Put What We Do to Reach Out in Context of Faith
While I am interested in evanglism, welcoming visitors and integrating newcomers into a parish, I know that when pursued as an end in itself, these efforts will fall flat. Perhaps its just that I think we should fail when that is our goal. All of our efforts in this area from inviting a co-worker to church to advertising in thge local newspaper should be a response to God’s call rather than a response to the needs of the budget or a desire merely for increased attendance. Budgets and attendance are helpful indicators (though not the only ones that matter) of the health of a congregation, but they are not ends in themselves.
The real goal is to be hospitable as Jesus taught us his followers are to show love for the stranger. We are to welcome others as if welcoming Christ himself as Christ does come to us in others. This is a very helpful perspective as newcomers will bring new perspectives which can (and perhaps should) challenge the status quo. Knowing that God may have sent someone to us just so that we can hear this new way of looking at how we go about being the Body of Christ can help us to better listen.
In any case, our invitation, welcome, and inclusion of newcomers is not about growing the church, but about being faithful to God’s call to us. Whenever we move beyond trying to be faithful Christians to seek to grow the attendance or church budget, we move away from the Gospel and toward the business of the church. That is move God can’t bless. But when we seek merely to be the Body of Christ and to welcome others as we if welcoming Christ, then this act of Christian hospitality is something that will bear fruit.
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When working with vestries, I like to delve beyond what we are doing to ask why as I think that understanding this dynamic matters. For when we are merely looking for more pledging units or more attenders for sake of numbers, this attitude infuses our welcome. But when we move to consider these actions as who we are to be as Christ followers, then I think that this allows us to see those our Lord sends us not as dollars or as bottoms in the pews, but as Children of God in need of hospitality. That difference comes through in everything we do.
The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Canon to the Ordinary
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