Restrooms: The Most Important Rooms In the Church

For several years we've been interviewing first-time guests all across the nation about their experience in church. I tell you that to tell you this: The room that has the potential of making  the biggest impression on your guests isn't your newly remodeled Worship Center. It isn't the stately church parlour, your multi-purpose fellowship hall, or the really cool education wing. Believe it or not, the rooms that potentially elicit the most comments is the restrooms.

I say your restrooms have the potential to make the biggest impression for these reasons. If your restrooms are in any way untidy, unkempt, unsanitary, smelly, or mis-genderfied then the first thing your guests will talk about when they get in the car to leave won't be your sermon or how friendly your church is. It will be how nasty your restrooms. Really. That will be the top-topic of conversation.

But the converse is true as well. If your restrooms are over-the-top nice, well stocked, clean, spacious, with gender-specific decorations and scents the car-conversation will be about how awesome your restrooms were. And as go your restrooms so goes your guest's first-impression quotient. With that in mind here are some quick do's and don'ts:

DO 

• Keep your restrooms clean, sanitary, and smelling good
• Stop leaks immediately
• Keep your restrooms well stocked
• Keep the stalls and walls freshly painted and in excellent repair (better yet, use decorator tile throughout)
• Offer a basket of sample or individually wrapped toiletries for those in need
• Put changing stations in BOTH the gal's and guy's rooms
• Consult guys when decorating the guy's room

DON'T 

• Paint the guy's room pink or stencil it with ivy or rose petals
• Use feminine scented soaps in the guy's room - think GoJo, etc.
• Use lavender or rose scented air fresheners in the guy's room - think Old Spice or Polo Sport, etc.
• Turn off the hot water to save money
• Decide it's the custodian's job to tidy up ... every member should wipe down the counters, pick up stray paper or hand towels, empty the trash, etc. whenever it's needed.