When You Work in a Church, Learning From Others Isn’t Easy

If you work in a church, you know how difficult it is to visit and learn from other churches. I spent 16+ years in church leadership, and during that time, I rarely had the chance to experience how other churches did ministry.

Now, as a full-time church consultant, I get to step into different churches nearly every week. Recently, I visited three very different churches in three weeks. Each one reinforced a simple but powerful truth: great churches aren’t defined by size, style, or budget—they are defined by intentionality.

Here’s what I learned from these churches and what your church can take away from them.

Lesson 1: You Can’t Be Too Friendly to Guests

What I Learned From Oak Leaf Church

Oak Leaf Church is a small but thriving congregation with about 75–100 people attending weekly. They meet in a permanent, albeit small, space.

From the moment we arrived, I could tell that community was a priority. People weren’t just friendly—they were actively engaging with each other. We showed up early for the service, but we were far from the first ones there. Everyone else had already arrived, chatting and catching up before the service even began.

Every church says they are friendly, but let’s be honest—most churches are friendly only to the people who already belong.

The difference at Oak Leaf? They treated guests like friends. We were greeted at the door and inside the lobby. But what really stood out? Four different people came up to introduce themselves after we sat down in the auditorium.

Takeaway for Your Church

✅ If you want to be a friendly church, guests need to feel like friends from the moment they arrive.
✅ Warm greetings aren’t enough—create a culture where people naturally engage with new faces.
✅ Train your congregation to treat guests as friends every time, not just first-time visitors.

Lesson 2: Expectancy Changes Everything

What I Learned From Freedom Church

Freedom Church, located in Acworth, Georgia, is experiencing explosive growth. They recently passed 2,000 in attendance and are working on expanding their space to accommodate even more people.

Clearly, they’re doing a lot of things right. But what stood out to me the most? The atmosphere of expectancy.

From the moment the worship team took the stage, they set the tone: We are here expecting God to move. Pastor J.R. Lee echoed this throughout the service.

Here’s the thing—too many churches operate with an unspoken assumption that nothing significant will happen. Of course, they wouldn’t say this out loud, but you can feel it in the room. The atmosphere is routine, predictable, even lifeless.

Freedom Church is different. They don’t just do church. They come expectant. They pray, prepare, and anticipate that God will show up—and they challenge their congregation to do the same.

Takeaway for Your Church

✅ Don’t just hold services—expect God to move.
✅ Create an environment where anticipation is the norm, not the exception.
✅ Challenge your people to come with expectancy, believing they will experience God’s presence.

Lesson 3: Connection, Not Content, Is King

What I Learned From Home Church

Pastor Gerold Fadayomi and Home Church in Roswell, Georgia, live up to their name.

Within minutes of arriving, I heard the word “family” at least five times. Maybe ten.

They aren’t just gathering people—they’re building a church family. And it’s not just language. They’ve designed their entire service to foster participation and connection.

Here’s what I experienced in their service:
✅ The welcome included a call-and-response moment, reinforcing engagement.
✅ A fun icebreaker encouraged people to talk to those around them at the start of the service.
✅ After worship, we were asked to share a personal story with someone we hadn’t met yet.
✅ Before the sermon, we practiced talking back to the preacher—literally.
✅ At the end, everyone was invited to linger, meet more people, and even help stack chairs (they meet in an elementary school).

Home Church doesn’t just hope for community; they engineer it.

Takeaway for Your Church

✅ Authentic community doesn’t happen by accident—it happens by design.
✅ Build connection moments throughout the entire service, not just in small groups.
✅ Move people from consumers to participants by creating a culture where everyone is engaged.

What Are You Designing For?

Visiting these three churches reinforced a hard truth: Whatever happens in your church isn’t accidental. It’s either by design… or by default.

Oak Leaf designs for friendliness.
Freedom Church designs for expectancy.
Home Church designs for authentic community.

So here’s the real question:

What is your church intentionally designing for?

If you want a friendly church, train your people to be consistently friendly to everyone walking into the building.
If you want people to come expectant, create an environment where anticipation is the norm and anticipation is designed into the experience.
If you want an authentic community, don’t just hope for it—build it into every moment.

Take an honest look at your church this Sunday. What are you teaching people—intentionally or unintentionally—about who you are and what you value?

Call to Action

Want help designing a church culture that matches your values? Let’s talk. I’ve had the honor of planting a church, leading a revitalization, pastoring a megachurch, and leading a campus location of North Point. I use my experience to help churches like yours break through barriers and grow your church.

Quotes for Inspiration

🗣️ “Whatever is happening isn’t by accident. It’s either by design… or by default.”
🗣️ “Connection, not content, is king.”
🗣️ “You can’t be too kind to guests.”

Resources for Further Learning

📌 [How to Build a Thriving Church Culture]
📌 [Creating an Expectant Church Environment]
📌 [Engaging Guests and Keeping Them Coming Back]

One More Thing…

At Church Accelerator, we offer consulting, content, and community for churches of every size in any denomination.

We offer:
✅  Resources: Megachurch Resources for Normal-Sized Churches
✅  Workshops: Without a Plan, Success is Accidental and Failure isn’t Fixable.
✅  Consulting: Great Churches Don’t Happen by Accident. And…
✅  On-Demand Executive Leadership: A Fresh Perspective Delivered Through a Personal Partnership.

Work for us for as little as $49/month.

Leading With You,
Dr. Gavin Adams