Pat Alblas
I have been on this planet for quite some time.
I love hiking, reading and travelling.
Am married to a patient loving man and we have 3 grown children, a son-in-law and daughter-in-law and 4 wonderful grandchildren.
I am presently working part-time as Outreach Ministry Leader at CrossPoint CRC in Brampton Ontario.
I love seeing the difference that Christ makes in a person's life from when before they knew Him.
Sharing the joy of my salvation is one of the reasons I enjoy being around people. I especially love listening to their stories as they journey through life. I would like to hear from other people in the CRC that are involved in outreach. This network is a great way to share ideas and especially for support.
Posted in: What's the best practice for getting church visitors to fill out welcome cards?
Posting twice for some reason too - it's cooler inside in the office than outside (37 degrees C)
On the contrary here, when visitors get a call or a letter within a week or two, they are very surprised and pleased. They love the church shopping bag. Many visitors come back because we have paid attention to them. Of course, it's all a God thing. Blessings!
Posted in: What's the best practice for getting church visitors to fill out welcome cards?
We too have tried welcome cards in the pews, but that did not seem to work. We are back to our tried and true method of our visitor register. An average of 2 - 4 visitors from the community come each week and so our Outreach Team along with our two Outreach elders keep an eye out for newcomers, greet them and lead them over to the information center where they are invited to sign our guest register. They then receive a church shopping bag (filled with info about the church, a dvd, devos for adults and a Manga Messiah for the kids etc.) Within the week of the visit they are sent a welcome letter. It just seems they do not mind signing a guest register, but somehow don't like to fill out cards. Still some visitors fall through the cracks.
Blessings on your passion for making the church a welcoming place.
Posted in: What training tools does your church use to equip members for evangelism?
Reg - tomorrow our church is hosting a bicycle rodeo for the neighbourhood children. The children are looking forward to this each year and the parents appreciate it as the training in bike safety is important and bicycle repairs are costly. We offer all this free of charge along with a bbq, facepainting and balloons. Just a little way to say that their neighbourhood church cares for them. (and they do notice)!
Posted in: Alpha Still Works!
At our church we just finished out 11th Alpha session since 2004. It always amazes me who God sends to these courses. Over the years many new people have become members of our church through Alpha. Being in a very large multi-cultural city, this past season we saw three students from China who have never before heard the gospel, a woman from a Hindu family who became a Christian a year ago, a Christian who is married to a Muslim, plus Christians from Guyana, India and Canada. With such a mixture of people it is wonderful to see a bond of belonging developing quite quickly. It is a challenge though to know where to begin when there is absolutely no biblical knowledge. Alpha is a great tool and the Holy Spirit uses this tool to bless our church community. Sometimes, and especially for the students from China, belonging to a loving group of people who care for them comes before believing. Praise God for the way He works.