St. George's Evangelism

By Helen Vandermey

A new initiative for our parish will be a hospitality workshop: how to be a good host in the house of God. Being a good host has become an important area of ministry for parishes that successfully attract newcomers.

We can no longer assume that people will automatically be drawn to our church. Our society has become increasingly secularized; sports practice has replaced Sunday church for many busy young families. Belonging to a faith community is now the exception rather than the rule. So, when people do make the effort to integrate into our parish we need to be trained and ready to
greet them and help them adjust to parish life. The Barna research group has uncovered some interesting statistics:

70% of all people who visit a church make up their mind about coming back BEFORE the clergy gets up to speak!

Almost 80% of our visitors and newcomers do not return to our churches after their 4th or 5th visit!

3 out of 4 parents say a church that provides religious training for their children would be of interest to them.

How can we be better hosts?
Sign up for our Hospitality Workshop where you'll learn about:

Improving first impressions: what are the first things guests hear and see

Job descriptions and training for greeters, ushers and sidespeople

The strengths and weaknesses of our biggest asset, our buildings!

Mentoring newcomers over time
St. George's workshop has been booked for Saturday, June 3rd from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Service Booklets
Negotiating your way through the Book of Alternative Services, BAS (green book) can be a little overwhelming for newcomers. We're not going to do away with the green book, but we are going to make it easier, especially for our one-time guests who attend St. George's. We have decided to prepare service booklets to make participation easier for our visitors. One booklet will contain the order of service that begins on page 185 of the BAS and the second will include the baptismal service. Newcomers or visitors will receive the appropriate booklet before the service and will return the booklets after the service for future use. We hope to have booklets available in time for Easter Sunday.

Distribute Parish Leaflet
This fall we are going to prepare a flyer describing our parish which will be delivered - either by parish volunteers or Canada Post - to all the new homes in Georgetown south. We know there are more Anglicans out there and even a few Anglicans-in-waiting! We want to put our parish on the map and welcome them to our worship services.

Community Youth Event
Also in the works for the fall is a youth event that will be open to all town youth, Grade 6 and up. The type of event will be determined by the youth of our parish who will help plan and host the event. Aside from providing a much-needed social venue for this age group, we want to bring
families into direct contact with who we are as a Church.

The Momentum is Building!
We're beginning to establish a core group of parishioners who are excited about Evangelism at St. George's. I invite you to join our group or simply give me your ideas on how you feel we might best meet your faith needs within our parish. Who knows? Your suggestions might just help along the faith journey for others as well. Talk to me during coffee hour or leave a
message on the bulletin board or call me at home.

St. George's is on the move with Evangelism - the momentum is building and we're excited about the possibilities for our Church.