back to church sunday
John Bennett reminds us all that it is very simple to invite someone along to church – and that many will find it a positive and enjoyable experience.
As I write this article, the final
order for the Back to Church
Sunday (BTCS) resources has
just been submitted. A total of 37
packs have been ordered for the
churches of our diocese. With
packs in most cases covering two
or more churches, this means that
in the region of 80-100 churches
across the diocese will be involved.
A big ‘thank you’ to all who have
picked up the vision of BTCS and
are running with it. But of course
ordering the resources is just the
beginning!
By the time you read this, many of you will have attended the seminar ‘Unlocking the Growth’ given by Michael Harvey (the developer of BTCS) on 24th June in Robeston Wathen, Cardigan or Llanddarog. A survey by Churchgoing in the UK shows that three million people who have stopped going to church (or who have never been in their lives) would consider attending given the right invitation.
The seminar was about how we can encourage each other to
take that simple, perhaps scary, step of giving the right invitation
to someone to come to church. The national publicity and the invitation
cards certainly help us, but at the end of the day it is up to each
of us to pray for a friend and then say to them: ‘Will you come with
me to church on Sunday’. It’s that simple. Simple, scary but maybe
life changing.
Here is the experience of Marion who was invited by her friend Ann. “Churches to me were always cold, severe places in many ways, where you went and got preached at and told off on a Sunday – it wasn’t much fun. Now it’s different. It’s very welcoming. I don’t remember church being like that in my youth.” Marion continues to attend church and encourages other Christians to continue inviting friends to church. “What is the worst that can happen – they say ‘no thank you.’ I don’t think there is any reason to be fearful of asking friends to go along. Don’t just put BTCS down as a one-off event – if they’ve come the first time, invite them back.”
Please contact me at johns.bennett@virgin.net or telephone me on 01348 831354 if you need more information, or go to www.backtochurch.co.uk.