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Participants in the Magnetic Church conference look over material provided by presenter Andrew Weeks. Photos by the Rev. Gar Demo

‘Magnetic’ conference gives evangelism tips

By Melodie Woerman
Editor, The Harvest

Almost 90 people attended the “ Magnetic Church” conference May 8-9 designed to help parishes and members attract and retain new members. The event took place at St. Michael’s, Mission, and was sponsored by the diocesan Congregational Development Committee.

Leading the conference was Andrew Weeks, who created the Magnetic Church concept and leads the conferences. Based on his own negative experiences of visiting Episcopal churches and not being welcomed, he developed a set of tools to help congregations reach out to visitors and newcomers and to engage in evangelism in a way that is comfortable and effective.

The Rev. Gar Demo, rector of St. Thomas’, Overland Park, and organizer of the event for the Congregational Development Committee, said the 89 participants came from 23 parishes in the Diocese of Kansas, as well as one parish from West Missouri and another from Nebraska.

Several parishes sent large numbers of participants, he noted.

Andrew Weeks describes how to create effective worship bulletins.

Demo said Weeks presented variety of practical ways congregations can become welcoming places for newcomers, including:

- use of church space as a means to evangelism, including the appearance of the building and grounds, use of signage, and placement of greeters;

- the art of greeting and one-on-one contact, along with the chance to practice greeting with other participants;

- a look at church publications, including newsletters, bulletins and newcomer material, looking for lack of insider language, good design and appropriate use of editing;

- the key role electronic media plays in evangelism and the importance of a strong presence on the Internet; and

- the use of e-mail and other electronic forms of communications.

Demo said Weeks “emphasized the importance of connecting others with a deeper sense of God through our church and not selling ourselves short on what the Episcopal Church has to offer to the world.”

He said conference evaluations noted the practicality and helpfulness of the material presented. Several churches are planning to make immediate use of it in renewing their welcoming ministries, Demo said.