Only a week to go until Back To Church Sunday!
By now we should have invited people to join us in Church on the 12th (or the 11th or 15th) so our focus now needs to be on how we welcome people on the day. Basically we are all welcomers on the day. So be good to the people you bring and whom other people bring and keep an eye out for anyone who just turns up under their own steam.

Some of the people who have been invited will be former attendees here.  DO smile at them, say Hi, chat with them even if you didnt know them that well, say something nice about the Parish, chat about your family and gently funnel them into the sumptuous morning tea after Church. DONT comment on how long it has been since they were here – if they feel guilty you will remind them of that even though you didnt mean to. BE CAREFUL with personal questions and with statements like “you were only this high last time I saw you”.

Some of the visitors will be former members of another Church. All the above dos and donts apply. But also, be ready to say that we are open to people from any background and that we are already a varied bunch. If they have questions or comments on how we are different from somewhere else answer the question if you can and accept whatever they say about where they were before. (If its weird we can sort that out later.)

Some of the visitors will be people who are not used to Church at all. Again these folk need a friendly welcome. The difference may be, that everything about how Church is laid out may be new to them. They may need to be told where they can find books and pages etc or they may need to be helped to find somewhere to sit. Afterwards if they look lost take them under your wing.

The goal of Back To Church Sunday is to give people a no-strings-attached visit to Church. If you dont have anyone coming on the 12th please come as usual. As well as being friendly we need all of us to enjoy worship on the day. Sing with all your heart, pray like you mean it and expect to learn something during the sermon. There will not be any Baptisms on the 12th just us and the new people.

See you around the Parish

Geoff