It’s about relationships

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Tammy and I recently traveled to Staten Island, New York to share in an anniversary celebration at Hands for Christ Community Church—one of our most interesting and unusual congregations. One year ago, Pastor Mary Bacheller had a dream come true when Hands for Christ held their inaugural worship service. Weekly attendance has grown to around 40. About 120 attended the first anniversary worship service—they had invited members from other New York City area churches.

Hands for Christ Community Church is an apt name, because the congregation serves the deaf and hearing-impaired community. They conduct their worship services entirely in American Sign Language (ASL). All their hymns and music are signed—watching their choir signing in ASL was quite an experience (see the picture at left). In a reversal of what is usual, those of us who can hear were the ones who needed an interpreter.

Tammy and I joined with Pastor Mary in baptizing three members at Mary’s home and then blessing them in the anniversary service (see the picture at right). We also helped commission three new ministry leaders. The whole anniversary celebration was inspiring. I thank Pastor Mary and the other Hands for Christ leaders for their faith, determination and hard work in shepherding this pioneering church plant to this point in its journey with Christ.

On the subject of anniversaries, this month marks the 18th year of my serving as President of our church fellowship. I can honestly say that “time flies when you’re having fun” (despite some anxious moments). There is no greater joy than seeing people grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior.

GCI is active in about 100 countries and territories, with about 55,000 members gathered in about 900 congregations. I say “about” because it is difficult to get precise numbers since we have added several thousand new members in Asia and Africa in the last few years. Because we are a small denomination, it is my blessing to be able to know the majority of our ordained ministry, not only in name but also in person. This is true for many of our members as well, although I must confess that since crossing the 60-year age threshold, I cannot always recall names as I used to. However, my recall of God’s commission to our church fellowship has not been forgotten in any way. Collectively, our memory is strong in the calling God has given to all of us to be in his ministry of all believers.

Traveling to annual conferences around the world, I am reminded that we are alive in Christ. It is a recurring and delightful thought that Christ lives in us all through the multiple relationships we have with one another. We are bound together in an intricate network of relationships that fascinates me whenever I think about it.

Other Christian leaders often tell me how impressed they are with the relational nature of our fellowship. We probably underestimate how unusual and important this is. According to a recent article in Christianity Today, 19.8 percent of North American non-Christians do not know any Christians (see the graph below) and 60 percent have no relationships with any. According to LifeWay president Thom Rainer, in his book, The Unchurched Next Door, though most people come to church because of a personal invitation, seven out of ten unchurched people have never been invited to attend church, despite the fact that 82 percent of unchurched people are at least somewhat likely to attend when invited.

LifeWay Research surveyed over 15,000 adults and found that about two-thirds are willing to receive information about a local church from a family member, and over half are willing if the information comes from a friend or neighbor. The survey also showed that 4 percent of formerly churched adults are actively looking for a church to attend regularly (other than their previous church) and 6 percent would prefer to resume attending regularly in the same church they had attended. The survey also indicated that over 60 percent are not actively looking for a church but are open to the idea of attending regularly again. It showed that many would respond to an invitation to attend church when given by a friend or acquaintance (41 percent), by their children (25 percent) or by an adult family member (25 percent). The issue of affinity surfaced here: 35 percent indicated that they would be inspired to attend “if I knew there were people like me there.” Unfortunately, the study also revealed that only 2 percent of church members have invited someone to church in the past year.

Statistics like these remind me of Jesus’ words in Matthew 9:37: “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” I can only echo the words of Lee Strobel, author of The Case for Christ, “Seven out of 10 unchurched people would visit a church if a friend invited them. What are we waiting for?”

Your brother in Christ’s service,

Joseph Tkach