Marion Kellow, St Mary's Haversham
"Go and give it a try.  What have you got to lose?"

 

When Marion was invited to church by her friend Anne she thought 'Why not?'

"I don’t think I have ever been to a church service where I have laughed so much.”

After attending Back to Church Sunday at St Mary's Haversham in Oxford Diocese, Marion went on one of their Alpha courses. Back to Church Sunday changed the way she thought of church.

“Churches to me were always cold, severe places in many ways, where you went and got preached at and told off on a Sunday - it wasn’t much fun. Now it’s different. There's a variety of speakers and approaches.  It’s very welcoming. I don’t remember church being like that in my youth.”

Marion encourages those who've also stopped going to church or have never been to church to 'give it a try and go with an open mind'.

“There are many different forms of church. If you don’t like the first one you go to, go to another one. If you go with a friend it’s likely that if your friend likes it you will too."

Marion continues to attend St Mary's and encourages other Christians to continue inviting friends to church.

“What is the worst that can happen - they say ‘no thank you.’ I don’t think there is any reason to be fearful of asking friends to go along. There must be a hundred and one things you invite friends to that for some reason or another they can't or don't attend. Don’t just put BTCS down as a one off event - if they’ve come the first time, invite them back.”