Back To Church

Will people really come back if invited?

Yes – loads of people are longing for an invitation to come back but are often nervous and have an idea that it would be boring and dead and an awful experience and they won’t know what to do.

But that is not really the case. When people are invited and someone is there to look after them it takes away those fears and anxieties. All the feedback suggests that it is the personal, one-to-one invitation that makes people come back to church.

Is it difficult to invite people back?

No it is amazingly simple. You just say ‘I am going to Church on Sunday and it is going to be good, please come with me.’ It is not being intrusive but welcoming. It takes away all the fears of not being welcomed or, even worse, being over-welcomed.

To have somebody looking after you and perhaps even having a cup of coffee with you beforehand will make coming back to Church a really good, warm experience. It's a very simple and successful formula for reaching out to those outside the church family.

Is it going to be a lot of work?

No, all you need to do is hold a normal service, but make it especially welcoming. You might like to choose particularly well-known hymns, a direct and meaningful sermon and afterwards proper freshly brewed coffee and home-made cakes. The resources are already in place (see below).

A comment from one of the churches that did it in 2006: 'One of the great things about Back to Church Sunday is that anyone can do it. You don’t need large resources, or highly skilled people, you just need to have people prepared to give invitations to their friends and neighbours.’

Do we have to do Back to Church Sunday on the last Sunday in September?

This is the date that we are all working to. When Back to Church first started in 2004, Manchester Diocese chose the last Sunday in September as a good time because it chimes with 'back to school' and 'back to work' after the summer holidays. Many churches find it fits in well with the beginning of nurture courses and/or harvest festival.

We would love every single church in the Diocese of Bristol to work towards this date so that we can be part of a national 'wave' of people returning to church right across the country, supported by a big marketing and media push.

But we recognise that this won't work for everyone. Feedback from churches who took part in 2007 made it clear that some churches had particular reasons for not holding 'Back to Church' on the appointed day. Because of what you told us, we are providing undated resources this year so that you can make Back to Church Sunday work for you.

What can each church do to make Back to Church Sunday special?

It is important to assume that the person coming back has little knowledge of what is going on – so explain simply what the service is going to be about and then within the service and through your welcome packs says what available at your church, not just on Sundays but Monday, Tuesday through to Saturday. So that the person can begin to say ‘This place could be quite a focal point for my life’.

This is an opportunity to 'sell' the Church, in the best sense, and enable people to have a chance to join in.

You can find out what other churches did by reading the stories from churches who have run Back to Church Sunday before, or come to one of our training mornings in June/July.

What should the Church do afterwards?

Back to Church Sunday is a special day, but then every Sunday is a special day – so make sure that the following Sunday is a special one. Give some time to think about what nurture courses can be available for people. Perhaps visit the newcomers, invite them to another event. This all needs careful thought and consideration but remember …

Back to Church Sunday is the beginning of a process and not the end.