| Friendship First |
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Here’s an interesting statistic about church membership. It seems that the surest indicator of whether or not a new member will remain in a church after one year, is the person’s amount of active participation in the life of the congregation. More than 80% of people who join a congregation and, beyond attending services, take no part in other ministries or activities of the church, will not remain after one year. Think about that. After making a prayerful decision to join a church family, these folks drift away. They may stay on the church rolls for awhile, but they become completely “inactive”. What a shame. But, it’s their choice, right? What are you going to do? Well, the good news, as it turns out, is that there is plenty that can be done. Churches that make a concerted effort to go beyond “hello”, that show genuine interest in newcomers, inviting them to events, connecting them to small groups for study and sharing, encouraging them to use their own special gifts and talents in different areas of ministry, do a tremendous job of reversing this trend. This is an age when people long to be connected, when many live in neighborhoods filled with strangers, and the rush-rush of daily life is terribly un-conducive to making and sustaining friendships. Looking at the younger generation, today’s kids have little free time to play; “playtime” is most often a rigid schedule of organized sports and lessons, alternating with solitary TV and computer time. As a result of this societal shift, many youngsters do not even know how to make friends. Even a glance at the New Testament, the story of how Christ spent His days and nights on earth with us, reveals the story of the ultimate Friend. Jesus, busy as he was, never lost an opportunity to pursue deep friendships with all kinds of people. They talked, they walked, they ate and drank together. The interest Christ took in people, the genuine caring He showed, attracted them to Him and to His Gospel, in such a compelling way that people still feel this pull, 2000 years later. They seek out churches, and they hear about the way Jesus acted. The way He treated people. The way He loved. And they want to feel that love, too. So here we are, faced with the golden opportunity to make new friends, and to help people come to a deeper friendship with Jesus. We’re not talking about making a huge effort to become missionaries in far-flung parts of the world. We’re talking about being a church family that truly welcomes visitors, people who have already taken the first brave step of walking in the door. While we at Christ’s are a wonderful family, deeply caring, deeply connected to one another, we need to stay aware of those standing on the edges of our community, maybe hesitating, wondering where, or if, they fit in. Many members of our congregation already do a marvelous job of identifying and welcoming these folks---the rest of us would love to reach out, but maybe aren’t sure where to begin. In the coming months, we will be exploring some ways to let our newer members and our visitors know how much they mean to us. This includes a great idea proposed by our amazing Hospitality Chairs, Deb Kerr and Allison Uehling, to pair new members with mentors who will introduce them to people and ministries at church, and make it easier for them to find activities that are a good match for them and their families. We’ll also be introducing a neat new small group program called Friendship First, filled with ideas for all ages to share and learn together while also sharing that delicious common denominator, foodJ ! Who knows, we may even start using name tags at church ( and anyone who has ever had to meet 200 people at once at a meeting or conference will understand the blessing of having name tags to read—imagine how our visitors feel, trying to learn 200 of our names with no such assistance!) Do you have any other ideas of ways we can celebrate and connect with our visitors and new members? I would love to hear them—just drop me an email: eliseseyf@yahoo.com. There is no better way to begin, or continue, a faith life than by making friends with God. How lucky we all are to have also found each other as companions on our faith walk. Let’s make sure everyone who joins us knows how welcome they are to be part of our dear family in Christ. |
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