Turn Up Your Hospitality

Here are some practical suggestions for a Sabbath School to enhance its “fellowship quotient.”

The Sabbath School Council could:

1. Develop a hospitality plan that includes warm, effective greeters.
2. Provide cards in the pews for members to write such notes as “I appreciate you” or “I missed you!” Collect and mail to members.
3. Plan a weekend retreat, a picnic, or a Thirteenth Sabbath potluck featuring foods of the division receiving special emphasis during the quarter.
4. Plan small classes for those who wish to increase their fellowship.
5. Organize sponsors for new members to help them enter the established fellowship circles of the church.

The superintendent could:

1. Mention achievements, hospitalizations, anniversaries, new jobs, and other life happenings from the front.
2. 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