Roger Morris, Archdeacon of Worcester, wants people to come back to church; however he says if the church is asking people to come to it, then it must be prepared to go to people, where they are in their everyday lives.  On Thursday September 10th, Roger will be packing bags in Sainsbury’s, St John’s Worcester and chatting to folk as they go about their daily business, talking to them about church, their lives or anything else that they want to.

 “Church is about the whole of life because God is concerned about all that we are and everything that we do. When we ‘come as we are’ to church, we look to make sense of our lives and then, when we leave, we are better able to serve God and sense his presence in the ordinary and the everyday.”

“God cares about what happens in our homes, offices and supermarkets. Those who work on supermarket tills are doing a much more important job then they may realize. For those who live alone, particularly the elderly or the bereaved, their brief conversation with the supermarket cashier may be their only real contact with another human being that day. Their whole day can be transformed by a genuine smile, a listening ear or a well placed word of kindness.”

“It is for this reason that I am delighted to be spending some time at one of our local supermarkets. It will then become part of my working week that I will reflect on when I go to church on Sunday. I also hope that it will remind all of us that the whole of our lives matter to God and that, when we come to church ‘as we are’, we are bringing all of our experiences and concerns to God. God then helps us to make sense of them and also enables us to better sense his presence and purpose in the pattern of our daily lives.”

Back to Church Sunday has grown beyond all expectations since the first one, in Greater Manchester in 2004. In 2008, 37,000 people came back to church through the prayerful invitation of a friend in 38 Church of England dioceses, Churches Together in Scotland; the Church in Wales; United Reformed Church; Methodist Church; the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Elim Pentecostal Churches.

http://www.backtochurch.co.uk/

ENDS.

The Diocese of Worcester is one of 44 dioceses in the Church of England. It covers an area of 671 square miles and includes parishes in the County of Worcestershire, the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, and a few parishes in northern Gloucestershire, south east Wolverhampton and Sandwell.