"You're home" from the Autumn 2017 Vision Newsletter

Our mission statement calls each one of us to serve and reach out to all people. We work at doing this so that every person may come to know and have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Whether we were born into the Church or not, there was a point in all of our lives where someone reached out to either ourselves or an older relative, inviting them to experience God within the New Apostolic Church. This invitation was maybe the spark that was needed to begin a relationship with God, a relationship that can never be severed and lasts for eternity.

If reaching out and offering a simple invitation opens people to the possibility of having a relationship with God, then how do we work on inviting people to church? Usually the first hurdle to inviting someone to church is ourselves. God gives us many opportunities to invite people to church, but we don’t always see them or take them. Maybe we’re just too comfortable with the people we know and are scared to reach out to someone new. Maybe we’re afraid or embarrassed of the possibility that our invitation could be turned down. We may know from experience that not all invitations go well, and not all are accepted. In these cases, we want to be brave as the first Christians. It may be time to get a little uncomfortable and reach out to people, even if that means starting with inviting someone to a small group or youth activity, instead of a divine service.

Once we can move beyond some of these things that hold us back from opportunities of invitation, what can we do to show that our invitation is truly out of the desire to help connect people to Christ and a church with fellow believers?

While there are many approaches to invite one to church or a church activity, there are a few things we can focus on:

• Be genuine. When we approach people, our first intention should be to build a relationship with them. We cannot just go to someone, introduce ourselves, and then immediately try to get them to come to our church. Instead, we can focus on them as a person, getting to know them and understand them, learning to love them as a person made in the image of God. With this genuineness, people can see that we truly care for them. Remember, our purpose is not just to bring someone to church, but to aid in their relationship with Christ.

• Be personal. For many of us, it may be unnatural to be personal with someone we have only known for a short time. Because of this, we may feel the urge to resort to talking about facts about God or the Bible, without making it personal, when inviting people to our church. And yet, your personal story and experiences of God are what you know best and can be most passionate about. God is present in the stories of our lives. A true disciple of Christ is a witness of Him with their life. We are called to share these stories so that people may see God’s love and grace in our lives, and then want to experience it for themselves.

• Be open. Every single person is different and God loves the diversity of His children. This is something we can keep in mind when thinking about inviting a person to church. Other people may have experienced God and church differently than we have, and some of these experiences will not always have been pleasant. We want to be open to hearing about other people’s experiences. Our understanding will go a long way in building relationships with others.

These are just three qualities among many that we can have when inviting people to experience God in our church. We want to create an culture of invitation within the church, so that it becomes a normal part of our lives. Looking at the qualities we want to grow in when inviting someone to church helps start the conversation, but it doesn’t end there. If someone does accept our invitation, and they find themselves walking into our congregation, what is the next step?

To help answer this question, the NAC-USA Church office has created resources that will help a congregation greet and welcome new guests. These materials are called the You’re home resources and are intended to support the congregation in making all people feel at home when they enter our congregations. You’re home helps guide a person’s journey from being a first-time guest, to their further interest in our faith, and to their desire to become a member. The first two steps are supported with resources, such as:

• defining the roles of greeters and ushers, creating a congregational welcome strategy,

• providing small group videos and discussion guides to further engage guests with our faith.

Coming soon will be the next level of You’re home resources, which will help guide the discussion about sacraments on a person’s journey in becoming a member. If your congregation has a greeting team in place or is looking to start one, the You’re home resources are currently located on Minister Companion, which the ordained ministers in your congregation can access.