This Easter I was invited to an act of worship on Good Friday. I never saw the person, but they took the effort to got round all the houses in the area inviting everyone to a gathering.
It wasn't the parish church.
It was the local Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall.
I didn't hear anything from the parish church, and while I may have missed it, I didn't see a poster in the local shop for forthcoming services either.
And now that I think about it, the Gospel Hall is pretty good at sending round flyers inviting you to services (although for a period, they forgot to actually say where there hall was) and the JW's will appear every couple of months. After one of these visits, when Mrs G was in a particularly theological frame of mind, they were on the doorstep for 45 minutes. Afterwards they quietly slipped an A4 sized, point by point refutation of Mrs G's position through our letterbox. After this incident I thought the local kingdom hall had blacklisted us.
Now, having lived in this house for over ten years, I am yet to hear anything from the parish church. My placement church is in the next presbytery, so I never see the Minister. I know every church has its own pressures, but surely we must get in touch with the community we serve, at least once a year. Can we afford not to hand round an Easter of Christmas card once a year, inviting people to hear the real message of Christmas or Easter?
"After one of these visits, when Mrs G was in a particularly theological frame of mind, they were on the doorstep for 45 minutes. Afterwards they quietly slipped an A4 sized, point by point refutation of Mrs G's position through our letterbox.” :D
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