2015-02

With few resources
Sian Mann
Views of an Undercover Worshipper
You may have recently read of the
holiday couple who stayed at the
Broadway Hotel in Blackpool and
posted a rather damning review
on Trip Advisor of “a rotten,
stinking hovel”. The hotel initially fi ned
them £100 for the insult until a wave of
public protest and the realisation that the
fi ne was legally unenforceable, resulted
in them apologising and refunding the
money.
These days we can review almost
anything online from restaurants, to
books, to movies, to university courses.
A waiter is now rude to her customers at
her peril. It could be on the internet within
moments.
One of the very earliest websites
to conduct online reviews was www.
shipoffools.com. Since 1998 Ship of
Fools has been reviewing churches.
Taking their cue from the well known
mystery shopper technique, they asked
regular contributors to their website to
become a Mystery Worshipper. The
Mystery Worshippers travel incognito
around churches in both the UK and
worldwide and, having experienced a
usual Sunday service, will then go on to
post a review online.
These are occasionally derogatory,
usually very honest and almost always
entertaining. If you want to see the full
diversity of church life in Britain then
spend 30 minutes browsing some of the
reviews.
St Chad’s has not yet welcomed
a mystery worshipper, but plenty of
Sheffi eld churches have. A selection of
comments (anonymised!) are as follows:
One of the friendliest
churches that I have been in
Clapping broke out
fervently during most
choruses… the singing
was almost inaudible
The most blasé sermon
I have ever heard
The singers
voices fell
short of
angelic
I stood there
feeling
ignored
for several
minutes
I would
like to be
part of a
community
as caring
and busy
and
welcoming
as this
What is striking is how much
importance mystery worshippers put on
being welcomed. The sermon and the
music may be top rate, but if no-one
says hello to them after the service, the
church’s marks suffer accordingly. On
the other hand the preacher may be
CALL IN FOR A CUPPA
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email: office@stchads.org
Church Offices: 15 Camping Lane, Sheffield S8 0GB Page 22 website: www.stchads.org
Tel: (0114) 274 5086
weak and the singing tuneless but if the
welcome was genuine and warm, so the
review will be mostly positive.
Often people think that it’s the vicar
who makes all the difference to a church
‘Mystery
Worshippers
travel
incognito
around
churches in
the UK and
worldwide
and then
post a review
on-line.
- a good preacher
or a good leader
will surely pull the
crowds in. But it
seems that, whilst
it’s certainly no bad
thing to perform well
in the pulpit, the real
proof of the pudding
lies in the warmth
of welcome that a
congregation gives
to the stranger.
And that is exactly
how it should be.
The church is no more and no less than
the people who worship there week in
and week out, and it is on all of us who
call ourselves Christians that the church
should be judged.
I suppose one day St Chad’s turn will
come to host the Mystery Worshipper. I
hope that when that happens they will
fi nd the worship, the preaching and
the welcome inspiring. But I hope that
is the same for everyone who comes
unannounced into the church on a
Sunday morning. Why not try it, and tell
me what you think! (And I promise that I
won’t fi ne anyone for bad reviews).
Toby Hole
Painter & Decorator
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St Chad’s Church, Linden Avenue, Woodseats
Church Offi ce: 9 Linden Avenue, Sheffi eld S8 0GA
Tel: (0114) 274 5086
email: offi ce@stchads.org
St Chad’s Church, Linden Avenue, Woodseats
Page 24 website: www.stchads.org
Church Offi ce: 9 Linden Avenue, Sheffi eld S8 0GA
Page 25
Tel: (0114) 274 5086
email: offi ce@stchads.org
website: www.stchads.org