One of the ideas Larry Osborne bases his book, 'Sticky Church' on, is closing the back door of our church. What does this mean? Simply this: as people are drawn to church and visit it, they will eventually fall through the cracks, or head out the 'back door', if they don't establish a meaningful relationship with someone there.
One statistic says that when the average American visits a new church, if fewer than six people greet them, they will not return the following week. But I think it's even more noteworthy that millions of people attend church consistently and never get beyond the 'How are you?' and 'I'm fine!' stage of relationship with their fellow attenders.
Our mission as a ministry is to help people at Desert Springs find some sense of belonging, to establish significant relationships with others so that they know they are home. We must be about this, not only at our group meetings during the week, but also as we attend Sunday services, special events or other church gatherings, as well as in our day-to-day personal lives!
So, what does this look like? Ask yourself, 'Do I go out of my way to find those who are new at our gatherings, and introduce myself?', 'When was the last time I got to know somebody new to church?', or 'What am I doing to help people feel like they belong here?'
We all have opportunities every time we gather to make this a reality; we just have to look for them!
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