These are some thoughts about how our amazing church can become more and more effective at bringing people from the edge of our community in the core of the highly committed people who make First Assembly thrive as it does. Getting to know more people through introducing yourself to people you don’t know and through introducing them to your social circle is key for this growth process.
As often as possible, try to introduce someone who is new to you to someone you’ve known for awhile. It’s okay if the new-to-you person is not new to the church. By introducing them to someone else, you are making a way for that person to become part of an established (not necessarily formal, but something that is already existing) group in the church. Sometimes those established groups can seem intimidating to outsiders and the doorway into them can be difficult to find.
It’s great to connect with our established groups on Sunday morning. One fringe benefit of regularly attending church is being able to see the people we care about on a regular basis. Let’s keep doing that! At the same time, if we only ever speak with people whom we already know, then new people will have a very difficult time integrating into our church and we will miss out on many opportunities to meet the amazing new people that God is bringing our way.
To be sure that we are reaching beyond our already-established group on Sundays, we can make it a point of finding one person each Sunday that we don’t already know and saying hello to them. Taking the time to greet someone, ask their name, introduce yourself, and maybe find a common point of interest or learn something about that person. Ask about their life in Lafayette or their impression of the church or about their purse or their shoes or their children that are sitting with them. Just one thing is all it takes.
If we are trying to meet new people each week, then we are doing several things at once:
- We meet new people and open the door for God to plant a new relationship.
- We welcome new people.
- We share the friendliness that we enjoy at church.
- We appreciate the growth that is taking place in our church.
- We gain the sense that our church may be large, but also is a place where friends are made.
- We dispel the notion that it is easy to get lost in a big church, and that no one knows who we are or notices us.
Hope this helps you in your interactions at our wonderfully welcoming church!