How was it for you?
‘Back to Church Sunday’ has been and gone, the T shirt has been worn and put away. What can we learn from this year’s experience?
Several parishes combined it with their Harvest Celebration. One reports: we asked the congregation to give out invitation cards to friends and family to join us for Harvest thanksgiving. Instead of the usual 30-35 people we had 80+ and a good number stayed for coffee afterwards. We cut up the harvest loaf and gave it out to visitors. The reality was that most of the visitors were family members of the congregation not actually living in the parish, but the atmosphere was good and those few who did live nearby said they would come again.
Another parish had a Songs of Praise service and reports: we had about two thirds greater congregation and many seem to still be with us.
Those who concentrated on inviting people to a normal Sunday Service report that, of those who came on the Sunday, some have stayed. But, where the invitation was general rather than personal, few responded.
The Bishop of Reading’s comments that Jesus would be just as likely to shop in ASDA as in Marks and Spencer drew media attention, and our Bishop Dominic was quoted in the press saying: “We need to get the message across that we welcome the rich and poor, the young and old, black and white, the healthy and sick, the happy and sad.”
One church who found strangers turned up on the day had the impression that national publicity, especially radio, had encouraged them to feel it was OK to come.
So, your reflections on the day seem to bear out what Michael Harvey from the Back to the Church Sunday Team told us, that media publicity helps but people respond best to the personal invitation: ”Would you like to come to church with me?” Not all who come on the day will continue to come but some will - if the welcome continues.
Next Year, Back to Church Sunday is on 26th September 2010. Until then, there are more than forty Sundays on which to practice that invitation and that welcome.
Janet Bone