On Friday and Saturday, March 23rd and 24th, eleven members of our congregation attended a very informative evangelism conference sponsored by Geneva Presbytery at the Penn Yan Presbyterian Church.  Andrew Weeks, author of “Welcome! Tools and Techniques for New Member Ministry”, led the seminar that he called “The Magnetic Church”.   His goal for our church can be summed up by this acronym:

To become more “AWARE"

A ttract newcomers, so you can

W elcome them in the name of God

A ffirm them as children of God

R espond to their spiritual needs and

E ngage them to become disciples

Mr. Weeks gave us practical suggestions to send a clear message of WELCOME to non-churched people.  He emphasized the importance of having trained Greeters serving in a very intentional ministry.  We examined the various ways of marketing our church in the community and took a critical look at our newsletter, brochures and bulletin.  

At our meeting, March 27th, we divided into 2 groups and did a “walk-through” of the church building and grounds, trying to see it through the eyes of a newcomer.  Based on what we learned at the seminar, we generated a list of suggestions to make our church more inviting.  In the coming weeks, we will share with you some of our suggestions.

To learn more about “The Magnetic Church”, you can visit the website at http://www.magnetic-church.com/

Blessings,

Membership and Outreach Team