JANUARY 2008

Dear Mt. Olive Family and Friends,

At first I threw it into the circular file. Much of the bulk mail that comes to the church office goes there. But then I said to myself, “This one you just have to keep! This must stay on your desk and serve as a constant reminder!” So I dug it out of the garbage and propped it visibly on my desk.

This florescent-green oversized postcard came from a big Lutheran church just up the street. It read: WELCOME TO THE COMMUNITY!... Dear Friend, Where do you go to find meaningful worship and music, community, friendships and more when you’re new to the community?...

Hmm, we’ve been in the community for more than four score years! I’m glad someone is finally welcoming us, even if it’s another church!

On the other side was a computerized address label. Guess to whom it was addressed! Ready? It was addressed in big bold letters to OLIVE MOUNT.

Now it’s obvious that this church subscribes to a service that provides names and addresses of people who have recently moved into the neighborhood. At least, that’s what they are paying for. That’s the way it’s supposed to work.

After getting these new, hot leads, the church then mails out postcards (florescent-green to get your attention, and oversized to hopefully get noticed over any regular sized ones you get in the same day’s mail,) and they call you their “Dear Friend.”

Yes, Mt. Olive has done similar things! On several occasions, we’ve sent out nearly a thousand postcards. Sometimes to those who are supposed to be new to the community, and sometimes to those who fit a certain demographic.

I don’t know what Jesus thinks of such an approach to “outreach.” I suspect He would probably say, “Why don’t you save yourselves a ton of money and a whole lot of work? Why don’t you just open your mouths and TELL somebody and PRAY that I would work in you and through you?”

I have to be honest. I don’t like what is happening today. I don’t like the “competition” that seems to drive “outreach” in today’s churches. “Come to our church because we’ve got a bigger choir, a better youth program, a nicer coffee shop, oh, and softer cushions too!” Seems to me that churches are selling their souls as they compete to become bigger and (supposedly) better.

And just as we lament the lack of a friendly, personal touch in today’s cold, money-driven business world, we find the same friendly, personal touch totally absent in a computer-generated label marked OLIVE MOUNT and addressed “Dear Friend.”

Our dear friends, Ryan and Angela, (yes, they really are our friends!) are now members of a little congregation in Albuquerque, New Mexico that has about 100 members. Yet on Christmas Eve, they had 39 visitors. One family had 12 of their neighbors with them! I’m pretty sure they didn’t send florescent-green oversized postcards to their neighbors! Probably all it took was a “Hey, we’re celebrating the birth of Jesus at our church on Christmas Eve. We’d really be honored if you’d come along with us!

Now there’s a novel idea! Inviting friends, relatives, acquaintances, and neighbors (our FRAN network) has always been, still is, and always will be the most effective way of “growing the church.” And remember, folks, our purpose in “growing the church” is not to get bigger by outdoing and outsmarting the “competition,” but to share the Law and the Gospel with as many as will listen. Our purpose is to share the life and love of Jesus with those who, like ourselves, so desperately need it.

I don’t know if we’re better off today because of the superstores and mega-centers that have taken over with their massive concrete buildings and even more massive parking lots. I do know that they have made it pretty much impossible for the little Mom and Pop corner stores to survive.

I don’t know if there will be a similar development in American churches; namely, that super-churches with glitzy gimmicks and computer-generated promos will make it impossible for the little corner churches to survive, but if that’s the case, I feel truly sorry for the next generation.

It was His personal touch and genuine love that highlighted Jesus’ ministry. Likewise, it was that same personal touch, genuine love, and warm friendships that drove the early church and brought new Christians into the “family.” The early Christians didn’t have to resort to gimmicks. “See how they love one another” was all it took for neighbors to take notice. Amazingly, the early church grew without a single florescent-green postcard ever being sent!

Folks, as we, under God’s grace, begin another New Year, may I urge you – one and all – to “do outreach” by using the method that has proven to be effective for centuries and through which millions of people have been brought into the family of believers. It doesn’t cost a penny. It doesn’t resort to tacky marketing gimmicks or cold, business-minded ploys. It takes only a caring heart and a compassionate spirit. It takes only a prayer and a moment of conversation.

Just say the words. If you can’t say them, write them in an email or a letter. The genuine, personal invitation is still the way it works, one by one. We have the example of Andrew. After meeting Jesus, “the first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus,” John 1:41-42.

Will our Outreach Committee continue to explore and use mailing lists and oversized postcards (we’ll have to use florescent-orange to outdo the competition’s florescent-green!) to try to reach new people? Probably. But don’t expect a postcard addressed to Olive Mount or to anyone else for that matter, to do the work of a simple, sincere, prayer-filled, person-to-person invitation.

The church is family – God’s family gathered around God’s Word and Sacraments, the same Word and Sacraments through which He “calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth.”

The church is people – God’s people who not only love the Lord but who also love one another. People who share both joy and sorrow, both laughter and tears. People who are connected to one another because they are connected first to their Savior.

I pray that you love your church family and that because you love your church family you’ll pray for and eagerly invite others – one by one – to come and experience life in the church with you.

Hey, if a family in Albuquerque can tell and bring 12 neighbors, surely each one of us can tell and bring one. Can’t we?

Won’t we?!

Pastor Carl Henkel