Pleased To Meet You!
By Faith Almond
As leader of the Incorporation Team, it is my responsibility to institute a follow up system and help incorporate all newcomers until they are active members of Holy Comforter. This necessitates that I will ensure that all guests at Holy Comforter are acknowledged and made to feel welcome.
There is actually a science behind this process and statistics show that a Systematic Welcome Plan, when followed precisely, can go a long way toward making guests want to return to a church and hopefully make it their church home. That said, I thought it might be helpful to fill you in on one of the essential elements of the afore-mentioned systematic plan that we have already incorporated at Holy Comforter.
Disposable Name Tags
Disposable name tags have many advantages.
- People really will wear them, unlike permanent nametags, which often ‘go home’ with parishioners and don’t come back!
- Newcomers look just like established members. No more ‘standing out like a sore thumb’ with guests wearing a paper tag and real members wearing the Gucci version with ‘fancy schmancy’ lanyards!
- Admit it, in the weeks since we have used these tags you have sneaked a peek and said to yourself “Ohhhhh, now I know who that is!” Or you have finally addressed someone by their name for the first time. ‘Nuf said!
- Labels help take roll. If a label remains unused for an extended time, that alerts us that a phone call may be in order to check on that parishioner’s well being.
In future Dove articles, I would like to let you in on other aspects of our Systematic Welcome Plan. In the meantime, please remember that this church belongs to all of us. We all play an essential part in making guests feel welcome. So, if you see an unfamiliar face, please introduce yourself and make sure that I know that we have guests.
Please don’t let a stranger feel like one. No one comes to worship to be anonymous!
God is Calling You
When we are baptized, it is full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into Christ’s Body the Church. Also, it is our ordination into lay ministry. We are called by God to carry out the Great Commission to make disciples of men. Receiving the Holy Spirit means that we also receive Spiritual Gifts.
If you do not know what your Spiritual Gifts are, I invite you to take a Spiritual Gifts inventory and discover them. This will awaken you to what God is counting on you to do to further the Kingdom. In the Book of Common Prayer, the first type of minister mentioned is the Lay Minister. God is calling you and me into ministry and counting on us to grow his kingdom. If you have been at Holy Comforter for more than six months and you are not active in a ministry, perhaps it is time that you listen to God’s call.
God has given us a SHAPE, and it is not the physical body I am addressing. His SHAPE is this: Spiritual Gifts, Heart or Passion for something, Abilities, Personality and Experience. God gives each, and He wants us to use the gifts He has given us. But first, we must choose to be His and His alone, and want to give our SHAPE to be used for His glory. God is a gentleman. He will not force us to serve Him. More than what we do, He just wants us to love Him. For me, it is in loving Him that creates a desire to serve Him and others. When you truly love the Lord you want to live according to the Truth by living out His commands.
If your excuse is "I’m not qualified to do anything," let me assure you that God does not call the qualified, but He qualifies the called. God will give you everything your need to do His work. If you do a great job, God is on His thrown and if you make a mistake, God is on His throne. There is nothing wasted in the Kingdom, and there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God. Our God is a redeeming God, a merciful God, a forgiving God, a transforming God and an awesome God.
If your excuse is "I don’t have enough time," there are ministries that require one hour a week or less. What if Jesus said to the Father, "I don’t have time to die and rise again for your children." Where would you be right now? You could be in the pit of Hell because your sins would not be forgiven. What if Jesus said, "I’m not qualified to love these people and share the Gospel with them." Where would you be? You could be in the pit of Hell because you don’t have an advocate who loves you and tells you the Truth.
When you meet Jesus will He say, "Well done, good and faithful servant" or "You call me Lord, but I know you not?" God is counting on you!
