We have this ministry called Bless This House.
It involves getting the addresses of recent house closings in our area from the Sunday Charlotte Observer, and then sending out pairs of people (going out in twos — that’s biblical!) to welcome the new movers to southwest Charlotte. While there, we give the gift of a “world famous refigerator magnet.” If the people are receptive, we will ask if we can pray a blessing over their new house.
We do not ask as people open the door, “if you died tonight, do you know where you’d go?” Please.
What we do is offer a high-touch, low-threat welcome to Charlotte and invitation to the church.
I have been doing this kind of thing since I pastored in Monroe. Mt. Carmel Church was tucked away in a corner, so no one would see it just by driving by it. I knew that if we weren’t out there inviting, people wouldn’t come.
But back to Good Shepherd and Bless This House. We now have about 150 people who call this church home because their house got blessed.
Yet for a couple of reasons, I haven’t been able to “bless houses” as much in 2009 as in previous years. But I got a couple of those obstacles worked out, and was able to “bless” last Thursday and I’ll be going out again this evening.
It’s one of the things that makes me feel most alive as a pastor.
After all, how can I expect new people to come to church if I am not personally involved in inviting them?
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Interesting Talbot…never heard of this approach, but it sounds like a cool way to meet new people.
What if your house hasn’t been blessed and you’re not new to the area? I am the only person in my household that attends church and I am also a new mother…It is important to me that God be present in my son’s life in all aspects, although he is not old enough to recognize his presence just yet. God has blessed my son and I, almost to the extreme. However, My family, whom I have been residing with, still struggles greatly. While I know that I am blessed where ever I go, because I carry God in my heart, I am still afraid to witness to them. I do not know that they would take me seriously. Perhaps if God were to bless our home and everyone in it, it would help me to share God’s love with them.