Evangelism and Your Church
Jesus calls his disciples to growth..His parables are rich in images of seeds and vines, trees and fruits, fields and harvests. This message is hopeful and clear. God gives the gift or growth to God's people and God invites everyone into that gift..
from A Report of Mission & Resources to the 75th General Convention of the Episcopal Church
It takes much more effort on the part of a church to walk someone through the door for the first time than at any time in the ministry of that church. We hope that our church is able to keep about one-third of the visitors who walk through the door. Few do better than that. Many don't do that well. To increase your chances of keeping your guest, your church has to plan for the arrival of new people before they get there. Here are several strategies, programs and resources you can use to make people feel welcome when they visit.'
For assistance with these resources, of for additional help in starting or growing an evangelism program in your church, contact The Rev. Canon Alicia Schuster Weltner, Canon for Congregational Development, or The Rev. Dr. Trawin Malone , Chair of the Congregational Development Commission.
Be sure to see: "Telling the Good News" - The recent issue of our quarterly magazine, Pathways, on Communication and Evangelism.
And "Where do we Grow from Here?" - The Mission and Evangelism issue of Pathways
Background Information on Evangelism
Being aware of Sunday morning.
Stories of how we might be paying attention to our visitors
Preparing Ourselves for Worship
From the Alban Institute - Transitioning yourself into the worship service from the "outside world"
What is a Vital Congregation?
Core Values of Evangelism and the Episcopal Church
What is Evangelism?
The Theology of Evangelism
Biblical Scripture is the foundation of any Evangelism program
What is Incorporating New Members?
Getting newcomers from being guests in our church to becoming committed active members.
Casting the wide gospel net of evangelism - Sermon by The Rev Richard Britton from St Luke's, Atlanta
30 Positive Discoveries in a Healthy Church (click for all 30)
1. Transformed adults (ages 18-40) are the future of your church
Articles by Congregational Growth and Evangelism from the Alban Institute
The following are articles from the Alban Weekly that would be useful for you and your parish
Characteristics of Christian Worship
by Craig A. Satterlee
Christians and congregations bring a host of assumptions about what constitutes Christian worship with them to the service. Rather than allowing these assumptions to catch us in conversation about "good" and "bad" or "right" and "wrong" worship, we can testify to the belief that "at all times and at all places the Holy Spirit helps us to pray" (Rom. 8:26). Liturgical historian James F. White's seven "categories" for analyzing Christian worship-people, piety, time, place, prayer, preaching, and music-can help congregations talk about worship without getting caught in conversation about individual preferences. While these seven elements of a worship service certainly do not exhaust all possibilities, they provide a manageable set of reference points with which to organize conversation about worship. Click here to read more on Characterisitics of Christian Worship
Ministering to the Missing Generation
by Carol Howard Merritt
In my bedroom, I have a Gabbeh rug, woven in deep browns and greens. Not the typical elegant Persian rug, this one has thick choppy wool, rough edges, and crooked lines. Made with vegetable dyes, each row changes colors, leaving a wonderful earthy richness. In a region known for its fine and intricate carpets, these rugs are bottom of the line because they are constructed and carried by nomadic tribes who pack them on animals until they set down a temporary home, then unfold them onto the ground, where their family can gather on that four by six-foot area.
While preparing to put our house on the market before our move from Rhode Island to Washington, D.C., I realized I needed a carpet to cover the shiny wood flooring my husband and I had recently installed. I also imagined it would be comforting to have a bit of familiar space to unpack upon reaching a strange land. So as I got ready to move for the seventh time in sixteen years, I bought the carpet and packed it into the trunk of my car. I needed a familiar space that I could take with me, something that was sturdy, warm, and not likely to wear out anytime soon.
I don't travel with a caravan of extended family and friends, but like many in my generation of thirty-somethings, I move often with my spouse and daughter, increasingly away from my family of origin. When I unpacked my boxes in Arlington, Virginia, I rolled out the rug in my bedroom. My daughter and I sat down on the thick pile as we listened to books on tape and admired the brown and green diamond shapes. The soft itchiness tickled my hands, connecting me to my history in Rhode Island, as well as its own years of tradition tightly wound up into its threads.
Continue reading "Ministering to the Missing Generation"
Inviting People into Small Groups
by Brooke B. Collison
Ultimately, invitation is the key to creating small groups. When an invitational culture permeates a church, people are more likely to be connected�to belong. Think what it would be like if every person� whether longtime member or visitor�felt invited to be a part of church groups. And consider how that experience would differ from a place where it takes extra effort just to squeeze your way in. An invitation to join a small group is a good way to make people feel welcome.
Who offers this invitation? The answer is simple: �Anyone.� How nice to hear, �We want you to join a small group� or �A new small group is forming and we would like you to join us to see if it will meet your needs.�
Small groups thrive when they meet the needs of the members. People bring different needs to their participation in a small group, and the mix of needs results in every group being different; however, there are some pervasive human needs and characteristics every group can work to meet. So, what are the needs frequently associated with an effective small group?
* Belonging
* Having a sense of place
* Fun
* Learning
* Accomplishing tasks
* Providing support to others
* Getting support from others
* Personal growth
* FriendshipsOnce a group forms, it will continue to meet a changing mix of needs as the group matures.
Continue reading Inviting People into Small Groups
What It Takes to Make Congregational Change Stick
by Lawrence Peers
Have you ever visited a congregation where you were told to take a brightly colored mug at the fellowship hour so that members would know you were visiting and could make you feel welcome? What was your experience?
Occasionally this works and members provide visitors with a warm and inviting welcome. More often than not, though, the multicolored-mug-toting visitors report that they are avoided like the plague!
I offer this example to illustrate that change within congregations is much more complex than we want to acknowledge. Surface changes, like providing a special mug for visitors, do not typically bring about what is hoped for--unless there are accompanying changes at a deeper level.
Continue reading "What It Takes to Make Congregational Change Stick"
Constructing Your Congregation's Story
James B Wood
There are times when all congregations need to reflect upon who they are and where they have been to discern and understand where they are going. At such times, it is important for a congregation to research, create, and present its story. In 1993, Augsburg Fortress published a book by James P. Wind that offered a complete and concise guide to constructing and telling your congregation's story. The book is now out of print, but the team at the Congregational Resource Guide (www.congregationalresources.org ) have adapted it for the Web with great success.
The author explains some valuable skills for researchers: an intense curiosity, a healthy skepticism, a creative imagination, and a solid filing system. He encourages researchers to approach their congregations from the perspective of an outsider--by looking with fresh eyes at a congregation's building, neighborhood, liturgical symbols, organizations, activities, official and unofficial leaders, and significant transitions. He also encourages researchers to explore how the pastor and people embody their faith in the world.
Web visitors will appreciate this resource's search feature, site map, photos, and print-ready download options. Although written for Lutherans, this resource can be readily used by other denominations and faith groups.
Click here to read "Constructing Your Congregation's Story" on the CRG Web site.
Who Owns a Congregation?
by Dan Hotchkiss
Comparisons are useful but tricky. New Testament writers compare the church to a human body, a herd of sheep, a bride, and a vineyard. Synagogues are often likened to a house, a tent, or an extended family. None of these analogies is meant to be exact or literal--a church may act in some ways like a herd of sheep, but a wise leader doesn't plan on it. Poets do exaggerate sometimes.
In the same spirit of poetic license, it may at times it may be useful to compare the clergy leader of a congregation to a corporate CEO, its members to customers or stockholders, or its staff to the employees of a charity. We can draw many useful analogies between congregations, other nonprofits, and businesses, but ultimately congregations need ideas and language of their own. It is easy to say that "the church should run more like a business," without recognizing that in some respects the church should and does run very differently.
Making Time for God
An article by Bill Monk, a member of the Congregational Growth and Development Commission on how you or new members of your church community can find the time you wish to spend on your relationship with God and activities at church.
Time, Talent, Treasure
Motivation
Vision
Scheduling
Finders, Keepers, Sowers Reapers
A program of Welcoming Visitors and Incorporating them into your parish
