To the untrained, secular ear, "Presbyterian" sounds every bit as mysterious as Shiite, Sikh, Druze, or Methodist. At Chippawa Presbyterian Church, Niagara Falls, Ontario, when we were inviting people to worship, we began to realize that people with no faith background felt quite uncertain about what exactly it was they were being asked to consider and experience in a Christian church.

We also recognized that when faced with questions such as "Why would I come to church?" or "What do you do there?" people in our congregation struggled to articulate answers in a succinct way.

Some call it the "elevator pitch", the ability to "pitch" your message in the time it takes to have a short elevator ride, which is to ask, "Do you have a clear, easily-communicated and understood message of why you exist and what you do?"

Worship Serve Learn Connect

We worked to get this in place. We got the message down to eight words. "Find Life in Jesus. Worship. Serve. Learn. Connect."

We use these words everywhere. This logo is posted in our foyer. We fit it onto a wristband, below, and distributed them.

We have shaped our programming to ensure that all four of these areas of the life of discipleship are encouraged and supported.

So now, as quick as a short elevator ride, we can share who we are and what we do.

We can tell people that "We find life in Jesus." We can quickly communicate that the life of a growing Christian is active in four areas; in worship – loving God; in serving – loving one's neighbour; in learning – knowing the Bible; and in connecting – sharing one's faith.

Wristband

Who we are and what we do has never been clearer.