Holy huddles are out. Warm welcomes are in. That's the conclusion of a new survey from Christian Research reprinted from the Aldridge newsletter.

Mystery visitors - none of whom attended church normally - were sent to more than 70 congregations across the country. Around 90 per cent said the church they visited had a tangible sense of community. Over three­ quarters said they would go back. And over half said they felt comfortable, involved and genuinely welcome.
The remarkable findings quash the belief among some that churches are horribly out of touch with the community they serve - and suggest that Christians should not be worried about inviting , non-Christian friends to church.
We wanted to hold up a mirror to the Church and see how it looks from the outside,' said Christian Research Director Benita Hewitt. 'It is part of Bible Society's mission to help equip the Church be more accessible to its local community. And the results are
incredibly positive. The Church is not in as much of a holy huddle as we'd thought. Most of them were warm and welcoming.'
Churches were secretly judged on everything from the comfort of seats and volume of worship to the building's appearance. But the main emphasis was on how strangers were treated. Ninety per cent of mystery visitors said they were welcomed at the door.
With declining church attendance, fewer newcomers are visiting our churches,' said Benita. 'If they get a poor experience of church, they may well reject the whole faith. That's why it's so important churches are welcoming'
The reality confounded the visitors' expectations. 'Some expected church would be dull, boring and dark,' she said, 'and that the sermon would not speak to them.'
One couple prepared themselves for a 'stuffy' experience. 'We thought it was going to be a hard slog,' they said, 'but it wasn't a: all. We loved it - and are thinking of going back.'
Another visitor expected the sermon to make them feel guilty. 'It was a nice surprise,' they said, 'to hear something relevant about current affairs.' The report found most churches made an effort to explain their services. Four out of five churches helped newcomers to understand and follow the service. In the north 92 per cent had information that was well presented and easily understood. And in nearly three quarters of these churches this information was actively provided to the visitor.
But some things made visitors feel uncomfortable. Fifteen per cent did not feel comfortable after the service they either felt accepted as an outsider, unwelcome or excluded. And 95 per cent said the seats were adequately comfortable.
The survey comes at a time when church attendance continues to decline. Latest figures show just over one million people attend Church of England or cathedral services every week. However, the number of children and young people attending services has risen by two per cent.

‘The Church is too hard on itself when it thinks about how it is seen,’ said Benita. ‘There’s room for improvement, but these results show most visitors are genuinely impressed.’ But the Church should not be complacent. ‘There’s a risk that even Jesus would not be welcome in some churches,’ she said. ‘Only a few churches seemed to have no sense of community. Sadly if a church appears this way to a stranger, the congregation may feel the lack of community too.

• Hazel Southam is a freelance journalist and columnist

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