This was one of Bishop’s Jung’s points when he met with us. He talked about the need for us as a church to focus more attention on the act of invitation, or recruitment as he put it, rather than on simply maintaining the status quo. I found his example rather timely as I had spoken to this issue a bit in my sermon on the prodigal daughter. I suggested that the church often stands as that unhappy older brother, resenting all the attention being lavished on “those new people”. We forget that without those new people…we would soon cease to exist. Someone once said that the church is always one generation away from extinction. There is great truth in that statement. May it be a reminder to us all that we are called to share not only God’s great love through our actions but to extend that love via real-live, honest-to-goodness invitation! So…who are you going to invite to church?
Blessings,
Pastor Andy