Invitations attract visitors to many congregations

Churches urge members to
bring guests along to worship,
meal March 25

By Rachel L. Toalson
Staff Writer
Some churches reported many more visitors than normal March 25.
Others stayed about the same.
But no matter what results they saw from Bring a Friend Sunday efforts, church leaders agreed that the campaign has its benefits.
“Methodists, unlike the Baptists, do not teach evangelism enough,” said Jeanie Brink, chair of the Outreach Council and Evangelism for St. Luke’s UMC, Corpus Christi. “How do we do what God wants us to do if we don’t push evangelism?
“This (campaign) makes people aware that their job is not just to come to church on Sundays. We’re also to spread the word of God. It’s an education. And it’s inspiring when it works like it did for us.”
Brink said her congregation hasn’t consistently been involved in the annual Southwest Texas Conference Bring a Friend Sunday effort each spring. But she promoted it this year by printing information in the church newsletter and the bulletin every week.
Other than that, the event took off on its own accord, she said.
“It definitely had an impact—there’s no question about it,” she said. “I believe it was the Holy Spirit at work. We’ve been praying since January.”
She said the church had a total attendance of 162 in worship March 25, with many of those friends and neighbors of regular members.
Last year’s attendance on Palm Sunday was 114, with 116 attending for Easter, Brink said. This year’s Palm Sunday attendance hit 140.
The campaign was so successful, Brink said, the church is already making plans for Open House Month in September, the first of three Southwest Texas outreach efforts from September through April in coordination with the denominationwide Igniting Ministry advertising campaign.
“I got calls from people after that Sunday, and they said it was the best Sunday they’d had in years,” Brink said. “We did the program per the book, but I didn’t have to do much. It just took off.”
The Bring a Friend Sunday campaign follows a step-by-step plan for involving church members in inviting unchurched folks to worship. That plan, which includes an extensive prayer element, is detailed in a 146-page Igniting Ministry Campaign Workbook for the Southwest Texas Conference. The Communications and Public Witness Office developed that campaign book in 2002.
St. Luke leaders now are following up through the newsletter to let members know that their job is not yet finished, Brink said.
First UMC, Rockport, had its Bring a Friend Sunday April 1, after promoting it to members about three weeks ahead of time, said Ted Williams, church business manager.
Two weeks ago, as people left church, leaders handed out invitations that members could give their friends and neighbors, Williams said.
They saw many “friends” visit the church, Williams said.
The church played host to a reception with punch and cookies after the regular worship service. The evangelism committee plans to follow up with visitors by giving them a magnet or coffee mug, Williams said.
He said he believes the program is not only good for raising awareness about the church but also for reminding members of their purpose.
“It makes the people in our congregation be more aware that they need to be thinking about others—and not just for a special event,” he said. “This isn’t a social club we come to where we’re all good buddies. We need to be spreading the word.
“It helps remind people that that’s part of our overall mission.”
Pastor Barbara Aziz of First UMC, Bishop, said her congregation had few visitors on the designated Bring a Friend Sunday, but it wasn’t because of poor promotion.
Members were inviting friends, she said. She knew because she had heard many reports in the weeks before Bring a Friend Sunday.
Aziz said she believes the program is a good one, though she believes “every day should be Bring a Friend Sunday.”
The Rev. Harold Onwiler, pastor of St. Peter’s by the Sea UMC, Corpus Christi, said his church had several visitors for Bring a Friend Sunday, but many of their normal members didn’t attend. Consequently, overall attendance was a bit lower than normal.
Still, he said he believes the program worked.
First UMC, Paint Rock, welcomed more than 80 people March 25. That’s three times average attendance. Many visitors were out-of-town friends and family members. One couple joined the congregation at the close of the Bring a Friend Sunday service.
After worship, visitors and members enjoyed a dinner prepared by the ladies of the congregation. Leaders already are discussing plans for another Bring a Friend Sunday because of its success, Pastor Wilbur C. Ormond Jr. reported.
Bring a Friend Sunday often is called the Lenten version of Home for Christmas. United Methodists are asked to invite friends who don’t usually attend church to a special service and fellowship meal the Sunday before Palm Sunday.
Members then invite guests back for Palm Sunday and Easter celebrations.
Research shows that 70 to 90 percent of people who join a congregation have friends or relatives there.
The North Texas Conference developed the Bring a Friend Sunday campaign a decade ago. The Corpus Christi District carried out the first Bring a Friend Sunday effort in Southwest Texas in 1999.
Bring a Friend Sunday is one way the Southwest Texas Conference tries to empower ministries in local congregations so they can offer Christ to all.