Back to Church Sunday

Less than three months to go until Back to Church Sunday for the Church of England. I learned this from a post at The Cartoon Blog which said,

Back To Church Sunday aims to get people back to church on the 24th of September by bribing them with chocolate and a free bookmark. Hmmm. I wonder whether addressing the reasons people leave church in the first place might be as useful, if not slightly more. Then again, these people on 43 Things obviously think going back to church is the thing to do.

The website for the program says,

Back to Church Sunday offers quality resources to local churches so people in your church can give an especially warm welcome on this special Sunday of the year.

It would seem to miss the point to create a church which is inviting to newcomers just one day a year. I know that is not the real idea behind the program, but that is the focus of the efforts—how to make at least one Sunday inviting. I wonder instead how a church can be the sort of place that the visitors could arrive on one of the other 51 Sundays and find the place just as warm and welcoming with judgment left at the door and love filling the pews (or chairs in our case). How can we grow more fully into being that place?

peace,
Frank+
The Rev. Frank Logue, Pastor + King of Peace Episcopal Church