I previously wrote of six tips for inviting someone to Mass. Your invitation needn’t be complicated, so I kept the tips simple, as when I suggested saying: “Would you like to come to church with me?”
Your invitation can be a first step similar to John the Baptist pointing others toward Jesus.
And yet, sometimes your friend might have questions or be hesitant. They might wonder if they’ll get anything out of Mass, or ask how, in light of a personal struggle, it might benefit them. Especially if they’ve had a bad experience with going to church, attending Mass, or in their relationship with God, they can benefit from hearing you affirm the reason you go to church on Sundays.
To that end, I invite you to be prepared with a heartfelt reason for being there yourself. Your reply needn’t be long; indeed, it’s best to keep it rather brief, perhaps 30 seconds. There’s real wisdom in the adage that you can say more when you say less.
In the business world, they might speak of an “elevator pitch,” that is, you’ll only have the time of an elevator ride to tell someone about your product. You need to be concise when saying how your product can help solve a problem. It’s worth thinking that through before entering the elevator. Such preparation is important.
I suggest the outline typical of a revival sermon followed by the famous preacher Billy Graham at his crusades. Of course, he spoke for 30 to 40 minutes, and I’m suggesting only 30 seconds. However, his outline can work for you, too: attention, purpose, problem, solution, decision.
A Billy Graham revival sermon would run as follows:
- Attention. He wants his listeners to feel: “He’s one of us.”
- Purpose. He summarizes the Gospel: “You can have peace with Him through Jesus Christ.”
- Problem. Sin separates people from God.
- Solution. Jesus’ Death and Resurrection reconciles us to God.
- Decision. He invites his listeners to put their faith in Jesus.
Again, Graham developed this message over 30 to 40 minutes and with Scriptural references throughout. In your 30-second elevator pitch, you can affirm your invitation with your friend. If someone is hesitant because they have been away from church for many years with a not-so-good lifestyle, here’s what I would say:
“I have made wrong-headed choices in life, too, and everyone at that church can say the same thing. We’re there because we do not want to be separated from God. Every Sunday, the Risen Jesus meets me there, reminding me I’m not alone, and is the reason we lift up our hearts in gratitude at every Catholic Mass. It’s why I invite you to come with me so you know what that’s like.”
That’s my elevator pitch. It touches on the same points as does a Billy Graham revival sermon, but in only 30 seconds. And I can change out the first sentence to reflect whatever my friend might say, for example: “I too have experienced sadness and grief …”
Now it’s your turn.
With paper and pen in hand, write your elevator pitch for when inviting someone to come to Mass with you. What’s important is finding, not the perfect words, but your heartfelt words. I offer you a few questions to help put words to what’s already in your heart:
- What might lead me to feel separated from God?
- What do I hope for when Mass begins?
- What difference does Word and Eucharist make in my life?
- What might I miss if I stop attending Mass?
However you phrase your elevator pitch for a friend to join you at church on Sundays, I suggest you ask someone to review and comment on it. You might ask a priest, someone at your parish, or others at your prayer group or Bible study. Ask them to consider your words for a few days and then talk about it over coffee. I’m one who offers comments better when I think over an idea for a while.
You might also consider a similarly worded elevator pitch for other settings, such as, when inviting someone to join a Bible study group, to attend a Cursillo weekend, or to be baptized.
I invite you to write your elevator pitch and, thus, be prepared when telling others why you attend Mass on Sundays. And when you do so, I ask you to see yourself alongside John the Baptist pointing others toward Jesus, saying, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).
