7 Servant Evangelism Ideas for Black Friday Shopping Crowds

In the United States, the Friday after Thanksgiving is a major shopping day.

The media will show reports of Black Friday shopping crowds outside of major department stores and malls.

People who are waiting to be nearly the first in line to get the savings on Christmas presents for family and friends.

When the doors open, mayhem erupts and people get injured as crowds stampede through the open doors.

Corporations are now beginning to open on Thanksgiving Day to allow people to shop after the big meal.

I’m not a big fan of that scene, but the waiting lines that happen in your city or town can give your church an opportunity for a servant evangelism project.

Servant Evangelism Ideas on Black Friday

Servant evangelism is a simple way to market your church’s Christmas outreaches after Thanksgiving has passed.

On the simplest level, servant evangelism is marketing your church.  It involves some form of giveaway that meets a need, with an attached card that gives information about your church.

These servant evangelism ideas are useful any time of year, but post Thanksgiving and Black Friday crowds at malls present a natural crowd that you can bless.

Your act of kindness can build the bridge for the person to receive a touch of love from God.  You are showing the community that your church cares and does not exist only for itself.

Add a invitation to church—even a simple card  with your church’s name, phone number and times of services.   They might come and hear more about Jesus during the Christmas season.  You can add a comment that your church wants to bless the community, showing God’s love, with no strings attached.

Be Prepared before Black Friday for Evangelism moments.

Your act of kindness is not sufficient for people to hear the gospel.

They might not even know that you are serving “in His Name” unless you somehow share that.

The gospel does need words to accompany the good deeds.

But attentive volunteers will recognize the nudge of the Holy Spirit in some interactions.

Those conversation can turn evangelistic with a gospel sharing moment, or maybe even a prayer moment.

Remind your volunteers to watch for those moments and be equipped with conversation skills.

A Side Note:

Always obey the rules of your locality, and know that you may need to secure permission of owners if you are on private property.   For example, your local mall may be considered private property and security may not allow you to bless the people who have gathered.  You’ll have to learn ahead of time what boundaries are in place and make sure you obey them.

7 simple Black Friday Evangelism Ideas.

These 7 servant evangelism ideas for Black Friday can be used at other times of the year, but this would make a natural gathering for your volunteers to participate in these ideas

1. Coffee with sugar and cream available.  Be careful with the hot coffee.
2. Water Bottles
3. Prepackaged snack like raisins, trail mix, granola bars (go peanut free).
4. Hot Chocolate
5. Donut Giveaway
6. Candies
7. Popcorn

Prepare some kind of connection card that gives information about your church, the church website, and service times.

For more servant evangelism ideas, consider the book Outflow, Steve Sjogren and David Ping.

Is your church doing any Thanksgiving Outreach?

If so, please share in the comments.  Give a brief overview and if you have a page on your church website that explains it, feel free to link to it.