1. From coffee morning to Sunday morning

2. From coffee morning to Sunday morning
Preparing the church for Back to Church Sunday
 A five-session course to help move our relationships forward
from a social encounter to a spiritual engagement

3. How to use this slideshow
This slideshow accompanies the course handbook and should be used in conjunction with it
The first few slides “How this course works” are to help present the course to your Church Council, Circuit Meeting and/or Local Preachers’ Meeting, and to any others interested in the possibility
For a more detailed presentation, you can use extracts from Session 1 and add any slides of your own

4. How to use this slideshow
Then each section of the slideshow covers one of the five Sessions of the course
You are welcome to adapt this slideshow freely to match your own local circumstances
For example, you could use some of the “How this course works” slides to start Session 1 if the attenders have not seen much about the course before
The slideshow closes with “Seven marks of healthy churches” which can be used in conjunction with Session 2

5. How this course works
It is one of the resources offered by the Methodist Church for Back to Church Sunday and should be used in conjunction with others that you choose
There is no charge for any of the course materials
It is aimed at helping members and attenders to develop their relationships with people they know who used to go to church but no longer do so
Not just so they accept an invitation to Back to Church Sunday, but so that, over time, relationships can evolve from a social encounter to a spiritual engagement

6. Does this seem familiar?

7. And this?

8. The aim is to bridge the gap!

9. How this course works In one or more small groups
Five Sessions of about 1½ hours
All members and regular attenders are encouraged to come to the course
The Sunday service before each Session could follow the theme and Bible focus of the Session
All attenders have Session handouts which they use for the Session and then keep
The slideshows can be used during the Sessions alongside the handouts

10. How this course works
A number of action points are also identified during the course which would be brought back to the Church Council for discussion
The course goes beyond Back to Church Sunday in that it helps people to develop relationships of trust with friends so that they come to feel welcomed and part of the church community – with no hidden agendas!

11. How this course works
Session 1: Setting out, goes through what the course is for and how it works, and gives the chance for course attenders to talk together and ask more about the course and about Back to Church Sunday, so that everyone is brought up to speed.
Session 2: Preparing the church gets the course into gear in earnest and deals with how the church can prepare and put things into place for your Back to Church Sunday initiative.
Session 3: First steps then works through how individual church members and ‘regulars’ can take some first steps in developing their relationships with people they know.
Session 4: Next steps takes this further.
Session 5: Stepping out gives the opportunity to draw it all together and plan what to do next, and introduces other resources that are available to support the initiative.