Can You Be A Magnet For Our Church?

I remember visiting my grandparents as a child and playing with a set of black and white Scottie dog magnets. If you pushed them one way, they chased each other around the table and never caught up. If you turned them another way, they snapped together and were difficult to separate. When one was hidden by a simple piece of paper between them, the unseen one below could move the visible one without the need to touch it. Surely magic was at work!

I had another toy to play with there. It was a small plastic box decorated with the face of a clean-shaven bald man. I used a red metal stick, touching it to the picture and lifting it up, moving iron filings and giving the man hair and a beard. Magnet magic again!

My science teacher later taught me to make my own magnets. Using a bar magnet, I slid a small flat piece of iron across it repeatedly in the same direction, and I “aligned the atoms,” allowing me to pick up nails and paper clips. I made an electromagnet by coiling wire around another nail. When touched to a small square battery, the resulting powerful magnet could pick up items far heavier than the nail. The strength of the magnetic field depended on the number of coils and the diameter of the wire.

Apply this lesson to our church. Magnets are powerful tools to attract people, but if turned the wrong way, they will chase people away. You don’t need to see the magnet for its power to move you. Lastly, the more people who join together into the circle around the core of faith in God, the more powerful the attraction, and the harder it is to break.

Wow! What an idea! How can we use it?

Come to the Magnetic Church Conference led by Andrew Weeks and find out! To quote from the catalogue of the Ministry Institute: “The Magnetic Church Conference is non-confrontational, practical evangelism to help our churches attract and retain new members. The Diocesan Congregational Development Committee is pleased that noted evangelist Andrew Weeks will be presenting this event. To learn more about his ministry, see www.magnetic-church.com. This event is co-sponsored by the Diocesan Congregational Development Committee and the Right Onward Visioning Committee.”

The two-day conference is scheduled for Friday, May 2 from 7 to 10 pm and Saturday, May 3 from 9 am to 4 pm in Trinity Cathedral, Trenton.

To quote Andrew Weeks:

“ Why Bother to Attend? Come for yourself!
Wondering what God’s next call for you might be? If it were your choice, would evangelism be last on your list because your images of evangelism are of weepy, cash-grubbing orators on TV or loud street-corner demagogues? Then come and learn about models of evangelism appropriate for you! Along the way, you may discover your gifts as author, editor, planter, greeter or shepherd, and reap some of the amazing joy of being God’s instrument in changing other people’s lives.

Come for your community!
A staggering percentage of Americans (nationally, 40%) do not attend church. That means so many of the children in your own community are not learning the Lord’s Prayer or any of the stories of Jesus. That means all those adults are stuck with being able to believe only in themselves. You can share with them the life-saving gift of knowing the security of being able to rely on God.

Come for your own church!
You want to become more involved in the mission and ministry of your own church but you’re not sure where to begin, what to do, or how to apply your own unique gifts and personal talents? Begin by coming to this event to learn a whole lot about practical evangelism.

And along the way… You may discover new ways to apply your talents and skills by helping your property team to make all of your signs, buildings and grounds more attractive and inviting. Perhaps you will author or help redesign or edit your church newsletter, Sunday bulletins/inserts or web pages, and assist in transforming them from old, maintenance member-oriented organs to new, evangelism-oriented tools. The possibilities are endless!”

Quoting our catalogue once again: “Andrew Weeks is a cradle Anglican who was born in Canada and moved to the US to work for Arthur Anderson, Walter Kidde, and other corporate entities. He was an executive who became a management consultant for operations. He began his work as an evangelist helping churches to change their ways to reach out to church visitors after encountering obstacles in his own search for a new church community, including attitudes that it was ‘all up to the visitor to figure things out’ and ‘if visitors were really interested, they would figure it out!’”

Join us! Carpool with us! Learn with us! Become a coil in our powerful magnet! Help to change the “faces” of those around you!