What's So Special About Specials?

I once visited a church that had advertised a special event on a Sunday afternoon. I knew that church well, yet I really went as a guest for the special event. This event was supposed to wrap up all the church had done and learned during a six-week emphasis on winning new people to the Lord and for the church. When I entered the church building I felt busyness and nervousness behind smiling faces. People were occupied, talking with each other, and doing last minute preparations.

As I sat several minutes before the program started, people passed me, waving a hasty greeting. While the event was for new people, with an emphasis on guests, the guest was not noticed. If it were only me, I would not even have thought about it, but I realized there was no time for other first timers who were there, because the special program needed special attention.

Months later, I was standing at the door of my church greeting the people who attended our Sunday morning worship service. Among several visitors was a lady I'd met when I'd conducted the funeral service for her husband. I remembered that I had invited her to worship with us, but she had seemed very uncertain at the time. This Sunday she came to church and was obviously moved with what she had experienced, even though it was our usual worship service, with nothing special in the program.

During the following week, I received an E-mail from her in which she expressed gratitude for the Sunday morning worship service. She expressed amazement at the many younger people in church and leading the worship, and the friendliness of the congregation.

She said she could hardly stand to stay, because she was so moved with what she experienced.

As I thought about these two experiences, I came to several conclusions:

First, for most people visiting our church initially, it is already a special experience in itself. What we do when we worship the Lord on a Sunday morning is so different to new people, that for them it is special.

Second, special programs, as much as we need them at times, can consume the time and energy a church might invest in simply inviting other people to "regular" worship services and other meetings.

Are special programs intended to reach non-churched people actually programs for the people already in church? Do we simply paint them with an alibi that reflects a purpose of reaching out, yet they really are only a shot in the church's arm?

No doubt, special events can help us reach our communities. But we need to be cautious. They must never become an excuse for our church people to not reach out and invite the non-churched on an ordinary basis.

Hans-Günter Mohn is pastor of the Gelnhausen, Germany, Church of the Nazarene.

Please note: All facts, figures, and titles were accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of original publication but may have since changed.