Invitation or not

[Extirpated Wildlife]

I don't know what most churches do, but a great majority of Baptist church have an invitation at the end for people to have the opportunity to recieve Jesus or something.

I have for a long time felt this was, for the most part, useless.  And currently i am going to a church that doesnt do this, and they have a greater rate of people coming to God than most churches.  Most of the time its just a moment for people to show they are changing from the church next door to this one. 

 

What are your thoughts?

 

[I can eat 50 eggs]

I think it's ridiculous that they force an invitation to close every service. If you give a rousing speech on salvation, by all means. but after talking about tithing, get real.

 

[Greeter]

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I think it's ridiculous that they force an invitation to close every service. If you give a rousing speech on salvation, by all means. but after talking about tithing, get real.

Hey, that is ok, I am sure some&nbsp;people find something&nbsp;ridiculous about your church.&nbsp;

While my church is a ND one, we often close our services with lessons on salvation and give people who feel the moving of the Holy Spirit the chance to come forward and publicly accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior.&nbsp; Immediately following they are prayed over and are given a Bible and a list that shows classes we have on Christianity.&nbsp; They are also shown the dates for water baptisms. However, something they are told right off is that they are not considered to be joining as our church doesn't have a membership.&nbsp; We are more then happy to tell them of the other churches in the area as we are beyond overflowing at this point. (We have been blessed in many areas )</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>As for tithing, that is brought up only once or twice a year.&nbsp; We don't have collections but we have collection boxes throughout the church for those who are called upon to tithe at their leasure and also to leave prayer cards.

 

[SUNSTONE]

I think it is a great way, I see alot of folks get saved that way.
I talked to a friend of mine who went on a missions trip, and did an alter call, 250 people came up.

My church doesn't do it every service, but about 50 percent of them.
The reason why I like it is because you get some large churchs, and people often times are intimidated by the pastor. They don't want to walk up to him and humble themselves that way.
I feel that the alter call with eyes closed is a personal way to come to the Lord. Its more like being in the spirit instead of the natural.

 

[ZiSunka]

My church does the invitation not only as an offer to get saved, but to join the church, too. It's sort of a way to make a public announcement that you are now a Christian or now a member of the body.

It works for us. I just did it a few weeks ago to join.

 

[KC Catholic]

I don't think there is anything wrong with having the invitation to come forward. It depends on the sincerity of the participant, of course. If people are coming to Christ, then praise be to God.

It's a foreign concept to Catholics who were born in the faith, but I converted and I saw many people come to Christ via the alter call. I don't think there is anything wrong about it - it's different, that's all.

Does the church offer any type of follow-up classes or teachings for the new member?

 

[Greeter]

Teachings are a must and the follow up call is important (but handled by volunteers and unfortunately on some occasions gets overlooked&nbsp; ).&nbsp; Apparently there are many who,&nbsp;myself included,&nbsp;really dislike using the telephone.

 

[ZiSunka]

Originally posted by KC Catholic
Does the church offer any type of follow-up classes or teachings for the new member?

We are a small church, and there is a lot of support, including classes and Bible studies, as well as fellowship and mentoring.

 

[KC Catholic]

Originally posted by lambslove
We are a small church, and there is a lot of support, including classes and Bible studies, as well as fellowship and mentoring.

That's cool and very important in getting someone on the right track.

 

[Defender of the Faith 777]

I also think invitation services are a way of pressuring people into getting to know Christ, and is a waste of 5-10 minutes out of the precious 2 hours with the pastor speaking. We tell them that if there's a roast in the oven, let it burn, if you're meeting your friends after church, leave them. There's something more important at stake, and then we advise them where to go and not to leave with any questions, any questions at all will be answered as best as we can.

The old church I went to did invitations. I don't think Sunday morning services are the time for that.

 

[ZiSunka]

If I were in charge, I'd completely overhaul the order of service anyway. I'd make it more interactive, more worshipful, and more meaningful to daily spiritual life.

 

[Defender of the Faith 777]

My pastor's such an academic and makes it an educational experience that whets our appetite to learn and be mentored. He's a hardcore conservative dude that stands tall behind a podium for 45 minutes speaking dramatically. Kinda different, but his style is so dynamic. The church changed my life, if I were in charge, I think that's a perfect modern-day exampl.e

 

[ZiSunka]

Drama is okay, but it doesn't do much for me.

What do you mean when you say "dynamic"?

 

[I can eat 50 eggs]

Originally posted by Greeter


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Hey, that is ok, I am sure some&nbsp;people find something&nbsp;ridiculous about your church.&nbsp; </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>.

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I was talking about my church.

&nbsp;

 

[shout2thelord]

At our church you can get prayer for anything sometimes the pastor or another person at the church will say i feel there are people here who need prayer for .......... it could be accepting christ but you can go for anything.
I do think its important to mention it and not to presume that everyone in the church is saved.
There was never any mention of salvation when i was in the church of england and i became a christian after going to christian union at school, even though i had been going to church for 7 years.
the church also runs the y course a couple of times a year which is similar to alpha.