Would you like to give High Peak Baptist Church a GIF*T? We’re not talking about making a donation or writing a check. We’re talking about the concept of helping make High Peak a more welcoming church for guests and members alike.
What we’re talking about is giving yourself in four simple ways each beginning with the four letters in the word GIFT! This comes from Karl Vaters book Small Church Essentials.
Let’s take a look at what he means…
- G = Greet – Greet people. Find a person you don’t know and greet them. If you know everyone, say “Hi” to someone you don’t usually talk to on Sunday morning. Get out of your comfort zone.
- I = Introduce – Introduce people to each other. If you meet a new person who’s visiting for the first time, gree them and then try to introduce them to someone else. This makes our church more friendly and helps visitors feel more connected. Introduce them to the pastor, to the music leader, your Sunday school teacher or anyone you see nearby.
- F = Follow UP – Find a person you met and talk to them, get their contact information and invite them to do something with you and your family (same genders unless you get together as a couple or in a group). Talk some more. Use the word FORM (Family, Occupation, Recreation, Message, with message being something like come to our Sunday school class or invite them to Sunday night or Wednesday night Bible study or out to lunch after church.
- T = Thanks – Thank somebody for something they did. Focus on people other than the pastor or music director, although it’s not bad to include them too. But they get a lot of attention already. Thank your kids’ teachers or a deacon. Thank someone who collects offering or counts offering. Thank anyone you can think of for helping out.
You get the idea of G*I*F*T. It’s making connections to show one an other that we love and care for each other, appreciate each other, and we think guests matter in a more important way that just saying “Hi” during the greeting time.