A Strategy To Reach The Unchurced Essay

Jesus commanded us to go and tell. The passage in Matthew 10 gives us words of conviction, instruction, preparation and finally expectation. We need to absorb this and as we do I believe that it will become clear what we are to do. And ways to reach the unchurch is making strategy. There are many church now answering the call to reach the Unchurch but to how to reach it we will find in the next paragraph. Giving Time The strategy of Sunset Presbyterian Church take the time needed to keep their circle of unchurch friends. Feil states, â€Å"I think everyone on our pastoral staff places a high priority on giving our people the time and the freedom to maintain their connections with their workplace, their marketplace, with nonchurched neighbors and friends. That is a high priority for us. They have to keep that circle of influence, that network of friends. We try to communicate clearly that we want to partner with them in reaching those people for Christ. And the primary way we want to partner with them is make our church a place where those people can come. Not just for some special evangelistic event but any Sunday and to any program or ministry. † (Feil, 2001). Start New Ministry The American Missionary Fellowship(2006) develop new ministries in every community possible using our new evangelistic tool, the Learning Community. A Learning Community is an evangelistic effort to bring together unchurched people with common interests in order to study the Bible and to equip lay teachers/leaders. Start New Bible Study Groups The LifeWay Church Resources ( 2005) Churches will be able to accommodate new people and the return of non-attending members primarily by enlarging the tent (Isaiah 54:2-3) of its open groups strategy through the expansion of its Sunday School ministry. These groups and classes usually are designed to target persons who ordinarily do not participate in church; many of these new units become the entry point for unchurched persons into the church and a relationship with Jesus Christ. This training will also help focus on the need and opportunities to start new churches in locations where people are not being reached by existing churches. Reaching people in crisis One factor is certain about the leaders of these churches that reach the unchurched: they are highly creative in their attempts to reach the unchurched. A Baptist church in West Virginia has a hospital ministry to new mothers, an attempt to reach these young families in their â€Å"positive crisis. † A West Coast Evangelical Free Church has reached more unchurched through its crisis pregnancy ministry than any another approach. And a Wesleyan church in the Midwest offers its beautiful sanctuary to prospective newlyweds at a very modest fee — but only if they agree to four sessions of premarital counseling. The lesson is clear: the unchurched are more likely to seek a church at a point of crisis. Innovative churches have discovered ways to have a presence in these crisis moments. ( Rainer,Thom S. ) Welcoming Atmosphere Creating a welcoming atmosphere by encouraging everyone, including the pastoral staff, to wear â€Å"stick on† name tags. They also pass a â€Å"Friendship Register† down the aisle each week, allowing members and visitors to sign in. Visitors usually sign-in this way, first, in order to let themselves be known. Visitors are also invited to identify themselves in the public worship services by simply raising their hand so that the ushers can give them a tape and brochure. â€Å"Our regular people know that the reason we are asking people to raise their hands is so they can identify them,† explains Pastor Feil. â€Å"I have had many first time visitors tell me that when they raised their hand three or four people around them said ‘hello, I’m so and so, who are you and welcome, we’re glad you are here, can I answer any questions. ’ So, they have been greeted as a result of that. That has worked for us. † (Barbara Feil. 2001). Reaching the unchurched through quality childcare â€Å"Parents today want the best for their children,† said an independent Baptist pastor from Louisiana. â€Å"It is amazing how much they care for the spiritual well-being of their children but neglect themselves in this area,† he said. â€Å"We decided to allocate heavy dollar resources into updating our preschool and children’s wing. Boy, has it paid off! We’re now reaching many of these young families who have no church background,† he exclaimed. ( Rainer,Thom S. ) Reaching through Shepherding and Discipleship Throughout all the ministries the focus is on shepherding and discipleship—the whole culture is aimed at this process. Feil states, â€Å"From the time someone becomes a believer here at Sunset the rest of what we do is aimed at that, to help them grow in their faith. That’s what we are concerned about, that everyone grows in his or her faith. So the purpose of every ministry, across the board, is to help disciple people. † (Barbara Feil. 2001). Focus Evangelistic Efforts on Children and Youth The Central Church † don’t neglect the adults,† said a nondenominational church pastor from Minnesota, â€Å"but we have seven specific ministries a year designed to reach teens and children. † More than one-half of the pastors indicated that their churches had specific strategies to reach children and youth, the largest unchurched group in America. ( Rainer,Thom S. )