Visitor Commissioning

Where parish visiting is undertaken as part of a Giving in Grace programme it is always helpful to mark this with a simple liturgy of commissioning. This commissioning does four things:

• It connects Giving in Grace with the worship and prayer life of the church in the hearts and minds of the congregation.
• It forms an important part of the spiritual preparation of those who will do the visiting
• It underlines to the congregation that visiting is a core part of this important initiative.
• It reminds both visitors and congregation that the money talk generated by Giving in Grace is focused on personal discipleship and resourcing ministry and mission in the church. It is not simply a financial appeal to balance the books.

The Liturgy of Commissioning should take place at a Sunday service just before or preferably at the start of the preaching series which marks the launch of the Giving in Grace programme. Encourage Parish Visitors at the visitor training session to see this as an important part of their own preparation for visiting. The Liturgy is simple and should take just a few minutes. It is made available in MS Word format and can be freely edited and adapted.