Towne Hall Meeting – Ideas for Connection - I

Wednesday’s Scripture Readings:
OT: Ezekiel 13
NT: 1 Thessalonians 3
W&W: Psalm 118.1-14

Today’s Reflection:

A concern submitted to me for response at our Towne Hall Meetings was: “What are your ideas on ways we could get some of our adults connected to the church and grounded? (So many seem to have a very loose connection to the church and are uninvolved in any kind of ministry or even in Sunday school.)” I responded as follows:

This morning, I mentioned how important it is to be engaged in the church. Engagement is less about what you do as how you feel about the church. And how you feel is influenced by small groups, by communication, and by working in your areas of strengths and giftedness. We are going to do a congregational assessment in October to help us begin working toward having an engaged congregation.

But, considering the small groups factor of this equation, I am a Sunday school man… I believe that the old Sunday school song we used to sing is still true today: “Everybody ought to go to Sunday school!” We need to get people connected in relationships with one another. If a person does not make friends in the church in the first 6 months, then there is a great likelihood that he or she will drop out. Sunday school is the perfect structure for the making and keeping of spiritual friendships. I think we should set as a goal that 100% of our members should be actively involved in a Sunday school class – whenever they meet! We are planning to train the youth in REACH – a simple method for using Sunday school to care for each other and reach others outside the flock. We also are planning the addition of a new adult class this fall. I also want to continue visiting the adult Sunday school classes to help EACH one REACH one.

This Week’s Scripture to Memorize:
Matthew 16.25: For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.