I have been blogging about church issues lately, especially in relation to why people leave the church between the ages of 16 to 22 and how we can stop the trend.
During one of the previous discussions on this site, a commenter mentioned that she is hesitant to invite people she knows to her church because of problems that her church is currently dealing with. This comment reminded me of something I read in a book called Building a Contagious Church a few years ago. The book, which is about doing outreach effectively, tells readers that we can invite people to church all we want, but if they come and we do not have ministries in place that answer the questions they are asking and meeting the needs they have, they will not stay long.
I wonder how many churches are struggling for just this reason. How many churches are ineffective at outreach simply because their members are not sure that the church has relevant ministries in place? Would you agree that this is a real issue in churches? Has it ever stopped you from inviting a person to your church?
Theologically Speaking 
If someone is comfortable in his/her Church, why stop inviting people? And if someone is not happy with the Church, he/she must do something to change it.
Pr. Bob Coy (Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale – 17,000+ members) once asked in a sermon:
– If everybody in this Church did exactly what you do for God’s kingdom, how was the Church now?
Quoting Janet Porter, “you have to put your faith to action”.
Helio:
Thank you for reading and commenting. I agree that if we are not happy with our church, we need to work to change it. But what about someone in a church that has serious problems and where change is going to take a long time – if it is even possible? What should that person do about inviting a person to an unhealthy church?
I think it’s important to invite folks to church and into your home. You can’t just show them church. It’s a tiny fraction of what it means to be a Christian.
Everyone knows the church is busted.
Sometimes churches are such a mess that maybe nobody should go there. I suppose that if that’s the case, it would be wise to invite them to an alternate church — and perhaps explain why you didn’t go to your home church.
Maybe.
I’ll think on this more.