Back to Church Sunday is celebrating another rise in the numbers drawn back to church by the event this year as organisers gather in London for a special event at Lambeth Palace. Figures based on returns from dioceses suggest that more than 37,000 people took up the invitation to try church again on Sunday 28th September 2008 ”“ with more than 31,000 of them ”˜coming back’ to an Anglican church.
This achievement is being marked with a ”˜thank you’ party for people across the country responsible for promoting Back to Church Sunday to local parish churches and encouraging them to extend the warmest welcome to visitors. The day will involve multimedia presentations, buzzgroups, and giveaway treats from the sponsors Traidcraft.
Thirty-eight Church of England dioceses from Cornwall to Newcastle took part this year….
Fast-forward ten years. TEC will finally see some new light and have to hold such psuedo-evangelistic stunts to pump up its pitiful 500,000 ASA. Of course the post-worship parties will be grander than the CofE. This will be due solely to the contributions of the pansexual arts and croissants crowd who are currently shoving members out the doors.
Very encouraging – it just shows what can and needs to be done, not just on one day a year, but as a pattern of mission for us.