To speak about & summarize ‘church etiquette’, I would use the following 7 guideposts: DO NOT: disregard, disrespect, disrupt, distort, distract, distress, or disturb. We’ll make one blog post for each of these seven ‘words’. The purpose is to see how we are to understand what is expected from the members of New Church Memphis in the way they conduct themselves in the House of God. First, Do Not Disregard [= Put others at ease]. One-way people view ‘Etiquette’ is as ‘polite behavior’ as defined or designated by the populous (general public). Proper Etiquette is therefore about NOT being rude! A common way for church members to be seen as ‘rude’ is to ignore or to disregard the people who attend church with them. When we ignore other members of (or even worse, when we ignore guests visiting) the church, we are in breech of etiquette! When we encounter someone at church, whether in the parking lot, the hallway, a Sunday School room, the Sanctuary, wherever, we need to engage them with the following activities (when/where appropriate): Greet people; smile; be friendly; introduce yourself (& others); shake hands; offer help (like directions); attempt to make people feel welcome; after the service, thank them for attending & invite them to come back! These activities are in keeping with etiquette, common courtesy, and politeness in general. Do not be rude, do not disregard others (guests or members). The benefits will not only be a reputation for being friendly, kind, welcoming, considerate, and helpful, but it will also pave the way for folks to get to know us and hopefully join us. Let’s put people at ease, not put them off!