You are an eerily quiet bunch this week.
I had to smile when I saw this photo of an Anglican bishop today, one of four hanging out at Union Station. Why were these bishops on hand in full liturgical drag? They were handing out "invitations" to church, flyers welcoming busy commuters to attend worship.
Why not? As with any other flyer, people could say no. On the other hand, it might be the nudge that others need.
Churches in our area are trying to figure out how to catch the attention of those who lead busy and even hectic lives. Encouraging creating space in the schedules for God and the Christian community can be a tough sell. Recently our board agree to send out what we think is a creative postcard to some households in Bowmanville as our Fall nudge. I went on a drive with one of our readers who is on the Visioning and Strategic Planning committee at St. Paul's to check out newer neighbourhoods in the community. We found subdivisions we didn't realize existed and when we did a tally using one company's distribution map we were surprised to come up with nearly seven thousand households!
What a reminder that Bowmanville is growing and that our excellent facility in the heart of town is not exactly strategically placed. I wonder if a lot of these people are aware that the downtown exists?
We can hope and pray that those who have been pondering finding a church home will consider us. And that newcomers will be welcome.
Any creative efforts to reach out in your congregation?
2 comments:
That is a very cool card. I love the colourful balls flowing out of the door.
In the church I serve, there hasn't been much reaching out. I am actually quite concerned about it. I think I am expected to do the reaching out while others just come to church on Sunday. It is great to see St. Paul's doing this in creative ways.
Thanks for the affirmation Deb. The original image was from Emerging Spirit. The graphic artist in our congregation, Diane Moran, recreated it with our doors rather than generic doors.
The back has our address and website, a map, and the phrases:
Rich Traditions
Honest Questions and Answers
Shared Experience in Christ
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