“The vast majority of people who get connected or reconnected at church do so because someone that they know invited them,” says the Rev. Brandon Metcalf of Zion Lutheran Church in Bethalto, Ill. Metcalf leads the Bridge Families program at his congregation, which encourages members to help connect the people around them to the church.

The Spring 2026 issue of Lutherans Engage the World gives a few examples of how God uses His people’s imperfect efforts, both big and small, to draw the lost and wandering into His church. The issue includes articles about a new Spanish-language podcast from LCMS missionaries in Puerto Rico that is drawing people to the island’s Lutheran churches, efforts in Florida and Texas to help children and young people grow in the faith, and a maternity home in Illinois that is caring for new mothers and their babies.

“Be brave, bold and courageous” in reaching out, says the Rev. John Karle of University Lutheran Chapel in College Station, Texas, knowing that “His Word will not return empty — this will not be wasted effort.”