Several Sydney Anglican churches are preparing to ask their neighbourhoods if they're ready for a relationship " the ultimate relationship, that is.
Concord Community Anglican Church has peppered the local neighbourhood with signs which at first glance look like real estate ‘for sale’ signs.
A closer look reveals the details of Concord’s one-week Start the Ultimate Relationship mission.
Rector, the Rev Chris Chardon says the signs " eight of which have been hammered into church members' front lawns " are already raising neighbours' eyebrows.
"They look like the house is for sale " I must have had three people pull up in front of the house," Mr Chardon laughs.
However there is more behind the marketing strategy than merely the interest factor.
"We thought rather than simply having one location " the church buildings " we'd spread the message around through getting parishioners to volunteer to get the sign put up."
The signs combine with banners at the church site, a Start the Ultimate Relationship magazine and DL-size brochures as part of a comprehensive marketing strategy.
"We've got a guy in our congregation who runs an advertising company and his contribution to our open week has been fantastic, because we give him the information and the stuff he comes out with is brilliant," he says.
"There's a lot of lay involvement and a lot of lay people who are very talented."
Concord has used their annual "open week' " which had already been planned for August " with Start the Ultimate Relationship as a tagline.
The week includes a Fair Trade Fair, a women's Jane Austen night, a mid-week lunch and a live band performance.
“We thought that it was strategic " pre-Olympic games, post-Pope " and it was probably a good time to get in,” he says.
"We do open week every year " we're constantly doing evangelistic stuff " but this is an intentional one week of trying to connect with the community," he says.
Church members are playing a wide range of roles in the mission week at Concord, from praying right through to running events.
Mission temperature rising
As churches around Sydney participate in Start the Ultimate Relationship with different levels of intensity, the Rev Craig Foster will run a prayer meeting each morning next week, at which members of Naremburn/Cammeray parish will pray for all churches participating in the mission.
Meanwhile Annandale Community Church, also known as Christians in the Media, is embarking on a mission week that includes a jazz night on Friday and a carnevale on Saturday.
Rector and creator of the Start the Ultimate Relationship concept, the Rev Dominic Steele says he has been encouraged by the talks he gave last Sunday on Creating the Ultimate Business Network and Meeting the Ultimate Mentor.
"I was pleased with the number of people who were guests in church last Sunday and I'm expecting it to step up another notch this weekend," he says.
In recent weeks, Mr Steele says Annandale has put together "the definitive doorknocking map" for this week's mission, a resource which also will be drawn on for Connect09.
"We've done lots and lots of doorknocking in the past but it's always been a little bit ad hoc, whereas the "now' list is much more sophisticated approach speaking to people in our suburb," he says.
Annandale will follow up Start the Ultimate Relationship with 10 Introducing God courses, which will be run out of members' lounge rooms as work begins on the church building.
On the eve of Start the Ultimate Relationship, Mr Steele reflects on how this particular theme became the focus of a week-long mission.
"A uni student said to me a few years ago, "Dominic, my friends don't care if [the gospel] is true or not, they want to know what difference it'll make to their life'," he says.
"We're playing with that idea of showing how the gospel improves what we really want to improve in life, which is the way we relate to people."
Mr Steele is convinced that now more than ever is the right time to embark on an intensive week of mission.
"Right now, there's a greater warmth to talking about God than I can remember in 20 years of thinking about this, so we're aiming to capitalise on the increased warmth to discussion about God in the local community that there is, and I'm just excited about the potential," he says.
