Thanks to all who have expressed an interest in the ‘Welcoming Roundtable’. I am pleased to confirm that a time, date and location have now been confirmed. Here are the details – I’d love to see you there.
The purpose
To assist discussion amongst Christians as to how to most effectively welcome the people who God brings to our churches. You can download a short background paper I’ve written on this topic: ‘Welcoming people to church‘ (PDF).
The essentials
- Who: Christians who are interested in discussing how to most effectively welcome the people who God brings to our churches.
- When: 19 September from 6.30-8.30pm. We may finish a little earlier, we won’t finish any later.
- Where: Naremburn Camerray Anglian Church.
- Cost: your time, but not your wallet.
- RSVP: Please let me know if you are coming via this form. It is important that I know in advance (by 12 September) who is coming, so that I can confirm the room that we will be using.
I’ll also order some pizzas if you’d like some food and conversation before we start. You can indicate if you’d like to be there at 6pm for pizza on the sign-up form.
The format
The format is still being finalised but will most likely involve:
- Brainstorming the obstacles newcomers face in coming to, and being at church.
- People from different churches sharing their approaches to welcoming.
- Time to ask questions of these people as to how and why they approach welcoming as they do.
- Exploring the challenges and opportunities of the key periods of welcoming (before the service, during the service, after the service).
- Time for people to share what’s worked particularly well for their church, and what’s not worked at all!
- A discussion on how to train welcoming teams, and the church as a whole to welcome newcomers.
- Useful resources for thinking about this topic further.
We’ll close the night in prayer. I’ll aim to document the discussion in a series of follow-up posts on Communicate Jesus.
To get prepared
No preparation beforehand is required. However, if you’re interested, here are some resources to consider:
- You can download a short background paper I’ve written on this topic here.
- One book that I’ve found particularly helpful is Fusion: Turning first-time guests into fully engaged members of your church
by Nelson Searcy. There’s a lot of great advice in this book that I’ve been thinking through how to apply.
I’ve also written a number of posts recently on this topic:
- It’s time to stop assuming people know
- If you don’t know, it’s not obvious
- A first impressions survey of newcomers to church
- A visit to the philosophy seminar: a lesson for churches
- What questions might people have before visiting church for the first time?
- 8 posters to engage with people new to church
- Video: 10 top tips for welcoming
- Hillsong provides two lessons for welcoming visitors to church
Questions?
If you have any questions, please contact me via email: steve at communicatejesus.com.
I look forward to seeing you there.
