Week 1

As my first week of sabbatical comes to an end, I have been busy putting away mission trip supplies and completing the last few things needing to be done before rest can really be experienced. Once all was complete, I began reading the first book on my reading list "Beyond the first visit: The complete guide to connecting guests to your church" by Gary L. McIntosh.

I am quickly taken by the author's straight forward language and by his distinction between seeing those who come to the church as guests instead of visitors. As I mention in the July issue of the Flame, I was quickly drawn to a quote taken from The Rule of St. Benedict which read "Let all guests who arrive be received like Christ. For he is going to say, "I came as a guest, and you received me.""

This quote guided much of the book. The author is emphatic that when people come to the church, for whatever reason, they should be treated as guests, not visitors. Visitors he says come when not expected and often we are not ready to receive them. As a result, they feel intrusive and like outsiders making it even harder for them to become part of the community as they must overcome unseen hurdles to be assimilated. Guests on the other hand feel welcomed as they find a place prepared for them. There are no unseen hurdles, and assimilation becomes easier since from the beginning they feel part of the community.

Two chapters were noteworthy for me, chapters 8 and 10. In chapter 8, the author, building on the fact that everyone is a greeter and shares in the responsibility to help guests feel welcome offers a variety of ways to guesterize our church. While several of the suggestions offered apply to larger churches, many can easily be integrated into our common practice. One of the challenges he raises is - are we doing things that work, or are better, for us (in other words for those who already are part of the community) or are we doing things that meet the needs of those we invite to join us. Of course he presupposes that we are inviting those beyond the four walls of our church to see what we are doing.

In chapter 10, the author discusses pathways to participation, what you have heard me call on ramps. These pathways are critical if we are to engage our guests in the ministries we share. Again, the author suggests options that are more easily developed in larger parishes with larger clerical staffs, but I believe an active lay ministry can do much of what is recommended. The key to engagement is the personal invitation, in other words one to one communication. Announcements are helpful, articles in newsletters highlight the needs, but it is the personal invitation that is the most effective. Another critical piece of the personal invitation, is that we invite to the strength and passions of our guests, not the needs of the day. This means we need a variety of ways to engage our guests so that through engagement they might come to see themselves as members.

There is a wealth of information in this book and is well worth the read.

The next book I am reading is The Inviting Church: a study of new member assimilation by Roy M. Oswald and Speed B. Leas.