While we may not tattoo advertisements on our “personal” spaces, we all do promote something with our words, actions, and motives.  Was in a meeting yesterday talking about outreach in the church.  While mailers, special events, and other “marketing” may work at times, the sure fire way to invite people to church is a one-on-one contact.  People inviting other people (aka word or mouth, or in today’s terms ‘viral’) is how the church grew throughout the ages.  Now, I am not against other types of invitation.  As a matter of fact Andover has spent a good deal of time and money on mailers that have brought good success!  But in the end, if the people of a local congregation are not excited enough about what is taking place on Sunday morning, they will not invite others to participate.

We are so fortunate at Andover to have a group of people who are passionate about what is happening and take every opportunity to invite others to church.  They may not tattoo the church logo on their forehead, but many of them are not able to hide their excitement and people know.  For that, God gets the credit.