Lutherans Invite!

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Sharing with Friends!

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Reaching people with the gospel of Jesus Christ has never been easy.  In every age, the Christian church has faced challenges spreading the good news in our communities.  Not the least of our difficulties has been the means through which the message of Christ has been shared.  What is the most effective way to introduce Christ and His congregational ministries to those nearby?  How do we best tell people about who we are, what we believe, and the way that they may participate with us in God's ministry in the world?

Experts tell us that the best means of spreading the Word to our communities is through hospitality, friends inviting friends into discussion and fellowship.  "Go forth into all the world!" the gospel encourages us.  But how? How do we become Lutherans who invite, people of the Word who reach out and bring in those who are missing the good news of Jesus Christ?

Lutherans Invite! is a ministry begun by the Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and is designed to support friend-to-friend hospitality and outreach to those who seek to fulfill the Great Commission given to the church by Christ himself.  Lutherans Invite! is a ministry created to provide materials, ideas and encouragement to congregations as they strive to share the good news to those most familiar to them, friends, colleagues and family members.

We hope you will join other Lutherans worldwide in making your congregation a place of exciting adventure, a center for outreach and invitation.

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We are here! 

God is here!

We hope you will join us!

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Overview of Lutherans Invite

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In the Southeast, people know a lot about hospitality.  It is the neighborly sense of celebrating, inviting, welcoming and serving others, complete with all the smiles and heartfelt greetings we can muster.

The writer of Hebrews put it well when writing:

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.

Hospitality is not a difficult thing and is the very cornerstone of human community.  Every time we gather for a cookout, dinner at a friend's house, or simply hang out with someone we enjoy, we are expressing hospitality.

Through Lutherans Invite! you will be encouraged to adopt hospitality as the centerpiece of your overall mission purpose.

Lutherans Invite! is an outreach ministry designed to introduce Lutheran-style hospitality evangelism to our communities.  Our hope is to enable congregations to shine the light of the gospel into the world through volunteerism, community service, and, above all, witness.

Secondarily, Lutherans Invite! will provide congregations with state-of-the-art tools to be used to encourage discussions about God's love and work in the world.

Lutherans Invite! is comprised of three parts.  Each part is designed to assist congregations with one aspect of hospitality outreach.

1) Study materials on hospitality evangelism that can be used in training lay people for outreach ministries.

2) A Lutherans Invite! congregational DVD for distribution to friends and the neighborhoods of church members.

3) Regional Evangelism Strategy Teams deployed to assist congregations in finding and making use of the materials necessary to rally a congregation to excitement about being witnesses to those they already know.

Lutherans Invite! is stewarded by the Evangelism Strategy Team of the Southeastern Synod, a team comprised of specialists in congregational evangelism.  The team sees its primary mission as being the development of leadership in evangelism at every level of the church's life.

Additionally, the Team is committed to compiling a resource bank of materials that can be used to support outreach in our communities. With teams of deployed specialists in Memphis, Savannah, Knoxville, and Atlanta, the Southeastern Synod Evangelism Team is organized, capable and eager to carry the message of Lutherans Invite! to every place served by our synod.

Through partnership with the ELCA Division of Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Mission, our synod will continue to be a leader is the proclamation of the good news of Jesus Christ!