The Rector Writes – September 2009
Dear Friends
There was some interest in what I wrote last month about Back To Church Sunday – 27th September this year. I have since requested more information and recently received a promotional DVD from the Diocesan Office. One of the presenters expresses the opinion that if there were a training course to go with this initiative it would last about thirty seconds – all that would be required to teach someone to say to a friend ‘Would you like to come to church with me on Sunday?’ There is no need for flyers or printed hand-outs as it is the conviction of the organisers that the most effective communication is verbal between people who already know each other.
We should not under-rate the value of prayer in this and all our relationships within the church and beyond its membership. In this case we need to determine who would be open to receiving an invitation and how best to invite them, and then pray that they would accept it.
Anyone is free to invite anyone else to join them at church on any occasion and yet there is some advantage in knowing that others are considering the same thing at the same time. Likewise for those considering accepting an invitation, perhaps after an interval when they haven’t attended regularly, it’s good to know that they won’t be the only visitors that Sunday.
Someone who is unfamiliar with worship in church may feel uncertain over a number of issues: will I be sitting in someone else’s place? how do I know when to sit, kneel or stand? how will I know whereabouts in which book I ought to be following? will I know anyone to talk to after the service? All these matters are addressed if they have been brought by a church member who sits with them.
The Back To Church Sunday DVD includes a section on how to make worship more accessible for visitors in terms of orders of service which give worshippers all they need, but no more, for instance. I think that our service booklets and reading sheets are easier to follow than if we give everyone a weight of books as they come in, but this is only one aspect of being a welcoming church and it is so important to be aware of whatever might make a visitor feel uncomfortable.
As it happens the main services at neither of our churches on 27th September are Holy Communion, so no one who has not been confirmed need feel excluded to any degree.
If anyone feels that a friend or neighbour whom they would like to invite is not yet ready to attend a service can I commend their bringing them to one of our Activity Afternoons on Saturdays 5th September, 10th October, 7th November or 12th December, when they can become familiar with the building and meet some members of the church family who worship there?
May I also share with you an illustration which I sometimes offer to those who are enquiring about having a child baptised? It is intended to explain baptism, godparents and confirmation in everyday terms.
Suppose a couple are discussing with friends how they intend to bring up there children – being polite to elders, finishing their food at mealtimes and keeping their rooms tidy. That declaration of intent is like a baptism or Christening when they make certain promises to God in the presence of their family and friends about how they will encourage their children’s faith. The friends with whom they discuss their intentions are like the godparents who share their responsibilities and remind them of what they had said if standards slip when the children begin to exert a strong will. Their influence, as other caring adults, will be important in reinforcing their parents’ example when they encounter those who live according to very different values or none!
As the children get older they will realise that what their parents have tried to commend is good – they can’t expect any favours from Grandma if they have just been rude to her, or any sympathy when they complain of being hungry between meals if they didn’t finish the last one. There is no one age at which this will happen, but if they only do these things because their parents said so long ago then in a real sense they haven’t grown up. Similarly, confirmation is an opportunity for adults, younger or older, to say ‘I don’t want to be counted a Christian just because of what my parents said when I was little, I want to follow Jesus for myself.’ There is no maximum age for confirmation as anyone attending such a service will know.
Yours sincerely
Martin Snellgrove