"Would you like to come to church with me?" - Back To Church Sunday 30 September 2012

Millions of people who don't go to church would say yes to an invitation from a friend. What if you were that friend? Who would you invite?

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, described Back to Church Sunday as "essential" recently as registrations open for this year's Back to Church Sunday on 30 September.

The Archbishop also said: "We have been in danger of forgetting just how much we still have in the 'bank', just how much… wish there is for connections to be made in the minds and hearts of a lot of people. What Back to Church Sunday has more than anything demonstrated is that you don't have to dig too far to find that desire for connection."

Back to Church Sunday has caught on in churches everywhere because it is so simple. Since 2004 a quarter of a million people have said yes to the prayerful invitation of a friend.

Each year more churches take part and more people come back per church. In 2011 in the Church of England 20 more people came to each church - across all denominations about 77,000 extra people altogether.

And at its heart it is the oldest idea of all, the one that made shepherds leave their flocks, fishermen leave their nets, and tax collectors climb out of trees. Someone invited them.

Of course you can invite your friend to church any Sunday and every Sunday. And if yours is the kind of church that wants to get better at invitation throughout the year, Back to Church Sunday can help. It offers high quality low cost invitation cards, simple service plans and positive media coverage.

Back to Church Sunday can help you take the shortest step in evangelism: inviting someone you know to something you love. Taking part is as simple as 1 2 3 1 Register your church 2 Order your invitations 3 Prepare to invite To get started, go to www.backtochurch.co.uk