Friday, September 16, 2011

Who Will You Invite to Church This Sunday?

By Barry Howard

A young professional said, “I got out of the habit of going to church while I was in college. I usually slept in on Sunday mornings. I’ll get started back when I get my life together.”

A single woman said, “Since my divorce, I’ve been too embarrassed to return.  I feel like a failure and I really don’t want to answer questions about my ex-husband.”

A businessman said, “My wife and I used to teach youth Sunday School. I was an active deacon and she served on a couple of committees.  But we decided to take a sabbatical from church for a while, you know, so we don’t get burned out.  We will be back someday.”  Their sabbatical was moving into its fifth year.

An engaged couple said, “We want to start after we get married.  But since we’ve moved in together already, we feel sort of strange coming to church right now.  We don’t want people to judge us.”

And the list goes on. Through the years I have learned that people disengage from church for a variety of reasons, sometimes intentionally and at other times, unintentionally.  Whatever the reason, it is not our responsibility as church members to judge them, but to lovingly welcome them and reconnect with them. 

This Sunday September 18 is National Back to Church Sunday, a multi-denominational effort to re-enlist those who have become inactive or disengaged from the life of the church. Although 83 percent of American adults identify themselves as Christians, only about 20 percent attend church on any given Sunday.

This Sunday is a great time to invite friends and neighbors who have become disconnected from their church family to come to church with you. A 2008 study by LifeWay Research and the North American Mission Board of 15,000 adults found that 67 percent of Americans say a personal invitation from a family member would be effective in getting them to visit a church. Sixty-three percent say an invitation from a friend or neighbor would likely get them to respond.

While there are many seekers who float from church to church to hear popular preachers and trendy Christian music, there are thousands of non-churchgoers who long to connect or reconnect with a caring spiritual community, a church that accepts them as they are and challenges them toward a journey of growth and discovery. Isn’t that how Jesus related to his early followers? 

A personal invitation from you can open the door for someone who is disconnected to become an engaged participant.  Who can you invite to come to church with you this Sunday?



(Barry Howard serves as senior minister at the First Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida.)

Friday, September 09, 2011

A Day That Haunts, A Faith That Hopes

A Pastoral Prayer for September 11, 2011


On this tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001
We gather to remember an atrocious day, a day that we wish we could forget.

O God we confess our ongoing need of your transformative and emerging grace
For we are all too mindful that this date still haunts us
With memories that strike fear
And with emotions that convey pain.

As we attempt to apply your words to life,  
And to live by faith as we embrace your promise of a better future
We confess that our anger and grief from that fretful day are not nearly resolved.
            And that retaliatory impulses of vengeance and hate incubate deep within.

And yet we acknowledge that our hurt does not compare to the pain
of those who were touched more directly
through the unexpected and unfair loss
of family members, friends, and co-workers.

We shudder at the memory of horrific images of death and destruction,
We worry over the ongoing armed conflict that seems to be unending,
We grieve over the deaths of the sons and daughters of our nation,
   As well as the subsequent casualties among our allies and our adversaries.
And we long for a civilized and lasting resolution
   So that our sons and daughters may return home safely and soon
   And that those who have longed for liberation from tyranny
            Might govern and be governed with dignity and integrity.

Rather than being consumed by our grief,
            And controlled by our fears
And constrained by our anxieties,
    Let us set our minds to addressing the injustices that precipitate hostility,
    Let us direct our souls to living out our moral conviction,
    Let us turn our hearts to loving the poor,
and the disadvantaged,
and the disenfranchised.
    And let us determine to fight terror,
            Not with our own terroristic threats,
       But with a responsible and courageous exercise of freedom,
            And with a proactive and authentic faith.

 And though it runs counter to our deepest instincts,
You continue to teach us to love our enemies,
so that we do not become like them.

Today, especially today, we pray for the leaders of our nation and our world
            For the leaders of our state and our community
  To act and react with wisdom and discernment,
And to maintain a disposition that will defuse conflict
And advance the cause of peace.
And we pray for the leaders of our churches and synagogues
            And for people of diverse faiths
  To act and react with transformative grace and eternal hope,
           And to maintain a disposition that will dispel propaganda
            And advance the cause of truth and compassion.

We offer our prayer in the strong name of the One who came to bring peace on earth and goodwill to all humankind.  Amen