Blame it on my bad memory! It takes me forever to get a name burnt into my mind—and especially, if you’re not someone I meet often (read, someone who’s not involved in ministry). But that’s got to change. We want to be a warm fellowship—and especially, when we become a sizable church—when “cold” appears to be an inevitable bug that a church catches when it becomes “big”.

Over the next three to five months, we are going to emphasize on Fellowship (one of the five purposes of a healthy church). That’s why Pr Aaron is speaking on the subject this morning, and from time to time we’ll have more messages on it. John Maxwell has a quote that he uses vis-à-vis leadership, but it’s just as applicable in the context of church fellowship: If we can’t get along with one another; we won’t go along together. A church that takes its fellowship for granted better ‘beware’. It won’t go very far.

We are going to work hard at lifting our Fellowship
level higher by creating a warm and friendly Fellowship culture in PJEFC . Now, you tell me what kind of culture vis-à-vis Fellowship would you like to see in PJEFC? You are welcomed to talk about it in your ministry groups or cell groups and give feedback to the pastoral team.

To begin with, we have come up with a couple things for all to do to develop this culture. Let me introduce the first one to you…

We Know Each Other By Name

That’s a toughie. I know. I have already confessed my sin to you at the beginning. But if I can take up the challenge to know the names of people in the church, so can you.

Why is this so important? Because remembering someone’s name shows that you value him (or her).

They say that the average person can remember about 200 names. Sit down during the week and list down all the people you know in the church. If you fall short of 200 then start working on it till you get to that magic number. But don’t take too long.

In his book, ‘25 Ways to Win with People’, John Maxwell quotes a method used by Jerry Lucas (aka Dr. Memory). He uses the SAVE method:

S—Say the name three times in conversation.

A—Ask a question about the name (for example,
how it is spelled) or about the person.

V—Visualize the person’s prominent physical or
personality feature.

E—End the conversation with the name.

The author also tells us to “go easy on yourself if you forget.”

Try it. “Forget about: Blaming your bad memory (as I have always done) and exert some effort to remember people’s names.”

Developing a culture of a true,
warm and loving Fellowship
PrSH