​#4 - OIW How becoming a more Open, Inviting and Welcoming faith community can change the way we evaluate success within membership development.

Friday, 3-4:30 pm
Presenters:  Jordan Trendelman, St. Alban’s, IN
Christina Connelly 

Workshop Description
What does it mean to be an Open Inviting and Welcoming Church? We will retrace our parish’s journey through the OIW initiative and how it has effected the culture of our church family. What started as an attempt to foster new membership ultimately resulted in a dialogue that has enriched and prepared our congregation for the uncertainty that we face in tough times. The focus of the workshop will be to provide tools so that other faith communities can challenge themselves to ask the hard questions and embrace the vulnerability that comes with with being open to one another. We will discuss the importance of invitation that starts within the parish walls long before it is extended to the community at large. Finally we will examine how welcoming one another into each others spiritual lives is not just something that is done the first time we meet but is an ongoing aspect of deepening relationship.