This Sunday, half a million Christians will be inviting someone special to come back to church in one of the largest co-ordinated ecumenical evangelism events staged across Britain.Churches across the UK and further afield will be offering an especially warm welcome at church services and events for Back to Church Sunday (27 September). Church members have been encouraged to personally invite someone they know to come back to church for special services and events on the theme of ‘Come as you are’.
A number of churches are combining the event with their harvest celebrations. “Harvest is a time when some folk return to church for their annual visit to say ‘thank you’ and on this occasion they will find an even warmer welcome than usual,” said the Revd Gill Newton, minister at Cheadle Hulme Methodist Church in Cheshire.
Derrick Norton, Evangelism Network Development Officer, said; “Back to Church Sunday is taking many people by surprise, because of the growing awareness of its success. Here is an event which accords with some people’s interest in spiritual things, and which is an opportunity for those outside the church to find a way to return.
“We are encouraged to do what we know we should – to be welcoming. It starts with
prayerfully and personally inviting someone we know to what is a fairly typical church service, but where we have planned a warm welcome for visitors. We know there will again be lots of good news stories, as people step out and allow God to use their simple acts of hospitality.”In Appleby and Dufton in Cumbria, people who come to church this Sunday will be invited to attend a ‘Come as you are’ course later in the year. Paul Dunstan, District Evangelism Enabler for the Cumbria Methodist District, said, “The beauty of Back to Church Sunday is its simplicity”.
A 40-second radio advert promoting Back to Church Sunday will be broadcast on local radio stations around the UK, inviting people to take part.
Back to Church Sunday is a joint initiative of the Church of England, the Methodist Church, the United Reformed Church, the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Salvation Army, the Church in Wales, Churches Together in Scotland and Elim Pentecostal Churches, as well as churches in Australia, Argentina, New Zealand and Canada.
Source: Methodist News Agency 21/09/2009
At Caversham Heights Methodist Church we will be combining this year's Back to Church Sunday with the Cenetenary return visit of our former Deacon, deacon Vic Downs and his wife Anne on 18th October.
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2 comments:
It has been my strong opinion that church should always be "come as you are". When I was a child my dad was calling on a man who had lost his grandson in a skiing accident. Dad always invited the man to church but he said he didn't have proper clothes for church. Dad encouraged the "come as you are" thing. One night this white haired, large man in overalls came into the back of the church and sat down. After the service everyone avoided him and we never saw him again.
How sad! It reminds me of the time (a while ago) when a man in a turban came to worship at our church. At the end, someone said, 'Are you a Christian?' and he replied, 'Yes. I have Jesus sitting in my heart.' I thought that was lovely, but we never saw him again either.
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