Over the course of a year, a typical parish church has contact with hundreds and possibly thousands of people. We often meet new people through key moments like Christmas, Easter, or Mothering Sunday; or through Baptisms, Funerals, Weddings and simply times when people come into church to be quiet and pray. The question is:
How do we help people to take steps in their journey of faith?
soul[food] seeks to help churches to make the most of occasional contacts. It’s very simple. Hand out a small card to people who come to join you for Christmas or attend a Baptism (for example). Or put the card in the pew/seat to be picked up.
The card invites people to find out more by signing up to receive mini bite-sized messages which make connections with some of the themes of the service they have just attended. The initial sign up is for seven days; a week’s worth of short pithy thoughts sent by email or text.
At the end of the week there is an invitation to sign up to receive a 21-day journey, called [lifesteps], making connections between faith and life.
Each email or text connects back to the soul[food] website where there will be links to websites exploring the Christian faith and ways to finding a church—opportunities to continue the journey.