At our church, each term we have an “Out To Lunch” (OTL) Sunday. On an OTL Sunday we encourage friends, growth groups, and families to eat together after church and invite more people along. It can be however you like to lunch. The OTL essentials are it is a group lunch; people connect, and others are invited in.
We promote opportunities like OTL because it is tough to ‘fit’ community into our busy lives. It seems gone are the days when people drop in or informally invite others back for lunch. I guess we could mourn how busyness undermines community, or we could just invite people and book it in.
We promote opportunities like OTL because community is key to our life with Jesus. Who we spend time with plays a significant role in forming our spiritual life. Having friends and relationships is core to a happier and more satisfied life. Having strong faith friends, is core to a strong faith. When it comes to friendship, time together matters. *Studies show it takes 30 hours to form casual friendships, good friendships emerge after 140 hours. Quality also matters. The more time people spend on ‘small talk’, the less close people become over time.
All this to say, connecting only on Sunday is not enough for the faith community and friendships we need. OTL can be a start. Growth groups, serving together or finding people with common interests could be helpful. We need more time and deeper conversations to build good friendships. How could you be part of this?
Our next ‘Out To Lunch’ will be Sunday, Feb 16. Why not invite people who are ‘new to you’, or could do with stronger church connections?
Enjoy,
Jason