Season of Invitation

This afternoon St Paul's hosted a training seminar on behalf of Leicester Diocese. The speaker was Michael Harvey, the founder of Back to Church Sunday.
Michael spoke about his findings over the last 10 years having visited 5 continents, 17 countries and seen 25,000 churches taking part in this initiative.
The idea is now expanding to include Harvest, Remembrance, the start of Christmas celebrations and Christmas Day and we are looking forward to using these new resources at St Paul's.
I was very impressed with Michael's work, his encouragement and his vision.
Things that struck me were 'success is one person inviting another person'. We need to get used to people saying 'No'. The example of Shane Warne was used, who whilst the best bowler for Australia is also the worst in that he has bowled more balls that failed, as well as more that have taken wickets.
We were reminded that we need not fear rejection as Jesus himself was rejected and suffered far more than we are ever likely to, and God promises to be with us and constantly reminds us not to be afraid.
Visit Michael's website http://www.unlockingthegrowth.com/ or see http://seasonofinvitation.co.uk/ where St Paul's is registered to take part.