1. Lighting
Lighting has a profound effect on people's moods. Inadequate lighting dampens the spirit of a service.
2. Sound
Invest in the best sound system you can afford. If you're trying to cut costs, do it in some other area. Don't skimp here.
3. Seating
Both the comfort and the arrangement of your seating dramatically affect the mood of any service.
4. Temperature
As a pastor who has preached for years in un-air-conditioned gyms and unheated tents, I say this with the utmost conviction: The temperature can destroy the best planned service in a matter of minutes
5. Clean, safe nurseries
If you want to reach young families, you've got to have sanitized and safe nurseries.
6. Clean restrooms
Visitors may forget your sermon but the memory of a foul smelling restroom lingers on ... and on ... and on! You can tell a lot about the morale of a church by checking out the quality of the restrooms.
Can't really disagree with much here except for the seating. The "personal space/comfort" is not necessary. Wooden pews or even sitting on the floor in a missionary location suffice.
Hmmmm. Doesn't this sound familiar? More like Disneyland more than a church?
How ever did Christianity ever grow in the conditions of the early church? No air conditioning, mood lighting, staging, comfort. It's a miracle that people responded to the message of grace given that level of discomfort.
But what about emergents, who are just as avante garde as the PDChurch once was, who are actually enjoying the dim light and candles etc.? (not endorsing Emergent here at all...)
And heaven forbid that we should be downcast, that might make people feel repentant!