For decades, the evangelical church saw year-over-year growth. But today, the average local church across all denominational lines struggles to keep above 70 people in average worship attendance. So, what could a church do when they find themselves struggling to attract new people?
Evangelism in the modern age is defined as spreading the gospel witness through preaching or public witness. Yet, in most churches, the pastor is expected to preach and share the message while the congregation sits and watches. Every member can reach out to someone, and you can help them do it.
Soft Evangelism
Soft evangelism is the most accessible form of sharing one’s faith because it is non-threatening, and it helps the member get comfortable with faith-sharing through a series of manageable steps. The big idea is to get a member comfortable with going out and witnessing, and then take action to share their faith. Here are three easy and fun ways for church members to share their faith.
1. Tip the pizza driver.
Order a pizza to be delivered during a church service. Have congregation members pray for the future pizza driver two weeks in advance. When the pizza delivery driver arrives, have them come forward and ask what a typical tip for a single pizza is. When they share it, tip them generously, such as $20. Let the driver know you and the congregation have been praying not for a pizza but for the driver, trusting God would send the right person to the church.
Ask if the person has any prayer needs. Let the driver know that the congregation did not only want to pray for them but wanted to provide a larger tip. Put an offering plate or bucket out near the front of the platform and encourage the congregation to come up and give. Have someone quickly count it, announce the count, and then celebrate with the driver how much they are loved and cared for by the church.
Ask the driver if they do not have a church home, you would love them to attend here. This is a simple but powerful reminder of Christ’s love. I promise you they will be the church’s biggest ambassador by sharing what God did through the church and how members blessed them.
2. You’ve been ducked.
Displaying rubber ducks have become the rage in many areas, especially with people who own Jeeps. Other cars have taken up the “ducking” fad, with owners putting them inside the front windshield. This display got me thinking about what if the church attached a QR Code or sticker listing the church website to a small portion of the duck. Provide these ducks to church members and encourage them to either give a duck to someone or leave it on a stranger’s car when shopping. It’s an easy way to tell people about the church, but it should be done in a way that is not threatening to the one giving and the one receiving the gift.
3. Leave a logo pen.
Several times a month, I find myself eating out and signing my bill with a pen that a waiter provides. It got me thinking: Why can’t my church provide the pen that the waiter uses and then gift it to them? Every day, a handful of people ask the waiter for a pen to pay their bills at a local restaurant. What if your local church was the one who supplied the pens?
Encourage your members to take pens with the church’s limited information (name, website, mailing address, and phone number) from the pew back or from a provided basket, and encourage members to gift the pens to the wait staff when they go out. Over time, the saturation of pens with your church’s name on them will be everywhere in town. The goal is to share the church name with future guests and maybe even have them take that pen as a reminder of a church they should check out. Like in corporate America, this tool is a subliminal message to share about the local church and Jesus through a non-adverse way of providing a need and maybe a little more.
Intentional Evangelism
Intentional evangelism is the act of planning, preparing, and promoting an event that will attract guests to the church property or inside the church. How often has your local church completed an event, and then a member asked why we did not get any new people to attend church? Not everyone who comes to the church for an event is looking for a church home, but many are. With that in mind, begin to see these outreach events as opportunities to plant seeds in those who attend for a future harvest and not someone to get in the pew the following week.
People will come to events on the church campus that will be struggling with an issue, and your church can be a light of hope. The goal should not be to win them to the local church but to win them to Jesus. It starts by organizing a Christ-honoring event, sharing Christlikeness in actions by members, creating opportunities to share Jesus, and inviting them back to be a part of a Bible-believing church.
The outreach events at the church must not just be marketed for outreach, but they must also have substance in sharing Jesus through actions and deeds. Be intentional in planning and implementing events that connect Christ with the community.
Inspired Evangelism
Inspired evangelism slows the growth mindset down so one can focus on obeying the spiritual call on church members’ lives. Many in the church today did not come to Christ at a tender age but through a personal relationship or acquaintance that shared with them the love of Christ as an adult. Regardless of the faith journey, members should be actively finding ways to share their faith stories with those around them.
Encourage members to begin each day by asking God for opportunities to share their stories with someone. Members will begin taking action with their faith by praying to cross paths with someone who needs encouragement, prayers, and a little Jesus in their day. What an opportunity to live out Christlikeness with your neighbors or total strangers by allowing happenstance to turn into holy opportunities to share the message of hope with others.
It all starts with a simple prayer to bring someone along your path today with whom you can share. As you walk in a spirit of worship, allowing the Spirit to guide you, you will find more and more opportunities to share Jesus or what he is doing in your life through conversations. Through these transformational conversations, you will see God move in words and the hearts of those involved in sharing and hearing Christ.
Everyday evangelism is about using church members’ faith to infuse the world with Jesus while connecting to neighbors and strangers through daily activities. Through soft, intentional, and inspired evangelism, call your people in the church to win someone to Jesus by being a local evangelist for the church and God.