Five New Members?
It's not a large church, but then compared to most United Methodist Churches, it's not small either. Most United Methodist Churches have less than 200 members and this one is much larger than that. Let's call it "mid-sized"--not as large as Birmingham, but not small. It's the church my mother attends in Florida. She said she was surprised when the pastor announced that his goal was for the church to grow in the next year--that in the next year he hoped to receive five new members. My mom, even at 90 years old said, "Just five new members? In a year?" Even at 90, she didn't feel like that was much of a goal. Now give the pastor credit. Given that more than half of all United Methodist Churches didn't receive any new members by confession of faith last year, even five new members would be a step in the right direction. At least it represents the desire to reach people for Christ, to see some new faces and to welcome some new members.
In a given year we receive close to 100 new members, including our confirmation class. We need to receive that many just to maintain our membership at 3,300 in the light of the number of deaths, moves and changes we have in a typical year. Most of those persons come to us from another church--some Methodist, many of them protestant and a significant number of former Roman Catholics. We celebrate each of these who bring new life, faith and experience to our congregation. We are stronger because of the breadth of backgrounds and experiences that enrich our life together. But the real sign of growth are those who come to us as new Christians all together. I am always excited to get to know folks who have little or no background in the faith and feel welcome in this place. I love it when people come genuinely seeking to understand the faith as new believers, those who ask honest questions in simple faith.
Most of those folks come because someone invited them. Maybe their kids came to Friday Night Lights. Maybe a neighbor invited them to a Live at First concert. Maybe they brought their children to Vacation Bible School. But someone, somewhere offered the invitation. I hope you get tired of hearing me say that 80% of all first time visitors come because someone invited them--but I hope you never get tired of inviting.
Next Sunday in the traditional services, we will begin a series of sermons on
the Book of Acts, exploring the ways the church grew and how the word spread in the early days of the church. Maybe it will instruct us in ways or reaching, ways of inviting, ways of winning others to Christ. That's what it means to be the church. Maybe we can find at least five new members too. Maybe there is someone just waiting for you to offer the invitation.
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