Randy Mullinax, state missionary in the area of
evangelism and church revitalization recently facilitated a roundtable
discussion for a group of pastors at the Middle Baptist Association in Sylvania
Georgia. The following is a summary of this discussion.
Processes - How do we
teach visitors what our church is all about?
o One
pastor has a new member class called “First Steps” that is a prerequisite to
membership. (1) It requires the participants to take a spiritual gifts
inventory, (2) understand and commit to four covenants that cover the meaning
of local church membership, and (3) moves them on to “starter ministries” like
greeting.
o Some
churches do have a deliberate process in place that must be completed before
people are accepted into membership.
o One
pastor said, “You can’t receive members without a process now because of the
culture around us and where people are coming from.”
o Some
pastors focus on the biblical truths communicated in a church covenant to guide
membership development. One pastor was using the covenant Thom Rainer developed
in his book I am a Church Member.
o It
is agreed that unregenerate church membership is a significant problem and that
using a process to receive new members can really help address this.
o One
pastor asked his deacons to be prepared for several Sundays to present a
personal salvation testimony as part of the church’s public worship.
o One
need that is highlighted in churches is the need to teach leaders and invest in
them.
o Churches
need to communicate expectations and raise the standard of membership.
o Is
it important to have areas of involvement for non-members? If so, what does
this look like?
- Some churches will allow non-members to play on softball teams to create relationships.
- Others were open to incorporate non-members as musicians.
- The caution here was to avoid having anyone settle into a transitional membership status.
o One
pastor observed that the way churches are structured is antithetical to reaching
people. Studies show that 50% of people come to Christ because of friends and
family, but many churches do not train people to do evangelistic small groups,
and many churches are resistant to non-traditional approaches to small groups,
like home groups.
o Sometimes
churches are not allowing the purpose to drive ministry. We are trying to get
people to the facility on Sunday and Wednesday but are not creating relationships.
o Pastors
tend to account for just 10% of congregational growth.
o Alistair
Begg – FRANgelism
- Friends
- Relatives
- Acquaintances
- Neighbors
o Entitlement
is a cultural issue.
o Scandalous
grace + holy community. This is a paradox. None of us are qualified, and yet we
are striving for holy community.
o Ingrown
culture is a problem. People know the churches and won’t attend, but many existing
churches have a competition mindset and won’t sponsor a new church plant.
o More
than one method is needed.
o What
is the end game? What is driving what we are doing?
o We
must measure and track what matters.
o Communicate
the purposes and help the congregation accept a new culture and paradigm.
o Keep
what works, adapt and change what doesn’t.
o Start
new things and plow around the intractable people.
o Too
often in churches people are listening to the voice of the “older brother.”
(Luke 15).
o Practice
2 Timothy 2:2 in mentoring relationships. Have mature people pour their lives
into new believers.
o Directly
enlist people to ministry. “Why are you serving at this event?” “I was
volun-told.”
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