About Inviting
We believe that God is the source of all invitations to life in the faith communities that are Christ’s body, whether these invitations come in the form of gentle nudges, tender entreaties or rude awakenings. For us in the Church, the questions are: how we can assist God in inviting and receiving people into the life of Christ’s body, the Church? How can we continue to invite and receive them over the various stages of their lives and their lives in Christ?
Inviting—that is, drawing attention to Christ and the Church, motivating people to explore further and inviting people into Christian community – most specifically the community that gathers as your congregation, in your church.
Different elements of invitation include:
- Physical presence in the neighborhood – including signage.
- Relationship to the community, invitations to others by individual members and word of mouth.
- Website and other electronic ways of reaching people.
- Printed materials in the form of brochures, PR and advertising.
- Invitations in response to inquiries about the sacraments.
- Inviting those whose participation in your congregation has lapsed.
Invite from your own Networks
There are very few successful anonymous invitations – and while general advertising and social media is good for getting your church’s name out in the larger community, the single most effective invitation to church comes through a personal connection, friend, or acquaintance: YOU are that connection for many, many people.
Here is a process to think through how your social networks are ready and waiting to connect through you to your church community.
Networks:
Write down five networks that you are a part of – be specific – for example, instead of ‘work’ – name the business/location. Name some specific social circles. Instead of ‘friends’ name the group: other young parents at the soccer fields, or – the Rotary Club.
Connections:
Now write down ways that you connect with these people: be specific – are these primarily virtual connections through facebook? Planned meetings, random real-time connections in coffee shops?
Pathways:
What is happening at your church that could be interesting to these groups? What do these people long for that your church community is already doing, and how can you make that known in compelling, subtle, clear, genuine ways?
Three Kinds of Invitations
Front Door:
This can be the most difficult for us as Episcopalians, and also for us in the Pacific Northwest. It is the direct invitation to come worship at our service on Sunday. An example of this is “I would love to have you come to church with me on Sunday. Our service is beautiful, and I think you’d like it. Could I pick you up and we could go out to lunch after?”
Side Door:
This is an invitation to attend an event at the church other than regular Sunday morning worship. It can be a special prayer event, labyrinth walk, study, concert, or class. This is where you think about your circles of friends, what they are interested in, and what your church is doing that speaks to that. An example of this: “There is a top-notch jazz group performing this Saturday night. How about let’s go out to dinner and then to the concert? It is a benefit concert to support the food bank. We can bring donations of food or cash. Its in St. John’s Fellowship Hall, which has great acoustics.”
Information Sharing (Breadcrumbs):
You have many opportunities to share things about your church and what you find special there, without making overt invitations. An example of this is when a friend asks you how your weekend was, you could say something like: “I attended a class on spirituality and the environment at my church. It was amazing and I learned so much.”
Or maybe you and some friends have been talking about how you’re structuring your family budgets, and paying off student loans (or managing retirement funds). You could say “the sermon at church this week caused me to really think deeply about how I’m going to reorient my spending habits. I’ve had a lot to think about since then.” These are ways you share what is important to you, and also give people small tastes of what your church does that is meaningful. These small comments are like breadcrumbs that leave a path to the church. You will likely never know for sure how effective this is overall in the lives of people you share with.