Have you ever tried carrying a heavy box that didn’t have any handles for you to grasp?
I remember helping a pastor friend move and I was helping carry several boxes of books into his garage. Some of the boxes didn’t have handles which made it pretty difficult to carry off the truck and find a place for it among the other boxes.
But there were a few boxes – those filing boxes for old documents with the lids – that had handles and they were a lifesaver! I felt like my production increased by 50% and stacking them in neat piles was almost a piece of cake. I joked with my pastor friend and told him if he could pack all his books in these filing boxes next time he moves, I’d appreciate it. He joked back and said “How about you accept pizza as my peace offering?” I laughed and agreed.
How Back To Church Sunday acts as your handle
The point is that the strength level of my body didn’t change carrying the two types of boxes. But because one box simply had handles, it significantly improved my ability to do more.
Back To Church Sunday is like the handles to help you do more. My guess is that if we asked you whether your church had any particular strengths, you could respond with several areas that you do well in. The purpose for Back To Church Sunday is simply to help your church leverage those strengths in order to reach more people in your community with the love of Jesus.
Why September 15th?
Church surveys have shown that as families settle in from going back to school and gearing up for Fall, they tend to look for ways to reconnect in community. A lot of people are disengaged from others over the Summer, so connecting in community is a priority for them. September is a perfect time to get a handle on inviting people who’ve been disconnected from the church over the summer to re-engage again.
So what tools can your church leverage to help act as the “handles” for your church in making this Back To Church Sunday successful? Let’s take a look!
- Online exposure
When you add your church to the Back To Church Sunday map, you can be found by people in your community who are searching for a church to attend on September 15th. You can also see what other churches are participating in your area, which creates an opportunity for you to network and share ideas with each other. No
- Free digital planning guide
For those who’ve never participated in Back To Church Sunday before, it can feel intimidating knowing where to start. That’s why when you add your church to our map directory, you will automatically be sent a free planning guide that will walk you through how to prepare your church members to serve, how to easily set up your facility to make it visitor-friendly, and how to invite your community to attend on September 15th.
- Preaching materials
Our team has created a sermon kit for your Back To Church Sunday that includes a customizable sermon transcript, social graphics, countdowns, sermon slides and more. You can edit the sermon to add your own stories or replace any of the points in order to speak best to the context of your church and community.
- Church facility resources
All of the visitors that come to your church won’t know their way around your facility like you do, so making sure you have indoor signage that points people where your auditorium is, which way the restrooms are and where your kids ministry is (if you have one) is important. Having a visitor center where people can ask questions and I be given more information about connecting in the church is also important. If you don’t have a central place for visitors yet, you can easily set up a space by setting up a folding table and using one of Outreach’s table covers to decorate it, turning it into an engaginig place to attract visitors.
- Invitational tools
The truth is people in your community need a church to reconnect after the busy summer season. Many of them would show up if they just had an invite to join you. At Outreach, we make it easy and effective for churches to bridge the unknown gap between them and their community by offering several invitational tools. Some of these tools include invite cards for your members to give to friends or family, door hangers to distribute in neighborhoods around your church, postcard mailers that allow you to target specific zip codes and demographics, and even social ads that allow you to invite people on Facebook and Instagram.
Take advantage of our SmartMail promo going on until August 9th, 2024 and get $150 off your social ad! Click here for more information.
You don’t have to participate in Back To Church Sunday alone. Be a part of the community and movement and start by adding your church to the Back To Church Sunday Map. Together, let’s reach more!
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