How to Invite Someone to Church

 

I found Garden City because someone named James asked me if I wanted to attend a Sunday Gathering with him. Funnily, James stopped attending a few weeks after inviting me, but the impression stuck and God had carved out a place for me here, so I kept coming. Could I have found our church without any help, simply by looking around online? Sure. But for me, it was much easier to check out this new place and people when I knew I’d see at least one familiar face when I arrived. I promise you, your friends are 1000000x more likely to check out a Sunday Gathering because of a personal invite than because they saw an ad on Instagram.

As we approach Easter, it’s a really good time to make the ask because we’ll be preaching The Resurrection (even though we kinda preach this every Sunday), and many people are thinking about God a little bit more during this holiday. As someone who hesitates to send that text or make that phone call, may I challenge you (and myself!) to invite three people to join us for Easter?

Garden City isn’t the only church in the Church, but it’s our church and we’re on a mission to make disciples for God’s glory! In fact, He commands it:

Matthew 28:19–20 [19] Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20] teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (ESV)

Here are a few recommendations for making that invite:

Pray About It

Ask God to put a few names on your heart. He can do that! It’s deeply encouraging to be prayed for, and making disciples is work that we do with the Lord. Let’s consult Him at every step of the process.

Ask Them To Go With You

This could be a text, a phone call, or an in-person conversation. The important thing here is to ask if someone will go with you on a Sunday. Jesus made disciples by bringing them along. If that’s too scary, our mid-week Life Group meetings are a great place to start.


Remember why you want this person to come: Our church may be lacking as a body because we don’t yet have the unique presence of a future member, so every conversation, text, or call should express a confident desire to see that person join you because you already envision how much better the body will be with them in it. Jesus already did the saving work on the cross; who needs to know that?

Tell Them What to Expect

After that initial invitation, I recommend framing expectations by explaining some of these things, to take away as many unknowns as possible:

  • When to arrive.

  • Where to find you, and how to enter.

  • What to wear and what to bring.

  • Will they have to introduce themselves? (at Garden City, we don’t hand newcomers a mic and put them on the spot, but some churches greet people in this way.)

I’ll include some example texts and phrases at the bottom of this page.

Being in a new place with new people can be scary or confusing. Offer to meet your friends outside and walk in together. Most importantly: sit with them. Introduce them to your friends! If you’re serving on a team that Sunday, connect them with someone else they can sit with so they don’t feel alone. This makes a world of a difference as they participate in the service.

Follow Up

The underestimated fourth step is the follow-up. Consider going out to lunch or dinner after the service so you can chat about how it went. Ask them about their time, what they thought of the music or the sermon, and how it compared to past church experiences if there have been any. This is ground for really rich conversation and friendship-building. 

You can do it! Regardless of how it goes, this is the Holy Spirit’s work, and we have the privilege of participating. God goes before you in every interaction, and He has unique Kingdom-building work cut out for you. 

Here are a few sample texts. Use your wisdom in your own relationships, and make these your own!

“Hey ________! It was so good to hang out with you last week at the _______. Just wanted to let you know, our church is getting ready to celebrate Easter on April 9th, and I wanted to invite you! You can sit with me, and we could even meet at my house and drive together. Let me know what you think!”

“Hey _________, hope your week is going well! Easter is right around the corner! It’s one of the most fun and celebratory Sundays at my church, and I’d love for you to join me. Let me know if you’d be down (:   “

“Hey, not sure what your Easter plans are, but if you’re free in the morning, I’d love to bring you to church with me and then we can grab lunch?”

Hey ________. I’ve been praying for you today, and wanted to invite you to join me for church on Easter Sunday! I know how you feel about church, but I’d love to bring you along. I can always walk in with you too! It’s going to be a fun service at Garden City and I think you’ll like it!

*James wasn’t really his name

 
Max Huss