This notice appears inside
What’s wrong with talking to another person in a church? Of course there is a time and place for silence, especially in a church. But surely anyone who goes into a church is going in to pray. Is it okay to go in to shelter from the rain? Of course it is. Why should people who serve, speak in a language such as this? It is most off-putting. It’s a symbol of everything a living church should not be.
There is a terrible patronising aspect to this notice. It certainly wouldn’t win a prize for clever communication, indeed, from beginning to end it is alienating. An advertising or PR company wouldn’t touch it. It’s awful
How often have people to sit through poor sermons where they might get far more wisdom and faith speaking to the person sitting beside them?
The Biblical quote is taken completely out of context. The next line in St Luke goes: "But you have turned it into a robbers’ den.” That notice is fake news, disinformation, misleading and doing a great injustice to the biblical context.
It’s difficult to know what the second words of wisdom mean: ‘If you wish to speak, please speak to me/ Jesus.’ Did Jesus say this? We’d all end up dumb if we took this too seriously.
A church can only succeed if it respects people, listens to them too.
It certainly does not look like a Pope Francis-style notice.
Dictionary definition of an exclamation mark: "It's known informally as a bang of a shriek, is used at the end of a sentence or a short phrase which expresses very strong feeling."
How far more inspiring to walk into a church to be told you are welcome.
And people who do insist in talking loudly will no doubt ignore the notice.
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