St Leonard and St Mary’s Church in Malton, North Yorkshire, has scored full marks in a ‘mystery worshipper’ survey carried out among 24 churches of different denominations in the north. It was the only church in the survey to achieve 100% although nine others scored between 97% and 88%.

The mystery person had to fill in a form which was split into three sections with different boxes in each section. The first section was headed ‘first impressions and welcome’ while the second was about the service itself and the third was headed ‘overall’ – making for 27 boxes in all to be ticked.

Many of those involved in conducting the survey were non-churchgoers who had been asked to carry out the research by ChurchCheck Sunday for Christian Research shortly before the Northern Christian Resources Exhibition took place at Harrogate towards the end of September.

The visitor commented on the first section that the church was warm, busy and there was a respectful atmosphere. He was greeted at the door and was told who would be taking the service and asked if he wanted to meet him. He was made to feel welcome and was offered help as to what to do and where to sit.

He noticed the exterior of the church was clean and well maintained and the notice board was well maintained and up-to-date. There was ‘very clear guidance’ on the form of the service and an order of service and a hymn sheet were provided while a member of the choir explained what responses were expected during certain parts of the service. The sermon was ‘relevant to every day life, meaningful and to the point. Children presented drawings to the priest, who spoke to them.’

He added that people spoke to him and asked if he was a visitor while the priest invited him to the parish breakfast being that Sunday after Mass and told him all the goods used were Fairtrade. He felt the overall atmosphere made a visitor feel welcome and comfortable and if he was a churchgoer, he would ‘definitely’ return to the church after his ‘excellent experience’. The churches visited ranged from Lancashire to Newcastle, Cumbria to Sheffield.

Following the survey Fr Tim Bywater, the parish priest, along with pastoral assistant, Sue Westmacott, and parishioner, Trevor Hayes, were invited to a seminar at Harrogate where they were told the project had helped to monitor where local churches needed more advice in welcoming new visitors.

Fr Bywater said: ‘The fact that we scored highly in every aspect of the research is a credit to a considerable number of people who have their particular responsibilities and who give of their time and abilities throughout the year. I am sure that they, like me, will be very pleased with the report.

‘While I am very pleased that we received the top score, it is impressive that out of 24 churches surveyed, ten scored 88% or better. I am sure that in a larger survey some other churches would do as well as we have done, and many more would score very highly.’