The Bishop of Lichfield is leading calls for congregations to support Back to Church Sunday – one of the largest co-ordinated evangelism events in recent history.
Every one of the Church’s 44 dioceses are taking part in the initiative on September 27, by encouraging churchgoers to invite someone they know who used to attend church to come back on a particular Sunday.
Churches will focus on extending an even warmer welcome than usual on the day, supported by Back to Church Sunday resources such as special red welcome T-shirts and subsidised party packs of fairly-traded catering products, produced in partnership with Traidcraft.
The Rt Revd Jonathan Gledhill, Bishop of Lichfield, said:
“The impact of Back to Church Sunday is not just measured in statistics – it is measured by the wonderful impact it has had on numerous individual lives. “
Up to 16,000 Church of England churches could be taking part, joining congregations from Churches Together in Scotland, the Church in Wales, Baptist, Methodist and United Reformed churches nationwide, Elim Pentecostal churches and Anglican churches in Australia, Argentina, New Zealand and Canada.
Back to Church Sunday began in Manchester in 2004, spread to Wakefield Diocese in 2005, nine dioceses in 2006, 20 in 2007, and 38 in 2008, when an estimated 37,000 people came back. While not each of the Church of England’s 16,000 parish churches will necessarily be taking part this year, each church has the opportunity to do so, with bishops encouraging parishes to get involved.