EPISODE 4A SERIES BY SPIRIT OF INVITATION

People have invited the people in their lives that they could handle inviting - family members, people that already go to another church - but people are still very uncomfortable.

You have to be respectful of the person's right to say, 'sure, I'll come, but this may not be a permanent choice for me.'

Children are great at inviting people.

Watch how the children do it, and we can all learn from them.

When I initially came here, I was living in a shelter. I had a list that I had gotten from the city, and I thought I'm just going to go check out the drop in - it's free food, and churches generally provide better fare than other organizations. That's how I originally came here.

Almost immediately, I was drawn in.

I wouldn't necessarily call it - well, maybe it's negative.

Church can feel sort of exclusive.

I just kind of talk to people, and I see how they're feeling, and I always offer that suggestion - why don't you come with us to church?

We love going, and I talk a little bit about the reasons why we love coming to St. Peter's, and sometimes people do come. Or at least they think about it.

Sometimes people have questions about why I believe that there's a God. Sometimes they ask what the point of life is.

I think what's most important is that we just be real with people. We don't have to have all the answers. We just have to share what we know.

It's actually the patients and their families that are inviting me in. I know that I'm seeking God in every space that I go.

I'm not scared to invite people.

But I'm also not attached to them coming.

There was a man - he had a mattress, and he was trying to move this mattress. It was a bit of a spectacle, he was rolling around, because he was a bit drunk. And it was just so sad, and my heart was breaking for him. So I went up to him, and I said - hey, let me help you move this mattress. And he said, 'I just want you to know who helped me move this mattress.' And, I said, 'I did - I'm Angie.' And he goes, 'No, you didn't help me move the mattress.' 'Ok - so who did?'

And he said, 'Jesus helped me move this mattress.' He spoke to my soul. He really invited me to be part of this community on the street.

Quite often when someone has said, 'I don't have a lot of friends,' I think - I have the place for you.

So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him both of us have access in one spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.

Ephesians 2:17-20 nrsv

So we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.

 Romans 12:5 nrsv

Have you ever talked to other people about your faith? Really talked to them, on more than a superficial level?

Our church can seem like a ragtag group of different people - is there something here worth sharing?

Is invitation only successful if the person you invite says 'yes?'Is invitation mostly about asking other people questions?

Spirit of Invitation, Invited, the Spirit of Invitation Logo, and the Diocesan Logo copyrighted by The Incorporated Synod

of the Diocese of Toronto, 2014. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations from the New Revised Standard Version Bible,

copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United

States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

For more information, visit www.spiritofinvitation.com or send us an email at info@spiritofinvitation.com

Spirit of Invitation gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Diocese of Toronto through

the Our Faith Our Hope program.

Invited is a series of short films that seek to explore what it means to engage in genuine, Christian invitation. We begin with the conviction that invitation is at the very heart of the Gospel – that Jesus invites each one of us to come and follow him, and being an invitational people is at the very core of our identity as Christians. From there, we offer thoughts, images and dreams – and we hope that you’ll join the conversation.  

Us explores our own stories and experiences of invitation. We meet a range of average, everyday Anglicans, and ask for their unscripted thoughts on invitation. Are we stuck in another era, or are we doing some things well? Are we the ones offering the invitation, or are we the ones actually being invited in? If we engage in the conversation, we might find God at work in unexpected places.