by Susan Fazio, Senior Warden
In the words of author Mary Parmer, “Invite Welcome Connect is a ministry of transformation that equips and empowers congregations and individuals to cultivate intentional practices of evangelism, hospitality and connectedness rooted in the gospel directive to ‘Go and make disciples of all nations.’ (Matthew 28:19)”. She further explains that Invite Welcome Connect (IWC) is not a program, but rather “a ministry, a response to God’s call to love others and boldly share the good news of the risen Christ.”
The Vestry at St. Stephen’s decided to implement this ministry back in 2019 before the pandemic. The current Vestry would like the parish to refresh and continue this work at St. Stephen’s, but we need your input and help. The IWC ministry work will begin with volunteers choosing which part(s) of the IWC ministry they would like to help with:
Invite (evangelism; inviting people into a relationship with you, others, and God, through Jesus at St. Stephen”s)
Welcome (ministry of hospitality; developing a system to welcome others to St. Stephen’s and focusing on hospitality)
Connect (empowering laity for ministry; helping people discern their gifts and empowering and equipping them for ministry)
You can choose more than one if you feel so called!! Pastor Teresa will oversee the ministry. The IWC group will start off meeting together and then later schedule meetings by IWC part of ministry (i.e. invite, welcome, and/or connect) to get into the specifics of each. We have a leader for each part of the IWC ministry as follows:
Invite – Emily Benner
Welcome – Stephen Robin
Connect – Susan Fazio
Let Susan Fazio or Pastor Teresa know in which area of IWC you feel called to serve. I look forward to working together to determine new and exciting ways we can do things more effectively to invite, welcome and connect with people at St. Stephen’s!
Learn more about Invite Welcome Connect.