can visit again over coffee and donuts after.

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  13. Randy Koon that is they way we do it too. i told them when i came they did a great job of greeting guests but as Terry Dorsett said “Once you go vertical; do not go horizontal again until the service is over.” so i changed the first week to do announcments, greeting and offering before anything else. But i do like the idea for doing it last as it would give the guest the opportunity to leave if they felt "awkward."

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  14. I think the best time and place to meet and greet is before the service in the atrium if you have one... we make it our goal to greet everyone that comes through our door. We have door greeters but the real way to greet people is just to be a friendly and welcoming church... when the church is healthy people go out of their way to meet others!

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  15. Doug,
    Thanks for sharing. The way you have reorganized your service makes a lot of sense.

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  16. Tim,
    Great idea for using the atrium. Far too many people think that everything has to be done in the sanctuary. Great use of the rest of the facility.

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