THE MAGNETIC CHURCH
Article: Good News - Newsletter of the Diocese of Connecticut, April, 2001.
ATTRACTING NEWCOMERS - A practical approach to seeing your church through the eyes of a visitor. © Karin Hamilton, Good News, Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut, 2001. Used with permission.
Did you know that churches can fall victim to the “Vampire Trap”?
Here’s how it usually goes:
Your church is warm and friendly, and you’re convinced that it’s a place where people encounter God. But attendance has been fairly level for quite a while, maybe sagging a bit. Newcomers arrive occasionally, but they drift in and out. From time to time, parishioners complain that it’s the same few people who show up to lead parish events. In frustration, someone inevitably laments, “We need new blood around here!”
Andy Weeks, a cradle Episcopalian, former businessman, and now full-time lay evangelist and trainer, puts humorous images like the “Vampire Trap” to work for him in his increasing popular “Magnetic Church” conferences. The most recent one in Connecticut was held at Emmanuel Church, Weston, on March 3-4. It drew over 100 people from 24 churches, attracting both clergy and laity.
Weeks’ credentials as an Anglican/Episcopalian are solid, his relationship with God is palpable and his message about attracting and retaining newcomers is straightforward and practical. Yet as much as he helps congregations attract new people and keep them, he also knows that evangelism has a deeper goal:
“Are you trying to fill empty pews or empty lives?” reads one of Weeks’ many overhead transparencies used in his presentations. His answer is clear: “Your call to personal ministry and my charge to you is to make it your mission to end spiritual hunger in this world.”
On Friday evening of the conference, after sharing personal stories about his life and his faith journey, Weeks helps people overcome their fears of evangelism by presenting it in a new light.
“It’s as simple as standing side by side with people, walking with them, and at the end of the day, sharing a meal. At its core this is not just what evangelism is about, but what Christianity is about,” says Weeks. He insists that evangelism is “so importantly” a lay ministry, empowered by the clergy.
Saturday offers a more hands-on approach to evangelism as Weeks helps people see their church from the perspective of a visitor, especially that of a visitor with no church experience, or no Episcopal Church experience.
He asks them to look at their physical property including signs, doors, fences, sidewalks, rooms, parking spaces, and even exterior lighting. (At one point he challenges the crowd to consider purple floodlights on the steeple in Lent, as a way to attract attention.)
Weeks then introduces the ministry of greeting, giving practical examples and noting that some visitors will prefer not to be “handled.” He says churches may have to set up a separate ministry if they haven’t already done so, and emphasizes the importance of having a diverse group of people to serve as greeters, including those of different ages.
The crowd is organized into four-person groups to practice greeting visitors.
Weeks next talks about internal communications including newsletters, newcomer brochures and worship bulletins. “Episcopal language” comes under heavy fire. Inviting newcomers to meet the “rector” in the “narthex” is not helpful if you don’t know the terminology, he says. And if the worship bulletin lists “Doxology” and that means singing the third verse of Hymn 380, from the Hymnal 1982, it should say so.
People form small groups again, this time finding seats around tables set up in the parish hall and church school rooms. They pass out copies of their own church’s publications, which they had been asked to bring to the conference. Then they review and critique each other’s work.
The final session discusses ways to manage growth by providing new structures and groups to meet the needs of the newcomers. “If you have something that isn’t working, just kill the sucker,” says Weeks. “I’m asking you to turn your church upside down … and if you’re willing to risk being foolish, you’ll be changed forever.”
Donna Downs, youth leader from St. Paul’s, Huntington, said she’d come to the conference because she wanted to “improve the way we attract new members.” She said it had been very helpful to her. “I learned a lot, especially about communicating with youth. They’re so over-saturated with information,” she said.
Dede Anderson, a member of Emmanuel who attended on both days, said she thought the conference was wonderful and that Weeks was a terrific leader. But, she said, she thought he’d been too hard on Emmanuel, especially when he critiqued their buildings and recommended painting the doors of their all-white church red.
“This is a very conservative town with very strict zoning laws,” Anderson said. “I didn’t agree with all his suggestions, and I’m the one who’s going to meet with him tomorrow about the painting.”
Another Emmanuel member, Bob Rowland, also thought the program was “excellent,” but had to be adapted to fit each church.
The Rev. Joan Phelps, assistant from St. James’s, West Hartford, said she’d participated in lots of evangelism conferences before but found this the best by far.
“It affirms things I’ve learned before,” she said. “But he has a gift for making it work for different parishes.”
The Rev. George Crocker, rector of St. Paul’s, Brookfield, also appreciated Weeks’ approach. “It makes me think about all the little things that should be done. [The church] is a place not just for parishioners, but for newcomers. I think his concern for details is very important.”
The Rev. Pat Ogilsby, of Trinity, Trumbull, said after she left Friday evening’s session, she headed to her church’s youth group lock-in. “I told them he was funny and it didn’t seem like evangelism,” she said.
“What’s interesting about this conference is that it’s a small church, and it’s a sellout event,” said Weeks. He’s been leading the conferences for the past nine years, starting right after The Alban Institute published his book, Welcome! Tools and Techniques for New Member Ministry. Weeks averages about 20-25 conferences a year, primarily at Episcopal and Anglican churches but also at churches from other Protestant denominations.
The Rev. Mary Korte, rector of Emmanuel, which hosted the event, has been friends with Weeks for about 10 years. He supported her during her journey to ordination, and she, in turn, was at his first “Magnetic Church” conference. This is the second time she’s invited him to Connecticut; he also came when she was assistant at Trinity on the Green in New Haven.
What excited Korte most about this conference was the representation by 24 different churches. “And it’s not just clergy who said to their lay people, ‘You go find out about it and come back and tell me,’ but the clergy are here, too. It’s just fabulous. And there are Presbyterians and Congregationalists here, too.”
“The mainline denominations have been declining for 50 years,” says Weeks, “We owe it to America to do something about this.”