Some Signs of Engagement

I recently heard an interesting discussion on a podcast I listen to about leadership in the church.

It was asking an interesting question, “Would you prefer to see larger numbers coming to church, or would you prefer to see smaller numbers, but a depth of engagement with what’s going on?” Which would be preferable for a church leader?

It led to the panel drilling down on what depth of engagement looked like, and I was interested in what they suggested were four good measures of a depth of engagement.

The first was a willingness on the part of the congregation to invite others to church and to events going on around the church.

The second was around giving. Do people give regularly and sacrificially to the work of the church?

The third was volunteering. Do people invest time and energy and get involved through volunteering in some of the different ministries and activities of the church?

The fourth was a willingness to immerse oneself in building community through getting involved in things like house groups or life groups. It’s like going a step further than the regular engagements you might have with people on a Sunday, and get to know them in that more intimate setting and pray for and support people in the different things they might be going through.

If people are doing two or three of those four things, there is a good chance that they are pretty engaged with the life and ministry of the church, the panel suggested.

There is always a lot of attention given to numbers in church. People like to know if numbers are increasing or decreasing. Sometimes these can be a little bit misleading. Church growth experts talk about transfer growth where people leave one church, perhaps because of a disagreement or because they have heard of exciting things happening in another church and, so, they move from one to another. While it represents growth in numbers, it’s not actually indicative of new people coming to faith in Jesus, and so we sometimes need to look at what is happening in some detail to get a true picture.

The Bishop, some months ago, launched an initiative called ‘Speak Jesus’ for 2025. He is encouraging parishes across the diocese to knock doors and make contact with people in the parish. He’s encouraging parishes to hold events, like a community celebration or to invite people to special services.

About 6 months ago, we invited the local community to a special service and encouraged parishioners to invite others who might like to come or have got disconnected and, tomorrow evening, Wednesday, we hope to invite the local streets to a special show on Good Friday to explain Easter and it’s message to children and young families.

We want, very simply, to knock on the doors and say we are having this special show and we’d love to invite you to come along. We hope people will come along and they will feel welcome and they will engage with a message that has the possibility, or potential, to change people’s lives and give them a new perspective.

If you’d like to come and drop off some invitations, we hope to meet at the church hall at 7 pm on Wednesday 2nd April.

Can we ask you to hold in your prayers the family and friends of Bert Corcoran who died earlier today. Bert was married to Eileen, who was Rector’s secretary for many years, and the family were held in great affection and esteem by many in this place. As yet, we don’t have funeral arrangements, but they should become known in the coming days.

I also wanted to flag up the annual business meeting of the church next Tuesday 8th April at 7.30 pm, the Easter General Vestry. At this meeting the accounts are presented, a report is delivered by the rector and a new select vestry is elected to serve for the coming year.

All are welcome.

Look forward to speaking again soon.

Much love to everyone,

Jono.

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