You're doing WHAT in the hall after church?

"...and you're all warmly invited to join in a time of fellowship in the hall after the service."

If I'm honest, I don't know what the above sentence really means.
Now, I know what it looks like, but I'd struggle to give it a dictionary definition.

And yet, every slab of notices during a church service always ends with this cheery salutation.

But if I walked into a dozen churches and asked them to define exactly what "fellowship time after the service" was, then I suspect I'd get twelve different responses.

So, do we advertise this like it's a draw card?
AND, why do we think this would be appealing to visitors or those unfamiliar with church?

No one else has "fellowship" time anywhere else in their week...

Instead, they catch up over coffee...
They share how their week has been...
Heck, they "share life together"...

But, no one else calls this fellowship.

Furthermore, I wonder if this "time after the service" is all it could be and what the originator of "fellowship time" envisaged.

Surely the "inventor" of "fellowship time" didn't picture awkward small talk over pretty bad coffee or weak tea.
There was no grand dreams of chit-chat about the weather or the local sports team.

Instead, this time of "fellowship" is meant to be a time of mutual support, encouragement and bonding.

So, what if we branded this time what it could reflect?

Family time.

A time for the spiritual family of Christ to be together, just as relational families do...

A time to share, beyond the surface, in a safe place...

A time to invest in the lives of others...

This, I feel, is what we want to lift before others at the end of the notices.

It's just a shame we label it "fellowship"...