I love it! I've already got this bookmarked and am forwarding this on to some others. Of course it stands that Starbucks and the Church are two very different things. Starbucks is also very different from my doctor's office and a public school and making them more alike isn't necessarily the right way to go.

But, Starbucks and the Church compete as "third space," so the comparison isn't uncalled for. A few observations:

1. Take down the parking signs. I've seen churches replace them with "visitor parking" up front, which Starbucks would also not use.

2. We all have met slouchy, unresponsive greeters but just as many times I've had slouchy, unresponsive baristas who could hardly be bothered to pour a coffee.

3. The Church and Starbucks both have insider lingo that confuses outsiders. I'm surprised the customer got away with asking for a coffee and not a decaf no whip skim venti mocha latte.

4. The "churchy" Starbucks in the video was one of the most anxious places I've ever seen. More than anything, extending welcome in churches could be better mostly by letting visitors be visitors and not off-putting by smothering newcomers with unhelpful attention.

Ultimately, the kind of membership one has in the Church and in Starbucks are very different, as are the relationships between members. I'm reminded of Putnam's book Bowling Alone, but that's more than a comment can handle.

I don't know what to think. I travel a lot and have visited many different churches throughout this country. On the most part they all have simular greeting and information collecting aspects to identify new people in the church. At a church in Orange Park, FL they were exceptionally well versed in that they made me feel welcome. It was their opportunity to show Christ to someone who was traveling through. Again there was a church in Bentonville, AR, which I would call a large church, but again I felt welcomed. They both gathered information from me that they used to say thank you for coming to our church and you are welcome anytime you come back. Then I have seen those who could care less that you are there, after all you're not from there so who cares. So, how do you know which church to go to? The one where you are welcomed and you feel comfortable. You as the individual though have a responsibility to understand where your are going and what type of church you may encounter. We can bring you in to the church, but only your connection with God and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will keep you there. In God's Grace John

That video depicts a recent experience of mine almost exactly. Right down to the "greeters" ignoring me, coffee mug gift, papers to fill out and the question, asking if it was my first time at the church.

I think it's tough for churches. Some people like to feel greeted and others would rather sneak in, sit in the back row and sneak out.

The church I went to in Little Rock always offered a gift bag to new visitors saying you'll be able to take home some of the best chips and salsa in the world. I never had to fill out a form, but the bag had plenty of info about the church in there along with the grub. The basic philosophy was if someone feels comfortable and welcomed, they'll come back. Getting personal contact info wasn't the main goal.

Last year I visited a small church where after the service I was bombarded by several people who wanted to welcome me. It was so uncomfortable and I felt like they were actually blocking the door so I couldn't leave.

Talk about two totally different experiences.

I actually was asked if this was the first time I had been to a coffee place this past weekend. The coffee shop joked about the fact that they didn't have "plain coffee" on the sign because so few people ordered it. So some coffee shops may be more like the video than others.

Saw it on facebook. As a seminary student, I laughed my guts out.

two things that came to mind about this video, allow me to share...

1. God is creative. He made everything. figured out how to make everything work together and what to make it out of and so on. should we settle for getting things done or should we strive for creativity? all the posters in the film sucked. if we are doing something for the glory of God should we hand a job to someone who is eager to help or to someone who is gifted in that area? shouldn't everything we do through the power of God point to his creativity and splendor?

2.we are on the brink of a new dawn. a new generation is being born. the push one for an operator generation is quickly becoming the push one for an automated computer generation. ways of connecting and taking people out of their bubbles or shells is becoming incredibly difficult, so much so that we are beginning to see the latest trends in community building becoming obsolete or cliché by the time they are implemented.and wile we know the answer to our problem is a relationship with God and a relationship with others, our future is fading the definitions and understandings of those two things.

OUCH! Boy did I see our church in spots! Thanks for the nudge. Wish it was shorter. Takes too long to make its point.

Why should churches even "market?" Why not simply do what Jesus asked--serve, love--and leave marketing to for-profit companies (i.e., give to Caesar what is Caesar's...).

I am a non-believer--an atheist--and I have visited dozens of churches looking not for marketing, but for meaning. I still can't seem to find it...

Maybe churches would reach more people if they stopped treating Christianity like a business and more like, I don't know, a respite from our over-sold, over-marketed-to lives?

Instead, so many churches think offering people more of the same stuff they see on TV and in the malls is the way to go. I say "no thanks." And so do many, many young Christians I have met along the way. So there's hope...

Matt Casper (co-author, "Jim & Casper Go to Church")

PS: Starbucks is successful not because it markets well but because it has a great product... what is the church's product? It can't just be "church," can it...?

That's a great video. You know, when you get settled in a church and have gone there for a while, you tend to not look at it from a visitor's eye. But I think it's good to step back and do that every so often.

As it is with marketing your product/service. You are so familiar with it, that it all seems very clear to you. But can you look at it from someone first hearing about it? Do your marketing materials clearly state what it's all about? Are they attractive? Do they answer the common questions a prospective buyer would have?