Back to Church Sunday 2010

And another bit of information I pinched off the Wellington Anglican Diocese site:

Back to Church Sunday is to be held on Sunday 12 September this year.

In the meantime there will be:

A Seminar by Michael Harvey – 17 March
Unlocking the Growth – How to Release the God-Given Potential within the Church

Unlocking the Growth offers simple and effective ideas for increasing the number of people gathered to invitational services. It is specifically designed for leaders wanting to see their church grow, whether they are in the first year of ministry or have years of experience.

Michael Harvey is a founding team member of Back to Church Sunday, the largest invitational movement in the world. In 2009 over 100,000 people accepted invitations to church through this initiative. Research shows that between 12 and 15% of these people will become regular attendees, with 12-15,000 added to the church in one day across England, Scotland, Wales, Canada, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Australia, France, Holland, Belgium and Spain. This measurable impact on congregations increases the confidence of leaders as they are equipped to increase the church across every tradition and denomination.

Michael speaks with humour and encouragement as he challenges leaders to unlock the potential within their churches, seeking to see and hear what God is doing through those who attend.

Unlocking the Growth topics include:

• 12 Steps to Kicking the Habit of Being an Uninviting Church
• The Reasons Why Christians Don’t Invite
• Hidden Attitudes
• How Welcome Plays Its Part
• What Is Church in 2010
• The Keys to Adding To the Church
• How to Overcome the Wounds of The Past
• How Accountability Plays Its Part
• Things Leaders Say (Welcome to the real world!)

Michael will be in the Wellington region on
Wednesday 17 March 2010
to present this 90 minute seminar.

If you would like to attend, please reply to Ginny McCarty on 04 973 9303 or 021 145 0398, or email her at mccarty@paradise.net.nz and indicate if you would prefer to attend a venue in Wellington or Kapiti. Further information will be available shortly.

PS: An average of 19 people returned to each church after receiving a per­sonal invitation for Back to Church Sunday 2009 in September. Watch some of the You Tube videos made for Back to Church Sunday.

Mike Yaconelli

From Mike Yaconelli

 

See what the battle in the church is today?  It is not abortion.   It is not pornography.  It is not homsexuality.   It is reality.   It is honesty.   We are afraid to be ourselves, to let ourselves be known, to come out of hiding.   What the world is longing to see in the church is not moral purity as much as moral reality.   The world wants to see a church that is made up of people who are not afraid of their blemishes, because their blemishes only point to the unblemished character of Jesus.   What we don't understand is that when people look at the church and see only imposters, they conclude that Jesus is an imposter.  But when they see followers of Jesus who are real, they see a Jesus who is real.   The church does not need to fabricate holiness, it needs to seek holiness.  Holiness is not where we arrive, but where we are going.  The power of the church is not a parade of flawless people, but of a flawless Christ who embraces our flaws.   The church is not made up of the whole people, rather of the broken people who find wholeness in a Christ who was broken for us.   The church points to Christ, not to ourselves. 

Quoted by Sam Harvey on page 279 (chapter 20) of NewVision New Zealand vol III (2008); no source given.