Our Annual Opportunity

Hello Emmanuel,

Introduce yourself.  Make an acquaintance.  Maybe make a friend.

I’ve identified unique themes for the month of January in regards to our worship services at Emmanuel.  I suspect they are similar in other churches as well.  This is my 5^th January at Emmanuel and I have begun to look for these themes every year.  So far, it hasn’t failed me.

I’ve mentioned before how attendance spikes in the first few months of the calendar year, especially in January.  Not to bore you with numbers, but Emmanuel is about 10-20% higher in January than the yearly average attendance for the year.  If you aren’t interested in numbers, keep reading.  If you are, keep reading. 

It isn’t just about the numbers, but who makes up the numbers.  Every year there are a handful of people whom you have never met or even seen who start out with the intentions of committing themselves to worship on a regular basis.  We are seeing that at Emmanuel already.  This will last, sometimes, as long as the year.  Most probably it will last only a few months.  In some cases, it will only be a few weeks.

Introduce yourself.  Make an acquaintance.  Maybe make a friend.

In addition, I watch irregular attenders sometimes become regular attenders.  Sometimes it becomes a permanent change in worshipping habits.  Most of the time, however, it lasts for a few months…. Maybe until just after Easter.  People want to make a bigger commitment to worship God.  The attempt is made.  January is a popular time for attempts, successful or not.

Introduce yourself.  Make an acquaintance.  Maybe make a friend.

There are congregations out there that would love to have the opportunity to make new connections with new people---to show them that God cares they are coming to be a part of the faith community.  The first difficult step is to provide the kind of church community that is attractive enough to the unchurched that they are willing to visit, even if only out of curiosity.  Sadly, there are churches that struggle to just get past step one.  I believe Emmanuel has got past step one. 

Step two is to offer authentic and relevant faith that understands the basics of grace and unconditional love.  Again, while Emmanuel is not perfect, it is able to communicate this for the most part.  It isn’t necessarily so easy when the church is full of sinners, however.  But we keep trying and, in my most humble opinion, do adequately.

The third step:  to introduce yourself; make an acquaintance; maybe make a friend.

The tipping point for many who want to renew their commitment to the church is whether or not they feel they are connected to the community in real, practical ways.  Even as Emmanuel as grown, please realize that many have also left the church, sometimes to go elsewhere and sometimes to go nowhere.  I have not done any kind of scientific study, but many of the comments that I lock away in my mental file is that, right before someone leaves the church, if they have any concern, it is that they don’t feel a connection.

Introduce yourself.  Make an acquaintance.  Maybe make a friend.  Be a connection.  Be that person that the newly committed attender looks forward to talking with.  Be that person who missed them when they weren’t there.  Don’t just care, but show that you care.  Don’t be afraid.  Jesus cares.  You should too.  I have yet to have a person tell me that they are going elsewhere because they felt someone cared that they were there or not.

Ultimately, this isn’t about trends or number.  This is about seizing the opportunity to encourage someone else to connect with God on a spiritual level.  People are most likely to do that if they have friends who are doing that.  God created us to be in community together.  When we are, then we are most likely to see God’s purpose for our lives….. and purpose is what drives us to act and speak and do.  Mix purpose with divine intent and you have a church who goes about connecting people with God.

No church will ever be everything for everyone, including Emmanuel.  But when you help people understand that you care, that is a first step to helping them see that God cares.  When people believe that God cares, they tend to stick around…… and make friends with others who will show up next January.

Such is the life at Emmanuel.  Keep the circle going.

God is Good,

Pastor Joe