How congregations invite, welcome, and connect people are vital steps for building healthy, vibrant and growing churches, ensuring not only that “The Episcopal Church Welcomes You” is a reality, but that people don’t leave by the church’s back door. On Saturday, November 7, more than 40 people from six congregations in the diocese gathered at Trinity Episcopal Church in Fort Worth for an Invite-Welcome-Connect seminar by congregational development coach Mary Parmer.
Mrs. Becky McKneely of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Hurst said, “It’s a very uplifting time for us, with our new presiding bishop and the energy he brings for evangelism. It will be encouraging for our parish members to use their spiritual gifts and find their place in doing the work God wants us to do.”
The Rev. Amy Haynie of The Episcopal Church of Wichita Falls said, “I loved today. I loved the idea of finding new ways to get people connected to the church. There are places where we just haven’t figured out exactly how to invite them in yet.”
The Rev. Scot McComas of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church in Keller/Southlake reflected, “I’m thinking in our context at St. Martin’s, we are doing ‘radical hospitality’ really well, and that we also need to do ‘radical connectivity’ so that as we move forward we weave a web where all of us are connected together in a network that catches us in Christ’s love and Christ’s name.
The Rev. Carlye Hughes of Trinity reflected at the close of the seminar, “Consider that God called each of us here for the ministry that God needs each of us to do.”
Resources
Resources from the seminar can be found on invitewelcomeconnect.com.
Photos
Enjoy photos in Trinity’s Flickr photo album.
