Turn Up Your Hospitality
Here are some practical suggestions for a Sabbath School to enhance its “fellowship quotient.”
The Sabbath School Council could:
- Develop a hospitality plan that includes warm, effective greeters.
- Provide cards in the pews for members to write such notes as “I appreciate you” or “I missed you!” Collect and mail to members.
- Plan a weekend retreat, a picnic, or a Thirteenth Sabbath potluck featuring foods of the division receiving special emphasis during the quarter.
- Plan small classes for those who wish to increase their fellowship.
- Organize sponsors for new members to help them enter the established fellowship circles of the church.
The superintendent could:
- Mention achievements, hospitalizations, anniversaries, new jobs, and other life happenings from the front.
- Occasionally have “mixing bowl” moments during which everyone, including those on the platform, wanders about greeting visitors and other members.
Even study audience classes can fit in a few minutes for fellowship before starting the lesson study.
Dorothy Eaton Watts
© 2006 General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists