Evangelism Coach

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I write this sitting at the airport (Thanks for free wireless!), way too early in the morning. 

I’m headed to Tampa for the Transformation Pastor’s Conference, where I will be speaking a couple of sessions on on the role of personal evangelism and evangelism training in transforming a church.

What exactly is Church Transformation?

I’ve spent the last month talking with pastors around the US about church transformation.   A few are in really difficult situations (Leaving Egypt and Not Liking it).

From those discussions, it seems that a common idea is to help move a church that is stuck or in serious decline, and lead them into a new vision of what God has for them, thus launching a new life cycle of growth.

Stetzer calls them Comeback Churches.  I’ve seen other various titles, like Boomerang church, Redevelopment, Revitalization.  Seems the common word now is Transformational.

Moving from Attractional to Missional

Simply based on my conversations and reading, a common thread these pastors were sharing was working with congregations to shift from exclusive focus on attractional tweaks to becoming more missional and engaging their community.

Attractional ministry focused on quality programs, excellent hospitality, and marketing to get people in the door.  This was sometimes called a “magnetic” church.

As I’ve looked at Evangelism Committee reports, church information forms, and mission studies, a lot of churches still think that making small process adjustments to their parking lot, greeting process, or welcoming will help them reach out to the neighborhood.

Attractional ministry is based on the idea that visitors are coming to your church already, and that if you do enough marketing, you can get more foot traffic in your door.  Your hospitality will help the newcomers “stick” (see www.stickychurch.com), and your church will grow.  It’s a variant of “if you build it they will come.”

Missional however moves to help the church re-engage its neighborhood. 

Some pastors are in island churches, meaning their church is mostly commuters who used to live in that neighborhood.  The culture around the church has changed (demographically, socio-economically), but the church has not adjusted accordingly, thus being a cultural island.

Missional helps the church get out of hoping people will visit them to actively engaging the needs and people of the community, and in the process both demonstrating and sharing the faith in Jesus as Lord.

Many of the pastors I spoke with this past month are trying to move congregations in this direction.  They still seek to improve their attractional ministries, but now realize that churches have to be connected to the neighhborhood.

It’s a journey process, and some have moved further along than others. 

Block Party to Pre-School

Ten years ago, an island church invited me to do some Evangelism Consulting with them about launching a new worship service.  The average age was 60, and no young families in the neighborhood.  They were in survival mode and needed something to get new people.

The pastor wanted a new worship service, but the congregational elders didn’t. 

Instead, I lead them into a brainstorming process, and out of that process they decided to do a block party.

The congregation organized the block party.  Food, games, inflatables, and so on.  Members hung door hangers around the neighborhood and invited the local community to come.

As a result of that block party 10 years ago (and its continued annual repeats) this church has discerned the neighborhood needs and launched several new ministries to reconnect with the neighbors:

• Preschool (now with an annual budget larger than the churches).
• Meals on Wheels.
• Neighborhood Watch
• And other ministries.

This church has become much more missional in it’s mindset and has lots of new vitality and energy to serve. 

Now they are being more intentional about actively sharing their faith along with serving the area and that is where more intentional evangelism training will come into play.

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