Secret Shopper, Covert Congregant

You know how there are people whose job it is to pose as a shopper and evaluate a store for their customer service, displays, cleanliness, pricing, etc.?

I'm thinking it would be interesting to do this for church congregations.  I've thought this for a long time, and especially so since we moved to a different state (and thus a different congregation) about 3 1/2 years ago.  I'm something of an anthropologist anyway--I love to study humans and try to figure out what makes them tick.  Wouldn't it be valuable for the leaders of a congregation to have someone come in "from outside" to evaluate their congregation?  Sometimes we are just too close to a situation to see what's right in front of our faces, we're in a rut, we have preconceived ideas.  But a fresh perspective can be very revealing of both strengths and weaknesses.

I was talking with a friend of mine not long ago who is traveling all over the United States with her husband's job these days.  She was talking about something similar, about how she comes into a city for a short time (from several weeks to a few months) and they visit various churches trying to find a place they can worship, serve, and get plugged in while they are there.  She commented how they can quickly learn much about a congregation in just a few visits, and how hard it is to find a "healthy church."

Intrigued, I asked her what they're looking for in a "healthy" church.  She responded with the following criteria, which I am expanding on slightly:

• They are in the Word.  The sermons are based on the Word and liberally sprinkled with Scripture.  They aren't just about fluff and entertainment, jokes and TV clips.
• They are loving and welcoming. They welcome visitors and don't leave visitors with a sense that the congregation itself is close, but that there is no room for anyone else.
• They are serving, both one another and the community.
• They are outward focused.  They have a strong core of who they are as a congregation, and then they serve outward, doing stuff that's not "program-y" but that meets needs in the area.
• It's their family.  Not that they are exclusive, as mentioned above, (or all biologically related) but that they see one another as their family.
• You sense that they WANT to be there, they aren't just checking a box.
• They practice hospitality.

Don't you wonder what a "covert congregant" would observe in your congregation?