This means
doing something different not just more of the same old thing. These days, you
can’t just pass out more leaflets about your church. You can’t just
put bigger smiles on your greeter and make hospitality better. You can’t just
advertise on the radio.
With the
secular community we live in, simple invitations to church just don’t seem to
work. A person might come if they are a good friend of yours but they are
unlikely to stay and become involved. It is possible someone who is already a
church-goer and an active Christian might respond to an invitation to become
involved if they are looking for a new church, but this approach is not
reaching most of our secular society. Inviting them or entertaining them is
just not enough to lead them to Christ. We need to do more.
So what can
we do? We must do what Jesus did. We must help
people. Meeting the needs of people in your community through ministries is the
way to reach them. How do you meet these needs? You do this by identifying the
needs in your community and developing ministries to meet those specific needs.
For example, if you want to reach young moms, then develop a “Young Moms Club”,
where you deal with some of the issues of raising a family. If you are trying
to bring in more Singles (which is the best way to grow your church), devise an
effective divorce recovery program for divorced Singles or plan more Single
events to help people meet.
This type of
ministry is the way we can reach people today. I call it “Needs-Based
Evangelism”. However, it’s not just about offering a class or a workshop to
people; it’s about offering them help. It’s about showing them someone cares. This
is what will help them understand what being a real Christian is about. These
support ministries allow people to get to know others in the church better and
want to be involved more. Through the friendships they develop and the
encouragement they receive they will come to know the way of Jesus Christ. This type of
ministry really works.
As pastor of
a large Methodist church in Tulsa, I used this method of reaching new people and it worked all the time. Our church grew significantly because of
ministries that I set up just like these. I now offer Needs-Based Evangelism training for churches, districts and
organizations of all sizes throughout the U.S., Europe and Canada.
Please contact me for more information on
this training or visit online.
It’s time we
start doing ministry the way Jesus did, by meeting needs and maybe then we will
see an end to the decline of the Church.
Recommended reading on this subject:
TELL and Needs-Based Evangelism, are two books I have
written to help church leaders and congregations to be more effective in
communicating the Gospel. I recommend these, as well as, The Great Evangelism Recession, by John S. Dickerson and The American
Church Crisis, by David T. Olson.
Yes, I believe the key is to get every member involved in some type of small group or ministry. There is one issue that is much more important.. staying on message! Many churches have abandoned scripture to be more inclusive and accepting in a secular world. Such actions are confusing to a Congregation driving people away from Christ and the Church.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Bob that these things are needed, but may I suggest the first thing all the Leadership of the United Methodist Church, Bishops, Judicial Council, General Conference, Clergy and Laity, all of us need to Repent of our sins, turn toward the Lord Jesus Christ with all our hearts, seek Him and Him only. Then offer Scriptural Holiness as well as Social Holiness. We need to forsake the secular opinions as the only truth.
ReplyDeleteCan we all imagine what our Church would look like and do if ALL the Leadership would openly repent and tell our people to do the same to seek out the Lord Jesus Christ and to turn from our wicked ways? Could we just imagine???
I stopped going to church because somewhere along the way churches lost Jesus. look at what you focus on each week and see where it points to Jesus as the answer.
ReplyDeleteWhen the Church leadership began advocating that clergy follow Jack Welch's principles of management and turned away from meeting human need to grabbing for market share to put more bucks in the plate and butts in the pews, young and idealistic people were disgusted by what they saw. Add to that the horrible treatment of clergy who lack charisma, while charismatic pastors get pass after pass, despite infidelity, dishonesty, and yes, even child molestation, and the Church couldn't help but be exposed as a sham organization who name-drops Jesus but are really seeking worldly riches, power, and pleasure as lustfully as the most corrupt Wall Street banker.
ReplyDelete