Our fourth round of visitation meetings are scheduled for tonight, directly following an abbreviated Sunday evening service. Now that we are getting used to the new system, I thought I would make a few suggestions about how we can keep the momentum going.

We are getting good feedback about the program. Many of you have told me that you are getting to know people you have worshiped with for a long time but have never taken the time to meet. Also, the congregation is becoming more aware of itself. As our groups concentrate on the spiritual and physical needs of their own members, more cards are being sent, more phone calls and visits are being made, more prayers are going up on behalf of those who need them. Whereas in the past there were some needs only the elders and ministers were aware of, now the whole congregation is concentrating on these concerns.

We don’t ever expect to have 100 percent participation on visitation night, but we can certainly improve our attendance beyond what it has been over the last couple of months. The group leaders have told me that, on average, they are seeing about 50 percent of their groups at the meetings. Are you missing your meeting? Can you come tonight? We have organized this program so that it makes very few demands upon your time. These meetings may be brief, but they are very important.

Also, those who make commitments to contact certain members of their group need to follow through with these commitments. I hesitate to say this because I don’t want to discourage anyone from volunteering to phone somebody or to drop by for a visit. Without commitments, the program will not work. But it doesn’t do any good to agree to make a visit, for instance, if you never follow through with what you promised to do.

We haven’t worked all the bugs out of this program yet, but it is already yielding fruit. By improving our attendance and following through with commitments, we can make the results even better.

As a reminder, here are the meeting places for each group. See your group leader or myself if you need more information.

• Group 1 (Mike S.) - Teen Classroom
• Group 2 (Rod J.) - College Classroom
• Group 3 (Dale H.) - Classroom 7
• Group 4 (Jeff T.) - Young Adults’ Classroom
• Group 5 (Jim H.) - Auditorium
• Group 6 (Lecil E.) - Classroom 8
• Group 7 (Stan M.) - Conference Room

See you there!