Fifty-Two

There are 52 Sundays in a year. I’ve not actually counted them, so in a way I am really guessing. If there are 52 weeks in a year, then there must be 52 Sundays (right?). Like I say, I’ve not actually counted, so correct me if I’m wrong.

One thing I am certain of is that there is just one Sunday we call “Back to Church Sunday” and it has passed. The purpose of Back to Church Sunday is to create an opportunity for people to come back or to come for the first time and explore what we are all about. My hope with Back to Church Sunday is that we will start to do two things: 1) invite people and; 2) welcome people. The second thing we are already pretty good at, the first might need a bit of work.

So, if you invited someone back to Church this year for September 25th, great! However, chances are that for the other 51 Sundays no invitation was given (51 lost opportunities).

Imagine that there is just one piece of pie left. I have a friend who would offer it to me. The polite thing for me to do is say, “no.” The polite thing for him to do is to offer the pie again. If I say, “no” the second time then I don’t really want it. If he offers it the second time the he didn’t really want it. We are, in the end, left with a small dilemma, who’s going to eat the last piece of pie? But, in the meantime, we did the polite things and the pie was offered more than once. 

People might have to hear the invitation back to Church more than once before they begin to believe we actually mean it and that the Good New is for them too.

In truth, there are 52 Back to Church Sundays every year.