	Working on This Year’s Suggestions
	Those of us who have responsibility for leading Norbury Church have been gradually working through the list of suggestions made at the Annual Parish Church Meeting in April. These very helpful suggestions were made in relation to the question of how we can attract young adults, especially those with children, and encourage them to be regular, committed worshippers at Norbury. Some of the suggestions made were surprising and fresh. What wasn’t surprising was that most of us want something slightly different in worship! Some like short sermons, others like sermons that go more deeply into the matters being preached about—so, of course, they need to be a bit longer! At the Worship Review meeting on 23.06.07, attended by about 20 people, this suggestion came top: Encourage people not to regard any seat in the church as theirs, and to talk not just with their friends. It may seem surprising that such a suggestion needs to be made, but it is evident from people’s comments—especially new people—that they do sometimes feel not very welcomed. It isn’t always easy to speak to someone on their own, or a couple on their own, at mix and mingle; but talking to people in this way is surely one of the most important ways in which new people are made to feel welcome. When we discuss this matter at meetings, people sometimes say, It’s hard to know what to say to someone you don’t know. In a large and busy church like Norbury, it is usually not helpful is to ask, Are you new here? The response is sometimes, No, I have been coming regularly for 7 years, actually! (The other person might have been a regular attender at the 8.30am service or at evening worship, which explains why the person asking the question has not seen them before.) I usually find that the best way to talk with someone who is new to me is to say, I’m Martin. Can you tell me your name? I find that usually the conversation can flow from there—even if they think I ought to know their name already! Another suggestion that got a lot of support at the Worship Review was that we should have some sermons on the basics of the Christian faith.	Those of us who preach have to bear in mind that a lot of people in the congregation have been coming for a long time and have heard it all before. Nevertheless, this suggestion of presenting the truths of the Gospel once again in a simple way is one that we want to consider very carefully. We are, for example, planning a series of sermons for Lent 2008 on the topic of Christian Discipleship—what it means to be a follower of Jesus. We are very aware that a lot of young people have got confirmed over the past few years and yet seldom come to Communion. A suggestion that got a lot of support was that we should explore ways of doing the Communion service that might appeal more to young people. We arranged such a Communion service on Palm Sunday this year and feel that we learned some valuable lessons from that. One of the advantages of the kind of consultation that we had at the Annual Meeting is that we were reminded of very obvious things that we could easily overlook. For example, parents with children who come to Norbury for the first time know practically nothing of what we offer. On the other hand, they do not want to be bombarded with information. We need to find a way of letting them have the information they need in an appropriate way. Rob Green is chairing a Welcome Team that is looking at such issues. We hope to provide information for new people that is informative, but does not have so much detail that it becomes confusing. These are just some of the questions that we have been thinking about this summer, and will continue to think about over the next few months. What is crucial for attracting new younger people into our church is that we have a real desire for them to come and be part of our worshipping community. I invite you to pray about this. The growth of God’s Church here at Norbury depends on our prayers. Prayer: Father God, we thank you for all the ideas and suggestions that members of the church have offered over the past few months. Help us to know which of these are in accordance with your will, so that we may enable your church to grow in this area, in Jesus’ name. Amen. Martin Collins
	Norbury Parish Church, Hazel Grove, Stockport, Cheshire. Telephone: 0161-483 6325

Working on This Year’s Suggestions

Those of us who have responsibility for leading Norbury Church have been gradually working through the list of suggestions made at the Annual Parish Church Meeting in April.

These very helpful suggestions were made in relation to the question of how we can attract young adults, especially those with children, and encourage them to be regular, committed worshippers at Norbury.

Some of the suggestions made were surprising and fresh. What wasn’t surprising was that most of us want something slightly different in worship! Some like short sermons, others like sermons that go more deeply into the matters being preached about—so, of course, they need to be a bit longer!

At the Worship Review meeting on 23.06.07, attended by about 20 people, this suggestion came top: Encourage people not to regard any seat in the church as theirs, and to talk not just with their friends.

It may seem surprising that such a suggestion needs to be made, but it is evident from people’s comments—especially new people—that they do sometimes feel not very welcomed. It isn’t always easy to speak to someone on their own, or a couple on their own, at mix and mingle; but talking to people in this way is surely one of the most important ways in which new people are made to feel welcome.

When we discuss this matter at meetings, people sometimes say, It’s hard to know what to say to someone you don’t know. In a large and busy church like Norbury, it is usually not helpful is to ask, Are you new here? The response is sometimes, No, I have been coming regularly for 7 years, actually! (The other person might have been a regular attender at the 8.30am service or at evening worship, which explains why the person asking the question has not seen them before.)

I usually find that the best way to talk with someone who is new to me is to say, I’m Martin. Can you tell me your name? I find that usually the conversation can flow from there—even if they think I ought to know their name already!

Another suggestion that got a lot of support at the Worship Review was that we should have some sermons on the basics of the Christian faith.

Those of us who preach have to bear in mind that a lot of people in the congregation have been coming for a long time and have heard it all before. Nevertheless, this suggestion of presenting the truths of the Gospel once again in a simple way is one that we want to consider very carefully. We are, for example, planning a series of sermons for Lent 2008 on the topic of Christian Discipleship—what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

We are very aware that a lot of young people have got confirmed over the past few years and yet seldom come to Communion. A suggestion that got a lot of support was that we should explore ways of doing the Communion service that might appeal more to young people. We arranged such a Communion service on Palm Sunday this year and feel that we learned some valuable lessons from that.

One of the advantages of the kind of consultation that we had at the Annual Meeting is that we were reminded of very obvious things that we could easily overlook. For example, parents with children who come to Norbury for the first time know practically nothing of what we offer. On the other hand, they do not want to be bombarded with information. We need to find a way of letting them have the information they need in an appropriate way.

Rob Green is chairing a Welcome Team that is looking at such issues. We hope to provide information for new people that is informative, but does not have so much detail that it becomes confusing.

These are just some of the questions that we have been thinking about this summer, and will continue to think about over the next few months.

What is crucial for attracting new younger people into our church is that we have a real desire for them to come and be part of our worshipping community.

I invite you to pray about this. The growth of God’s Church here at Norbury depends on our prayers.

Prayer: Father God, we thank you for all the ideas and suggestions that members of the church have offered over the past few months. Help us to know which of these are in accordance with your will, so that we may enable your church to grow in this area, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Martin Collins

Working on This Year’s Suggestions

Norbury Parish Church, Hazel Grove, Stockport, Cheshire. Telephone: 0161-483 6325