Friendship Outreach

On the Sunday before Invite a Friend Sunday, include information in the bulletin regarding this outreach project. As a part of the announcements, invite people from the congregation to take the loaf of bread or cookies (with an invitation card attached) to the friend, relative, associate, or any persons they wish to invite to Invite a Friend Sunday.

Encourage people to deliver these items that day or the next and to include children in the process. This can be done as families, or by two friends, etc.

Preparing the Baked Items
You may want to ask for volunteers to meet at the church and bake cookies or bread, or to bake them at home. A Sunday School class could be responsible for baking them. The cookies should be packaged in quantities of one to two dozen.

If you decide to use loaves of bread, you might find a local bakery that will bake the loaves inexpensively for you. As an alternative (and to engage congregational participation), you may choose to ask members of fellowship groups, such as youth group, men’s group or women’s group, to bake the small loaves of bread or prepare cookies. Creatively utilize the resources in your church to accomplish this task.

Step-by-Step Preparations for Making the Bread
1. If the baking is done at the church, provide small disposable loaf pans that measure approximately 2 ½ inches x 4 ¾ inches — or the closest to that size available.

2. Prepare and bake the following recipe for whole wheat bread in those pans. (Note: If doubled, this recipe makes approximately 15 loaves. Adjust accordingly for the number of loaves you'll need for your congregation.)

Click here for the recipe below in PDF form.

3. Assemble the ingredients:

Whole Wheat Bread

3 cups warm water
2 packages yeast
1 teaspoon salt
2 to 3 cups white flour
¾ cups honey
¼ cup melted shortening
5 cups whole wheat flour

4. Dissolve yeast in warm water, then add other ingredients.

5. Add 2 to 3 cups of white flour to make a soft dough.

6. Knead 5 minutes. Let rise until double.

7. Punch down and form into loaves.Let rise again.

8. Bake at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes.

9. Let cool.

Packaging the Bread or Cookies
Each loaf of bread should be placed in a clear plastic bag and tied at the end with a ribbon which has an invitation card attached. Click here for a reproducible sample of an invitation card. Be sure to insert the appropriate information before copying.

Duplicate the invitations on card stock, if possible. Then cut the cards out and punch a hole in the top. (Thanks to Church of the Brethren, Lancaster, Pennsylvania for the basic design of this card.)

If cookies are being distributed, you'll need to design (or find someone to design) a different card.

Distributing the Baked Items
Ask members to come to the Parish Hall and take the number of loaves or cookies they need. The number of loaves or cookies needed can be determined by asking members of the congregation how many they’ll need, when telephone calls are made to them about their fellowship reception reservations.

Offer a word of prayer for the persons who will be delivering and for those who will receive the bread or cookies.

Introduce Friendship Outreach activity along these lines
Introduce the Friendship Outreach activity with words similar to the following:

Last week we listed and prayed for persons in our circle of contacts who are either not attending church on a regular basis or who may not yet know Jesus Christ. I invite you to begin reaching out to these persons in a very simple way. We invite children and youth to participate—no one is too young or too old to offer a loaf of bread or cookies.

An invitation card is attached to each loaf of bread or cookies stating the times of our services. I invite you to take an item and give it to someone you want to bring with you to our Invite a Friend Sunday on November 2. That’s all there is to it. Simply share the bread or cookies and the invitation card, adding your own personal word of greeting and invitation.

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