Weekly News From Around the
Columbia Union Conference

July 2, 2014

July Feature: Is Your Church Ready for a Mystery Guest?

The Pennsylvania and Chesapeake conferences have deployed secret visitors to attend their churches and rate their experiences. The programs are meant to raise awareness about the church experience from a visitor’s viewpoint. See how our churches did here and read “5 Tips for Creating a Visitor-Friendly Church” here.—Story by Elizabeth Anderson

How Can We Extend Compassion to the LGBT Community Without Abandoning Conviction?

According to recent data, more than 9 million people—roughly the same number of residents in the state of New Jersey—identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transsexual, referred to as the LGBT community (the Williams Institute, 2011).  How can church members extend compassion to this group while staying true to their convictions?—Story by Latasha Betts Hewitt

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Social Media Challenge

Be in the first 25 to tweet a church photo to @visitornews and get a $10 gift certificate from TEACH Services Inc.