We are often asked how successful friendsfirst is?
If you judge success by the number of marriages we've had then we are very successful. And if you add in the numbers of people making new friends (which is what some people join for) then it's even better
For more details of couples stories
> click here
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Enhance your social skills!
Would you like to be better at meeting people, feel more confident and do it more often? We've teamed up with The Dating Doctor giving you preferential rates on a whole range of his services.
For more details.
> click here
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Churches Newsletter October 2008
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friendsfirst's Newsletter
Helping your ministry with resources and encouragement
October 2008 - Issue No: 5
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| Dear Katharine, |
It's time again for the bi-annual email from friendsfirst supplying you with information and resources to encourage, support and complement your ministry to the single people in your congregation and community.
Please don't just hit the delete button - especially if you are married yourself! Here's why. We're trying to reach your congregation. As a minister, priest or church leader, you are the gatekeeper to your congregation/flock. Most church leaders we talk to, who don't automatically support us, tell us they either don't have anyone in their congregations who is single (this turns out on further questioning NEVER to be the case) or no-one who is interested - and yet they tell us in the next breath that they don't know the intimate details of everyone's lives. We talk to 1000s of single people and most of them really don't want to be on their own. Most wish they'd heard about us sooner. Most are interested in us. The chances are your flock would be too.
I hope you'll read on. In this email you will find:
- Resources - An article for your church magazine;
- News and Views - we'd welcome your views too on the whole issue of singleness,
- Encouragement - Another couple tie the knot - we're on the way to 100 marriages now!
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Resources
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1. An article for all single people in your church/parish
This is an article which we've put on our website for you to use in your church newsletter or pewsheets. It demonstrates how characters in the Bible like Abraham and Ruth can be an inspiration for single people today. Click here or the link below to go directly to this article on our website.
1 is the loneliest number Please feel free to copy it and use it.
2. Is your flock safe on the net?
Fact 1. Online dating (trying to find a partner using internet websites) is BIG business now. It's been growing exponentially over the past 5 years and companies are now cashing in on the Christian market.
Fact 2. Most single people have tried internet dating.
Fact 3. Many Christians think they are using Christian dating sites but don't know how un-christian they are and who is running them.
Fact 4. Most so called 'online Christian dating sites' are anything but Christian.
As experts in this field, we ask you to alert your congregation to some of these online dating facts. There is a very good website called Christian Dating Watchdog that details much more about this subject; please bring it to the attention of the single people you know.
friendsfirst is 100% Christian, run by and exclusively for Christians. People who come to us feel safe with us and have good reasons to feel so. Given the dating agency wolves out there, we'd ask you seriously to consider promoting us to your congregation. You can do this by either putting up our flyers (see below if you haven't had some sent to you), including our article above in your parish newsletter and/or putting a link to our website on your website. Please support us - when we set up 9 years ago, church leaders told us they wanted something practical to enable them to help the single poeple in their care; now this resource is here, please use it! If Christians don't find Christian resources to meet their needs they will turn elsewhere - and if it's online non-Christian dating, you may have to pick up the pieces later!
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News and views
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Our latest postal mailing
In the last month we've written to most churches around the country sending out new flyers for display on church notice boards. If you didn't get a letter from us, we probably haven't got your address. If you'd be willing to display an A5 flyer that lets people know about us and our service, please do email me with your address.
One pastor we wrote to rang us up to ask us if we had a 'statement of faith'. We don't as such for a variety of reasons but we do have information on and about our organisation that sets out who and what we are. If you want to know more and be informed about us, click here to read it.
Debate with us please!
We know you are bombarded with letters and emails as a church leader. How do you filter them? Based on your own needs or based on some analytical criteria of what is going to be useful for your congregation?
We send you information because having spent eight years talking to single people of all ages and types on the telephone, we do know their needs - it's our speciality - and we know that our churches are packed full of single people. Just think widows, widowers, divorced and separated people and you can probably picture some - let alone the young unmarrieds.
Before you discard this email or our mailing that comes through the post, please ask yourself if you really know that not one of your congregation would appreciate our service. Once a church secretary rang us (and joined) having seen our flyers in her minister's waste paper basket. She'd seen him throw them away with the words "There's no-one here who would be interested in that!" and yet here she was under his very nose. And that was the church secretary and not even someone in the church pews!!!
If you don't agree, please ring us - we'd love to chat to you about it.
We know you are busy and wade through emails and paperwork. Please don't discard our information without a thought for your congregation and who might appreciate finding out about us.
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| Encouragement - what makes us different |
Lots of couples meet through friendsfirst and about 25% happily write their story for us to share. Ruth and Clive have recently got married and have sent us their story. Please do have a look (click here to read it) as it's another testimony of how God is working in people's lives (and using us which is the most exciting part!)
We keep emphasizing how we are different from online organisations, but it's different if someone else says it. This is a bit of feedback we received on 6th October.
- "Thanks so much for the call last night - I did appreciate it and all the work that you are doing on behalf of the friendsfirst members. You really do provide a personal and caring service. I've not been involved with any other kind of agency but I would imagine that you are rare in the care that you provide and demonstrate."
If you would like to read more of our members' feedback about our service please click here. |
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I do hope you've found something in this newsletter useful.
Please keep single people in your thoughts - and if you think our service might be suitable for them please pass on our details.
And if there is anything we can do to help you with your singles ministry, we'd love to hear from you. With warmest regards,
Katharine
Katharine Gray friendsfirst Director |
P.S Please do forward this newsletter to any single people in your congregation. If you would like more information about friendsfirst and our history, click here
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0121 427 1286 
