This isn't an new thing. Rally Sunday has been a round for ever. Any comments?

Sure. The UCCan Back to Church page links to the American www.backtochurch.com organization for their YouTube videos and Facebook page resources.

Interestingly, if you go to their Statement of Faith page, you'll find the following gem:

See, this is a problem whenever you guys try to join forces with any other denomination, because you can't swing a cat in Christian interfaith groups without hitting a few sexual perverts who can't stop worrying about the possibility that two people with penises are happy together.

Also, witches are evil and will eat your children.

Am I given to believe that the United Church of Canada has become a part of this initiative. Not my cup of tea in the Statement of Faith.

I have been hearing about this Back to Church Sunday for many years.  Despite my (mostly) friendly realationships with local churches and Christians I have never been invited to join them.  Apparently the local Anglicans, Lutherans and several churches that were started by individuals and small groups have run one of these events.

Would I go if invted?  Probably not.

This all seems part of the same movement. The UCCan seems to have signed on to the part of the movement out of the UK, but they are linking to the American content as well, and it goes by the same name.

I love how homosexuality, drunkenness, and witchcraft are in the same list as stealing and murder. Seems legit.

Welcome to Christianity in the 21st century, crazyheart. These are your fellow Christians. How I'm glad these people are on your team and not mine.

hmmmm ... we have teams? .... when do I get my team jersey???

Is it cute ???    better be 

Hugs

Rita

It's not an initiative I've ever promoted, partly for the reasons chansen has mentioned. But "Rally Days" of course are not "Back to Church" Sundays - at least not is the sense of being affiliated with the organization. Ours is always the Sunday after Labour Day.

Linking to the American material is probably a mistake.

I haven't looked at it in detail, but the link to the material from the Methodist Church in England looks much more appealing, at least on first glance.

I'm pretty surprised the UCCan doesn't have/can't put together their own information on this. I've flagged it to the PTBs.

It's very funny in a way. How these Christians need to explicitedly judge and call out gay people, in a statement of accepting. 

It's wildly hypocritical, especially as it starts out so positive:

"offering God's love and redemption to each person without prejudice or condemnation "

...proceeding then to prejudge and condemn.

( * )

There is no connection between the UCCan Gathering Sunday and the UCC (United Church of Christ) event.

THAT'S why we use UCCAN in our stuff (tags, abbreviations): differentiaion!!!

Thanks Folks -- especially Chansen for discovering this. We've let those responsible for this page on the United Church site know about the problematic links.

Martha, I don't think the U.S. Back to Church program is a United Church of Christ initiative, they have pretty much the same theology around inclusiveness as The United Church of Canada. None of the "Church Leader" endorsements are UCC.

Thanks again.

Aaron for WonderCafe

I don't honestly know much about "Back to Church Sunday." But the more I look into it, it doesn't really seem that there's an over-arching umbrella for it. There's no organization, in other words. Someone seems to have picked a day (the 3rd Sunday in September) and designated it "Back to Church Sunday" and everyone has run with it in their own way. My sense is that it probably started in the UK, and then it spread to the US, where it seems to be most visibly connected with the more conservative/fundamentalist denominations. In the UK it seems most closely associated with the Church of England and Methodist Churches. 

I think Aaron is right. The United Church of Christ wouldn't be associated with that particular statement of faith. In fact, a quick glance at their website and I don't even see them promoting Back to Church Sunday at all. Ditto for the United Methodists, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Episcopal Church. It seems pretty restricted to the non-mainline churches. Also checked the Anglican Church of Canada, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Presbyterian Church of Canada websites. Same results. Nothing obvious on any of those denomination's websites, and using their search functions to look for "Back to Church" finds no links to Back to Church materials anywhere. Interesting that it's only the United Church of Canada among the significant mainline denominations in North America who seem to promote this to any degree.

I'm thinking someone didn't look into this very deeply.

chansen,

the UCC should start paying you for your catches :3  who knew that stand up could be so productive?

Here's a cool one; did ya hear aboot the pink mass that was held over the grave of Fred Phelp Jr.'s wife to turn her gay?  Talk aboot activism :3

Yes, Rev. Steven Davis that's right. It started in the UK. The founder visited us a while ago and I think that's how we got involved. The links to the U.S. Back to Church site were done later, simply as a source for Back to Church images and videos -- obviously not because the United Church supported their mission statement. We never "partnered" with this specific expression of the Back to Church program, of which there are many in several different countries. These links to the U.S. Back to Church site are being removed from the United Church website.

RitaTG, if there are teams, can I be a tight end? I have never had a tight end in my life. I have been a played flabby end all my days. I am surprised you did not opt for cheerleader gear complete with pompoms.

No problem, Aaron.

I'm just following links. I love reading Statements of Faith, because they are almost universally hilarious. It's the "This is How Crazy We Are" page. Especially the ones written by a bunch of apparent homophobes who probably fantasize about other men, who tell you how accepting they are just before identifying the folks who are going to hell.

But seriously, if you want to cut through the bullshit on any religious site, skip right to the "Statement of Faith", or "What We Believe", or whatever they decide to call it. It's usually there, and it's often eyebrow-raising.

We have something like this at our church, but it's not really an "invite a friend" Sunday - it's more of a "welcome back from the summer/ welcome new folks who have joined us over the summer" day. We call it KOFFEE Sunday - Kick Off For Fall Energizing Event. Basically the youth group does a fundraising BBQ and lots of church groups set up booths inviting others to join them. 

ROFL!!! 

At my church we invite people to join us every week. We do not require a special Sunday to do so. I encourage all Christians to follow our lead.

Wow Jae! .... what a novel approach!     (levity intended.....)

On a more serious note .... seems to me that is the custom in most churches?

Somehow I don't imagine that your church leads in this regard.

Now ... did you happen to read the thread about St. Peter's church?

Would your church have the courage to extend that sort of welcome?

Just wondering.....

Regards

Rita 

"I love reading Statements of Faith, because they are almost universally hilarious. It's the "This is How Crazy We Are" page." ~LOL 

Chansen, you're the best: Great way to start a Friday in #hotTO :D

Have a super weekend, everyone!

In his own way, of course, Dcn. Jae has a point. 

Setting aside the theological considerations we've been discussing, the problem that I have with "Back to Church" Sunday is that it seems vaguely intended to be guilt-inducing in non-church goers. Overtly, it's about encouraging Christians to be invitational - which is great and proper. But there's an implicit (to me, anyway) statement being made to those being invited: "You should be in church! Why aren't you here. Get back!" No threat of hell and damnation, but a suggestion (something I get from it in my gut anyway) that there's something wrong with you if you're not in church.

The name at least doesn't sound that invitational to me. It sounds more like a command.

The church should simply live " invitationally" (if that's even a word), rather than simply telling people on a particular Sunday to "get back here."

There is that viewpoint about implicit guilt Rev Steven ..... and I do not endorse such an atmosphere at all.

Then there is the approach that September is sort of like a reset from summer vacation living back to the more routine life.    The children are back in school.   For the most part summer vacations are all done.    Getting back to a routine.

In that regard a welcome back reset can be a very good thing.

Good points about the guilt thing though......

Regards

Rita

I think the "welcome back" attitude in September is great - because it's explicitly directed to those who are regular parts of the church but who've been away in the summer. Which is especially the case for families with children.

It's the whole idea of saying "Back to Church" to those who aren't church-goers that grates on me for some reason. As I said "Back to Church Sunday" sounds like a command to me.

I see your point Rev Steven ..... and I agree

Regards

Rita

Thank you Rev. Steven for your support and love and respect that you have been able to find for me.

It gives me joy to hear that other people are going to be able to get some of the world to come to church.

As for your questions about the teachings of the other thread they are not on topic here. I think you should know that I am not going to be able to answer your questions and I don't want to make money from your computer.

We have a celebration the week afer labour day at our church, but we've struggled with "naming" this celebration.  Traditionally it was called "Rally Day", but given that no one new why or what that meant anymore we decided it had to go.  

We tried calling it "Homecoming Sunday" for a couple of years.  Besides making it sound like a football game, we gave up on that name too because it assumed that people coming on that Sunday would feel as though church was there home.  

We've settled this year on "Open Doors" Sunday.  Worship will still be geared at welcoming back families we haven't seen in a while, but the whole weekend will in fact be devoted to reaching beyond our doors and giving back to the community with a dinner, a jazz concert, and a sponsored swim at the local pool.  

I agree that it should be our mandate to be "open" every Sunday, but it is nice to offer a special celebratory time as well when we can go the extra mile.  In our case, this weekend is not about getting people to come to our church, but rather getting our church to go out to people.    

A lot of clubs have open houses, or trial memberships, or other enticements to get people in the door. Anyone can join at any time, but most clubs I know of have membership drives at certain set times of the year, when they expect more interest. I know you don't like to think of yourselves as a club, but you essentially are a fan club, complete with a clubhouse and extra tax breaks, so do what every other club does and borrow some ideas from them.

The timing of this seems perfect, just as school is starting and there is less to do on a Sunday. Just like a curling club ramps up in the early fall, you should be as well. You just need to promote it better, and don't worry about people who say you should always be welcoming. Other clubs are always welcoming as well. The fact remains that there is a time to be extra welcoming and direct your efforts toward marketing and recruitment.

The UU term for the first Sunday back after Labour Day is "Ingathering" because it's when gather back in from our travels. Our traditional ritual for that service is to bring water from (or symbolizing) the places we've been over summer holidays and mingle those waters in a common bowl. As each person pours in their water, they are invited to tell about the significance. At the end, the bowl of water is poured into our garden.

Mendalla

Mendalla, The tone of "let's gather back" is different than the tone of something like "get your butt back to church". Back to Church, considering why many may have left, is a bit bossy pants (at least to these ears)

I like that Mendalla - the title and the bringing of 'gifts' along with story telling/naming of importance. Thanks for sharing that.