Leadership Team

Your Invite a Friend Sunday will be most successful if a leadership team is selected to coordinate the planning. The following is a list of persons who might coordinate specific activities. Together, they comprise your leadership team. For further resources for each leader, click on the heading.

1. Invite a Friend Coordinator The coordinator will provide leadership for the planning and implementation of all activities related to the Invite a Friend Sunday. A person with the gifts of leadership and administration and also a heart for outreach will serve most effectively.

2. Worship Coordinator If you already have a worship leader or worship team, these persons are the logical ones to work with the clergy in planning the worship service(s). Be sure to include the person responsible for drama in the church, the head usher and greeter, altar guild, and the hospitality coordinator.

3. Publicity/Calling Coordinator This person will coordinate efforts to engage persons in the congregation in inviting others to join them for worship on Invite a Friend Sunday.  This includes enlisting the help of a group of people who will place phone calls to every person in the congregation. The goal is to engage the broad support of the congregation. Ownership for the event by many adds to its success. In congregations that have deacons or caregivers (or persons engaged in visitation ministries), these are the logical persons to make the phone contacts, using their care-giving lists. Be sure to include any who have been recent guests and are not yet included on the list.

4. Fellowship Coodinator This coordinator will oversee the preparations for a fellowship meal or reception to follow the worship service(s). Your fellowship or hospitality ministry committee chair may be a logical choice for this role.

5. Friendship Outreach Coordinator This coordinator will be responsible for recruiting volunteers to prepare the baked items to be presented to the invited guests and for distributing the items to the congregation. A representative from the evangelism team might be best suited for this role.

6. Follow-Up Coordinator This coordinator will lead the follow-up activity specifically designed for those who attended the Invite a Friend Sunday events. If you already have an outreach ministry committee, the chair of this group may be a logical choice.

7. Christian Education Director This coordinator will work with clergy in selecting Scripture and lessons for the children's, youth, and adult classes to study in preparation for the event. Depending on your congregation, this could be a two-week or longer study. Children will also be involved in their classes using suggestions provided by the coordinator and/or clergy.

8. The Parish Secretary will perform an integral service in duplication of letters, invitations, and other items needed for publicity. If your congregation does not have a secretary, ask for a volunteer to assist the team.

9. The Prayer Team/Coordinator will be responsible for a timeline of Congregational prayer for the event so that, from the beginning, the event is immersed in prayer.

10. Clergy The clergy will play a crucial role in planning the worship service for the Invite a Friend Sunday and serving in an "up-front" role that day. The clergy will also serve as supporters for the Invite a Friend coordinator and other members of the leadership team.

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.
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