Dear Adventist Member:
As we start this New Year, I have two suggestions for you. First, when you get to Sabbath school on Jan. 1, join a different class than you attended in 2004. Second, in the worship service, take a seat on the opposite side of the church from where you normally sit.
If these two suggestions make you uncomfortable, you are probably part of the number one problem in Adventist churches across the country. Most of our churches are not interested in or prepared to welcome new members or strangers. We too often function as a closed club that only admits a select few new members each year.
Oh, you say, that’s not me! Why, I am a warm and loving Christian on my way to the kingdom. I give generously of my time and money to advance the work of God. I do smile at strangers who attend our church. I try to reflect the attitude and thinking of Jesus in all I do. No, no, I am not cold and uncaring. That has to be someone else! Or is it?
Ignored
In the past few months, one of our members moved from one city to another. She attended all the churches in the new area. In each one, she found friendly greeters, and that was all. Even when attending the “fellowship lunch,” no one reached out or responded to her attempts to make new friends. Week after week, she tried to bond with a new congregation, but in each church, people went their own way and ignored her.
Finally, in desperation, she visited a Sunday-keeping church. There, she immediately found warmth and a multitude of people who reached out to her and made her a part of the group. She was invited home for lunch, called during the week and introduced to the pastor. She wrote me with a heavy heart that her own church had been so cold and others so warm.
Out of My Rut
Why would I suggest you join another Sabbath school class? We tend to be most comfortable with our own friends and stay in the same little circle week after week. Moving to a new class forces us to make new friends and reach out to others.
Too many churches are operating without a new-comer mindset. In most of the churches I visit, there are no instructions in the bulletin or announcements from the front directing visitors to classes. And when they are listed, there is no map to the room. Being a visitor is often a confusing maze of unknowns, missing instructions and unanswered questions. There should be a whole group of members available to the greeters who are ready to take a visitor under their wing and make sure they are personally taken to a class and introduced to other members.
Seeking
Now to my second suggestion. Why sit on the opposite side of the church? Because you need to meet and talk to new people. Even fellow church members. Seek out strangers. Get to know them. Invite them to lunch. None of this tends to happen when we sit in the same place week after week. If you can’t do it, see yourself as contributing to a closed, cold church.
One a Week
Every member needs to make it an intentional, personal responsibility to meet at least one new person each week. If there are no new people attending, spend time talking to people outside your regular friend circle. Ask them about their week. Do your part to make your church visitor-friendly.
Yours for a different kind of church in 2005,
Tom Mostert, President
Pacific Union Conference
P.O. Box 5005
Westlake Village, CA 91361
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