WHEN WE RECENTLY INVITED A LONGTIME VISITOR OF OUR CHURCH TO JOIN, she simply replied, "Yes, I was just waiting for an invitation!" We knew should have asked long ago.
Our congregation had been praying for some time about the growth of our church—First Church of Christ, Scientist, in São Paulo, Brazil. We had actually sent out personalized letters to all of our longtime visitors, including the upper-aged Sunday School students. We're glad we did. The overall result? We welcomed in a total of 12 new members within a two-month period. In our whole history as a church we probably hadn't approved 12 new members in any given year.
This experience has taught us to better appreciate every individual in our church—that each occupies a unique niche. For example, while some visitors have recently decided to become members, others feel they are not quite ready to join. Yet they are more than eager to contribute in some way to the church they love. Perhaps some Christian Scientists would argue that only members should participate in a church, but we don't find this stipulation anywhere in the Church Manual. So we include our regular non-members in basic activities, such as ushering, working in the Reading Room, or helping out at lecture events.
