Circle of Contacts: How it works

The average Christian has regular contact with at least six to eight persons who may not know Jesus Christ or who have not been to any church in the past three to six months, except for a wedding or a funeral. These persons become our circle of contacts for sharing the good news of faith and life in Jesus Christ. Here is what we are asking you to do with the Circle of Contacts worksheet:

1. Identify those persons with whom you have regular contact and whom you believe are not yet Christians or are unchurched. You may not know someone in each category or you may know more than one in some. List the names of your contacts in the appropriate blocks.

2. Pray daily for each person. Ask God to show you particular needs in the lives of each one. Ask God to give you opportunities to build a closer relationship with one or more of them.

3. Ask God to empower you with the Holy Spirit so you may be confident to speak about what your faith means to you. Ask God to reveal Jesus Christ to each person in a new and clear way.

4. Be sensitive to opportunities to say a good word about your faith or about your church to each one. Most importantly, extend an invitation for them to join you for Invite a Friend Sunday.

Include the Circle of Contacts worksheet in your bulletin four weeks before the event. If you choose to make your Invite a Friend Sunday on November 2, 2008, this would be October 5. Also include it in your All Saints Eve bulletins. Do whatever works best for your congregation! You may also want to mail the worksheet to your members. For the reproducible worksheet, click here.

You might want to share some or all of the following with the congregation during announcements:

• We have a wonderful opportunity to invite our friends, relatives, work associates, neighbors, and classmates to come to this church.
  
  
• Our Invite a Friend Sunday is a day to invite friends and family to attend church with us.
  
  
• Look at the Circle of Contacts in your bulletin.
  
  
• Notice the various categories of people with whom you have daily or weekly contact, as illustrated on the form.
  
  
• Take time now or later today to write in the appropriate boxes the names of persons you know who don’t attend church.
  
  
• Begin praying daily for the persons whose names you’ve listed—that they might come to faith in Jesus Christ and that they might be open to an invitation to attend church with you.
  
  
• Use this form as a reminder of persons you may want to invite for Invite a Friend Sunday.
  
  
• Join with me as we pray for the persons you have listed — or will list! — asking God to help you be the missing link between them and Jesus Christ.
  
  

Return to the Invite a Friend Sunday home page

S. Joan Hershey, A Guide to an Effective Invite a Friend Sunday: Sharing Hospitality with New People.
© 2004 by LifeQuest, 6404 S. Calhoun Street, Fort Wayne, IN 46807. Phone 1 800 774-3360.