Tell

Bishop Paul offers his final reflection on the Bring One Friend challenge,

The third challenge is to actually make that invitation.

We have brought together a series of resources to enable children's groups (children aged 3 to 11) to take part in the Bring One Friend challenge. Fashioned around the story of the Lost Sheep they offer an engaging way to encourage young people to bring their friends to a service or event at your church.

The third reflection examines how the fears we might have prevent us from inviting our friends. Bishop Paul shows how this is not sinful and draws from experience and the bible to provide advice on how to overcome our fears.

Our second task in the Bring One Friend challenge asks you to consider the events or services you want to invite a friend to.

Last week we began our “Bring One Friend Challenge”. In my first reflection, I considered the significance of you being someone who invites. Your friends and acquaintances trust you. They will seriously think about coming to church, and they will weigh the claims of the Lord Jesus if you ask them to. Because it’s you, they may come. And so I reflected on persistence in inviting, and my colleagues and I set a challenge for you, namely to consider whom to invite. But if you’ve done that, and you have a shortlist of people, what are you going to invite them to? This reflection helps you consider that.

Our first challenge helps you think around who you are going to invite.

Inviting people is both easy and terrifying. Easy because all we have to do is ask. Terrifying because we have a natural fear of rejection. So as we start to think about Bringing One Friend to a service or event this advent and Christmas we need to reflect on what is stopping us. Invitation is the royal road to church growth. Clever flyers, or videos, or talks on the radio – all these have their place, but research has shown that most people come to church, and then come to faith, because of a friend's invitation. In the first of his reflections, Bishop Paul looks at the power of invitation and tackles some of the fears that prevent us from making that invitation.

As a student, I used to take the bus to college. As I was standing at the bus stop with my friend Tony, we had a ringside view of a traffic accident - nothing serious, just one of those slow-motion shunts that happen regularly in any city. We gave our names to the drivers, and a week or two later we received witness-statement forms to complete. After we’d done so, we compared notes and found that our accounts differed substantially. Neither of us thought that this was a problem. We argued the toss over a coffee, and then we sent our forms off and thought no more about it. We didn’t amend or change what we had written, because we had been asked to give an account as we remembered it. We were not advocates for one or other point of view. We were witnesses. Being a witness is not a stressful occupation. All you have to do is say what you have seen and heard, as it seems to you. If others have a different perspective, so be it. In the Bible the experience is the same.

As a church, there are plenty of ways where you can find more and do more. So we encourage all disciples to do a simple act. Bring One Friend to church

During your ‘Rule of Life’ journey’, you’ll need to ‘Tell’ your Christian story.