In a discussion group I am a part of, a small church pastor asked the group for advise on how to grow a small church. Well meaning Christians threw out all sorts of cliches that lack substance, even if they are true: Pray Follow God Get back to the Bible Don’t follow man’s ways Just …
This week, we launched a new small group aimed for people who don’t go to church. For our small group, 13 people showed up for the first meeting, 7 of whom I had never met before. This was the 1st of 6 meetings, and I was not leading the group. From the conversations prior to …
“Overall, 31% of active churchgoers said they would definitely invite someone they know who does not usually attend a church to accompany them to a church service on Easter weekend this year.” Barna Group What the numbers might mean for Easter Sunday Let’s say this statistic would hold true for your congregation.
I’ve coached enough pastors and done enough evangelism training seminars to know that one challenge that many of you face is equipping your people for evangelism. How do you lead your congregation in effective evangelism? How do you equip your members to be more confident in sharing their faith? How do you do evangelism training? …
Thom Rainer surveyed adults who became church going believers. Through interviews with the formerly unchurched, he discovered some top reasons why they would choose their church.
I’m doing some traveling this week, visiting churches in Richmond VA. Today’s guest post is from Gary Rohrmayer. I’ve re posted this here with permission. Visit the full article 9 ways to Create Momentum for Fall Outreach for the bullet points to be teased out. . . Nine Ways to Create Momentum for Fall Outreach …
Here are three questions that spark a great discussion: What is evangelism? Ideally, what does effective evangelism look like in a healthy congregation? What does evangelism look like in your congregation? These three questions produce all sorts of divergent answers.
Prayer booths like this are an opportunity for evangelism that is not aggressive.
Your guests expect to talk a little about their spiritual needs while visiting your prayer station.
Discover your community needs by setting up a prayer station at your outreach events.
You can develop your prayer station through this simple step-by-step layout of how to setup a prayer station.
Dr. Kevin Yoho,General Presbyter Newark Presbytery has put together a presentation called The Reciprocal Church. I like what he’s done in calling “the church” back into the nieghborhood, using the idea of reciprocity. Does the church give benefit to the community in exchange for the investment that the community makes in the church? Or put …
This is what gives me joy as an evangelist. Marionee. Manuel: Yes, the water was very cold. But more important, adult baptism is a step of obedience after trusting Jesus that is a sign of God’s working in bringing people to faith in Jesus Christ. Baptism signifies a whole lot more, but for me, it’s …
Easter is rapidly approaching and many of you are gearing up for your Easter Outreaches and special Easter Services Let me give you a three pointers to increase your congregation’s impact this Easter. 1. Do a hospitality review. Give your systems a look over to make sure they are up. Read more: Church Hospitality Review …
Check out this list of different ways you can support the work of evangelism in your local church
I’ve interacted with many of you who have declared that this year will be the “Year of Evangelism” within your church. One aspect of developing that vision is giving sermons on Evangelism, or developing a sermon series. Abraham Lincoln is reported to have said “It wasn’t a great sermon because the preacher didn’t ask me …
Thinking of planning a "Year for Evangelism" as your church theme for the coming 12 months? Here are some brainstorming starter questions to help you begin to plan.
Do your small groups make a difference in the world? Or have they existed so long they are very inward focused? Do they give themselves away, or simply demand more spiritual food from the gifted leader? What can you do to move a small group from self-feeding to selfless service? A Missional Small Group A …
I spent time giving some evangelism coaching a church yesterday. The questions of the day revolved around finding and meeting community needs. A majority of church members are no longer within 5 miles of the neighborhood that has transitioned from blue collar to immigrant. As such, there is not a lot of connection to the …
I had a follower on twitter who ordered a “Bring a Friend campaign in a box.” It was a laughable experience. It ultimately failed. He felt like he wasted his money. Originally designed in the 1980s, it has never updated (except moving the recordings to CD from the cassettes). The campaign failed to rally the …
The following article comes from LogosPathosEthos: Questions to Evaluate Your Church’s Evangelism. It’s a great list of questions that doesn’t need modification. Gene Getz in his book, Sharpening the Focus of the Church, lists some helpful questions to clarify the church’s purpose in evangelism. Is our church concerned about its immediate community? Are we reaching …
For youth pastors, young adult pastors, and others who work with this group, this research gives current insight based on survey data. Lifeway has published a podcast with it, found at Stetzer’s article. From Ed Stetzer’s research: In fact, 73 percent of unchurched twentysomethings consider themselves “spiritual” and would like to know more about “God …
Why is there no noticeable change even after all time and effort to do training and provide resources?
The North American Mission Board is developing a new evangelism initiative to fulfill their 2020 vision of “Every Believer Sharing, Every Person Hearing.” “God’s Plan for Sharing” is meant to encourage Christians to prayerfully and thoughtfully engage in the most effective approach for making Christ known. GPS lays out four biblical mileposts to lead your …
Ed Stetzer was interviewed this week by Cathy Lynn Grossman for USA Today about Americans’ receptivity to evangelistic contacts and outreach from a church. Lifeway Research and the North American Mission Board surveyed over 15,000 people (read more on this report via Lifeway Research) and they found that most people said they would be willing …
Ron Crandall describes two characterics of what successful turnaround and transformational churches have.
