Innovative
Evangelism in the
LOCAL CHURCH
As the march of time continues and society moves forward into a culture technologically advancing and socially declining new methods must be used to communicate our timeless truths. This section will become a forum to share innovative evangelism techniques that have borne fruit in the home towns of our local churches. Feel free to print and implement these strategies in your own local community of faith...
(PRINTABLE PAGE)
A part of Mission Media’s vision is to act
as a hub in sharing effective and practical ministry ideas at
work among the local churches in our area. Here are a few of the
first wave of the most clever, effective techniques at work in
the various local churches in the Delaware and Lehigh Valleys.
• Audio Welcome Tape - Visiting a new church can be
overwhelming. A great idea to personalize a visit and limit
confusion is a free welcome audio cassette for every visitor. On
tape in 10 minutes or less, the Pastor should personally welcome
the visitor, cast vision, and deliver the mission of the church.
Pastoral team members and lay leaders can facilitate
participation in church life by “pitching” their areas
of ministry to the world and service to the church body (in 2-3
minute clips). From nursery care to street evangelism, your tape
should share vision, invite participation, and give visitors a
clear vision of all the facets of your church.
• Facilities Civic Support - Offer your church’s
facilities to the community, making outsiders comfortable with
your building, location, etc. From the girl scouts, to AA, to the
Rotary club, build relationships by aggressively availing
yourselves to the community. Presently, if your church building
and body disappeared, would anyone notice? - Become essential to
your community.
• School Homework Program - Especially effective for urban
churches, an after school homework program for children weekdays
from 3pm to 6pm. A few of our member churches serve nearly 100
neighborhood children each.
• Community Picnic - Every spring a couple of our member
churches raises a couple thousand dollars to fund a summer
“community picnic” with free food, drink, and fun! - At
least one member church gets hundreds, if not over a thousand
visitors for the yearly community event. Get as aggressive as you
like with games, pony rides, or even a “sample service”
- choir or praise band!
• Language Classes - Effective in Hispanic and Russian
communities, large numbers of first and second generation
immigrants are in need of assistance in learning English. A
number of churches are teaching new Americans to read and write
from the Bible.
• Vision Sunday - Encourage participation in church life by
setting aside a Sunday to feature the work and vision of the
ministries of the church. Ministry team leaders come to the
pulpit for 5 minutes each to feature areas of service and charge
the congregation up with successes of the prior year. The pastor
closes by casting vision as to what the community would look like
if the congregation rose to the challenge.