Back to Church Sunday
Help family, friends and neighbours find a comfortable pew
by Pat Drummond
Last summer I spent my holiday in England and attended several churches there. I enjoy reading other Diocesan newspapers when I visit and was able to pick up a couple of different ones. In The Wey, the 
publication of the Diocese of Guildford, an article called Back To Church Sunday caught my eye. Several dioceses designated a Sunday for people in the congregations to invite friends, family and those who have left the church, or drifted from church attendance, to return. It is aimed at those who still have ‘something of the Christian story,’ rather than the ‘non-churched.’
Research has shown that people do come back to church when invited, and that some of them come back to stay.
I was determined to give it a try as, like many other parishes, we have our share of people who 'used to come,' still on our parish lists. I put notices in our bulletin for several weeks prior to the date our parish chose as Back to Church Sunday. Some of the information I included came from The Wey article:
There are lots of reasons why people stop going to church. They move house, have a baby or simply get out of the habit. Some people feel embarrassed about going back to church after a long absence, but if someone invites them, then they gladly go, and a special occasion makes it even easier. Back to Church Sunday on (insert your own chosen date) is just such an opportunity. The idea is to invite friends, neighbours or anyone who has had a connection with church in the past, to a service to see what they have been missing. This isn’t about putting leaflets through strangers’ doors but rather thinking of who might welcome a heartfelt invitation. This whole idea was first tried in Manchester Diocese in 2004. Last year Wakefield joined in and this year many more dioceses are giving it a go, including Guildford.
Why? Because the results have been phenomenal! The success of 
running such an event has been outstanding with churches reporting sustained increases in their congregations of 10 per cent and more. Many churches around the diocese are preparing to welcome back old faces on (insert date again).
Our chosen date was Sept. 24 last year. We printed some simple posters on coloured, eye-catching paper and some invitations in the same colour. Parishioners told friends and neighbours about the event and then gave them a reminder invitation just before. The poster and invitation said just "We Wish You Were Here" and announced the date and time and that there would be Sunday school and a nursery available and coffee and conversation would follow the service. The service was not a 'special production,' except that I made sure the sermon had a positive, straight forward gospel message and that the music was in keeping.
Was it worth doing?
Most definitely. Attendance that Sunday was up by a dozen people over the 60 the previous Sunday. Not all those who came have kept coming, but several have - enough to encourage us to do it again this year. Back to Church Sunday is, I think, at most a once a year opportunity. It would lose its impact if it were held more frequently. But, it gives an all-important once-a-year chance for former parishioners to re-think their reasons for non-attendance and a chance for them to re-integrate in an embarrassment-free way. It is also a wonderful way for parishioners to fulfill the gospel mandate to go and make disciples, to encourage others to 'come and see.'
For more information on this subject, type “backtochurchsunday” into your web browser. You will find several U.K. based sites.
The Ven. Patricia Drummond is rector of the Parish of New Bandon and Archdeacon of Chatham.
