Summer is the "prime time" to move your household.  Kids are home from school, the weather is pleasant, you can take some vacation time to settle......It simply works well.

Since the average American family moves once every five years -- there are a lot of families that are unsettled and need to look for new friends, new churches, new schools and often, even, a new niche for serving God! 

You will see that this issue is focused on "Be the First Friend."  (Trademark applied for).  Whether someone is new to a home, new at school or at church, it makes a huge difference if someone steps forward and becomes your "First Friend." 

Our goal with this Welcoming Community newsletter is to present one idea or issue related to welcoming and hospitality for Christians at home, school and church. This month "Welcome at Home" gives you a gift certificate to give to new neighbors, "Welcome at School" gives you a simple yet effective way of welcoming new students and "Welcome at Church" gives you a series of 4 weeks of inserts for your Sunday programs. These will help make the members of your church more aware of the needs of families that are new.   We believe that God has called the body of Christ to "welcome others" as they would welcome Christ.  Each issue of our newsletter will present 3 concrete ideas for enhancing welcoming. Please feel free to pass this newsletter on to others....or have them sign up for themselves (at the bottom of the newsletter.)  Pastors or Administrators may even want to consider sending it to your whole congregation or constituency.  We can even add your logo to the top left corner so that people identify it with your organization.

I hope that you find these articles helpful and that you are able to find one idea and implement it! 

If you know of someone who is moving, we would love to make their experience a positive one.  Please encourage anyone you know who is moving to call the EXODUS Network at 1-800-395-8556 to be connected to a great REALTOR in any local community (we screen them and check with past clients to make sure they do a great job) and to get access to a whole website of Christian community information and help.  Our service is free!  The EXODUS Network Selected Agents are the sponsors of this Welcoming Community Newsletter and of the www.USAChurchSearch.com, www.CanadaChurchSearch.com, and www.ChristianSchoolDirectory.com in their local communities. Please make sure your church or school is listed in these directories!  It is free and it will help families who are new, be able to find you!