2 of 2
Evangelism for the Ordinary Church
Just because your people don't like to evangelize doesn't mean they can't share their faith.
2 of 2
When I presented proposals for seeker-sensitive services, the response was, "Why can't the unchurched just accept us as we are? When we first came to this church, it took us a while to feel comfortable, but we stuck it out. They can, too!" This response came not from stuck-in-the-mud, long-term members but from boomers and busters who had recently joined the church! Even though we don't have a seeker service, I'm careful not to use theological jargon in my sermons and Bible studies. If I use terms unfamiliar to non-Christians, I define them. My illustrations are drawn from tv, movies, sports, and pop music. I also wrote a little booklet explaining the basic truths of the faith in language easily understood by the people living in our area. These booklets are placed at strategic locations in our building. Rather than telling shy, introverted people who don't have a great deal of biblical knowledge or theological training to lead their loved ones to Christ, I urge my congregation to invite their friends to become part of Cobblestone Church, where they can meet Christ. Our members invite friends not only to our Sunday morning services, but also to our social events. After one of our church talent shows, in fact, we gained several new members. I had never thought of my Elvis, Bob Dylan, and cast of "Star Trek" impressions as evangelistic before, but the Lord used them nonetheless. Members of Cobblestone feel comfortable inviting others to our services because they know their friends will get something out of it. And I have had to replenish our supply of booklets quite often. Work to reduce conflictVisitors can sense when something's not right. If they do, rarely will they come back. My early teaching at Cobblestone stressed the church as a fellowship where love, acceptance, forgiveness, and patience are practiced. I tried to practice what I preached in dealing with difficult people. When arguments broke out at board meetings, I reminded everyone that this wasn't the way the church conducted business. As a result, the atmosphere has greatly improved; visitors almost always characterize us as a "warm, friendly congregation." I came to see that time spent working on reducing tension is really time spent on church growth. Get people to prayWill God really cause a church to grow just because people ask him to—even if that church does not have an aggressive evangelism program? At Cobblestone, he has. We continually get visitors who say, "We just felt that it was finally time to check out church and for some reason we were drawn here." When my daughter, Abigail, was three-and-a-half years old, she asked her mother why she couldn't have a Sunday school class with kids her own age. My wife explained there weren't any children her age in the church and suggested that she pray for some. Abigail began to pray confidently for more kids. New families started coming that summer and by fall, she had her class—with eight students! Although pastors often hear "Everything depends on leadership," in reality, "Everything depends on God." If you can get some of your people to pray seriously and faithfully for growth, you've done a lot! Steve R. Bierly is pastor of Cobblestone Church in Schenectady, New York. Copyright © 1997 by the author or Christianity Today International/Leadership Journal. |             |
share this page
