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Spirit of Invitation is an idea.

A hope.

A conversation.

 

Spirit of Invitation seeks to reclaim the big-ness of invitation.

It begins with the realization that the concept of invitation is a massive, boundless one. It’s beautiful, simple, and common. But for some reason, many of us in church circles like to shrink the idea of invitation down, to make it into programs and courses and lists of ways to get more people to show up on Sunday morning. We try to make invitation an institutional tool, a six-week course, a sales pitch. We try to control it, predict it, engineer it, and then we wonder why it doesn’t flourish.

Spirit of Invitation seeks to reclaim the big-ness of invitation. It’s not a course. It’s not a program. It’s not the newest way to reverse decline, attract new people, make better toast or lose ten pounds.

 

 

We begin with the conviction that invitation is at the very heart of the Gospel – that Jesus invites each one of us to come and follow him. It’s the conviction that being an invitational people is at the very core of our identity as Christians. Recognizing that invitation comes in a million shapes and sizes – just like Christians  – and that it can be found in simple moments just as much as in grand gestures.

It’s moving from milk crates and megaphones to coffee and conversation among friends.

It’s moving from milk crates and megaphones to coffee and conversation among friends.

Moving from solicitation to joyful, natural sharing.

From the aggressive sales pitch, to the gentleness of a life lived for Christ.

From 10:30 on Sunday morning, to every moment of every day.

Because from the moment you encounter Jesus Christ, nothing is ever the same again. And as He begins to change your life, other people tend to notice.

 

 

And as Jesus begins to change your life, other people tend to notice.

We are a group of people whose lives have been changed by Jesus Christ, coming together in the realization that we can – and we already do – share our faith in ways that don’t feel forced, contrived or aggressive.

Spirit of Invitation is an initiative of the Diocese of Toronto. We’re a kind of creative working group, built on the idea that mission and discipleship are inseparable from one another, and seeking to explore our Christian faith through a variety of media.
Spirit of Invitation has developed Invited, which is a series of short films and a written resource, both aimed at exploring the shape of genuine Christian invitation. And, who knows? We might just have more projects in mind.