Ministry Wow!

“Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.” 1 Corinthians 16:13-14

It is a wonderful feeling when an idea becomes a ministry, and then the ministry becomes a reality! A new ministry at Christ Church Cathedral called “The Meet & Greet Group” (MG for short) has launched in a deeply effective way. The main thing that the 36 members of Meet & Greet do on a rotating basis is to be at the entrances to the Cathedral 15 minutes before and after the Sunday service they attend, and to talk to people they don’t know for the whole morning.  The MG members prepare with prayer for the Holy Spirit to guide and direct them.

Our mantra is that the Holy Spirit is bringing someone to visit us every single Sunday. This last Sunday was the start. The MG members assigned were ready. After the 11 a.m. service, one MG member excitedly told me that she was able to meet a visiting family who have two small boys and she showed them to the nursery and Sunday school, and warmly welcomed them into the church.

Another MG member emailed me: “Brent, I just wanted to let you know that the meet & greet went very well.  I had really good connections with two families.  One elderly couple visiting from Akron, Ohio thoroughly enjoyed the service.  They filled out a card and were very touched by the choir, so I gave them the dates for the upcoming Requiem, and some other pamphlets for lent and Christian formation.  They hugged me and said they will absolutely be back.” She went on to say that she had met another visiting family with 10 year old girl and was able to welcome them in and show them to where they needed to be.

Wow! This really works! And the Holy Spirit really is bringing visitors to the Cathedral every single Sunday! And even just this morning I had coffee with someone who has visited the Cathedral several times, and she has chosen to worship at the Cathedral because she was so warmly welcomed. She visited some other churches, but no one even talked to her at the other churches so she didn’t go back.

The people of Christ Church Cathedral are most certainly living into Paul’s words!

This meditation is brought to you with this request: In this Lenten season of reflection, we are working with Ministry Architects as we further strengthen the light of our children and youth ministries. Everyone is invited to join us on Sunday, March 6 at 4 p.m. as Ministry Architects enlightens us with their results and recommendations.

Blessings,

The Reverend Brent Owens