"Robert Schnase, author of Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, recalls a story about a congregation, excellent at hospitality, which grows steadily for years only to see their attendance leveling off.  The leadership wonders, what has changed, and so they go to some people who have engaged in recent months only to discover that while they are a welcoming congregation, very hospitable at the front door and into worship, that same attitude of welcome does not permeate into the middle doors, those doors into Sunday school classes, small groups, choirs, or committees. One woman said, “‘Before I moved here, I was the kitchen chief in my previous church for years.  I didn’t expect to do that again here, but I hoped to join the cooking team.  When I showed up to help with a dinner, they handed me napkins and told me to put them on the tables, and then I stood around by myself the rest of the evening. I felt like they didn’t need me or want me.’” Schnase comments, “Leaders discovered that “the front door" was working well as people felt invited and welcomed.  But they were slipping out “the back door” because they were discovering too many of the “middle doors” were shut tight."

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