Back to Church ads are 'personal invitation' to non-churchgoers - bishop

|PIC1|As churches get ready for Back to Church Sunday on 30 September, the Bishop of Lichfield, the Rt Rev Jonathan Gledhill, has shared his hope for non-churchgoers to regard the many Back to Church posters and adverts across his diocese as a personal invitation to come back to church.

Bishop Gledhill has led a passionate evangelism drive which kicked off with the launch of a massive road-side and radio advertising campaign to encourage lapsed Christians to come back to church.

"The advertising campaign is the icing on the cake, but the real success of Back to Church Sunday will be personal invitations because the Christian faith is all about personal relationships. But if people don't receive a personal invitation they should treat the adverts as their personal invitation to come back to church," said Bishop Gledhill as he unveiled a road-side advert in Cannock, Staffordshire, earlier in the week.

"I hope that people will respond to the adverts and come along to discover that church is a good place to be; and I hope the churches become more aware of the need to provide a good welcome."

The roadside posters feature six colourful balloons and the words: "Three million adults say they would come back to church if asked. We're asking! See you Sunday. Bring a friend."

Back to Church Sunday began as an initiative in the Diocese of Manchester with 160 churches in 2004. This year more than 1,700 churches across 19 dioceses are involved - with the largest contingent coming from the Diocese of Lichfield where more then 360 churches are taking part.

The Diocese of Lichfield launched its 'Going for Growth' strategy three years ago to ensure everyone in the diocese - parishes, deaneries, support staff administrators and bishops - focuses their attention on mission and evangelism.

The diocese is now reporting that the strategy is bearing fruit with increasing attendances across the diocesan area.

The Diocese of Lichfield serves around 1,981,000 people across 1,744 square-miles of Staffordshire, the northern half of Shropshire and most of the Black Country. It also includes three parishes across the Welsh border.

Around 40,000 people attend Church of England services in the Diocese of Lichfield each week. Results elsewhere from previous Back to Church Sundays suggest that around 3,600 people could go 'Back to Church' in the Lichfield Diocese on 30 September.