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Ideas for Impact by Garry Goodin These are some of the ideas we have shared in previous issues of the Innovator.
BLOCK PARTIES The second day after we moved to Tallahassee, our family walked down our street and we introduced ourselves to our new neighbors. When we discovered that our next door neighbor was going to be married soon, we asked if we could host a wedding shower for them in our neighborhood and invite the neighbors. Everyone enjoyed the social time at the shower and it built a foundation of friendship that grew deeper and deeper over the following years. We had July 4, Memorial Day and Labor Day cookouts. We had Thanksgiving and Christmas parties. Soon our neighbors were calling and inviting people to cookouts at their homes. Normal everyday conversations provided ways to share our faith and our testimony. When the inevitable crisis came to families on our street, we were there to pray with our neighbors, to keep their kids or bring a meal. The “church” sometimes has a hard time getting into a neighborhood to make “cold turkey calls,” but every Christian has an opportunity to reach out to their neighbors. Throw a block party! You can do this!
MONTHLY FELLOWSHIPS In most churches, there are people who attend worship but are hesitant to attend Sunday School or small groups during the week. They are often timid about leaving the “safety” and anonymity of the worship service and attending a class where they don’t know people well. One step to help solve this problem is to change and expand the idea of the traditional Sunday School class party. When only class members are invited, you usually get just a small group of class members attending. Why not combine a couple of classes together (adults in their 30s and 40s for instance) and then make a real effort to make some phone calls and invite all adults in that age group who usually attend worship only. Also, invite all your recent worship visitors, married or single, who fall within that age group. Don’t call it a “class” party, just make it a church party. A monthly fellowship like this, with 20 to 40 people attending each month, can be a warm, fun, friendly place to meet new people. It really helps the “worship-only” person to take a step closer to becoming a part of a Sunday School class or a small group.
STARTING SMALL GROUPS As a Sunday School teacher for the last 25 years, I want to say that I love Sunday School! But I have also been part of some fantastic small groups that met in homes. One family I know hosted a small group every week for 15 years. My high school son attended a small group for seniors that was designed to last one year and he looked forward to it every week. We hosted a small group for our un-churched neighbors that met for 6 weeks and they loved watching a marriage video by Gary Smalley and discussing how to have a better marriage. It was a great opportunity for us to share our faith and build deeper relationships with our neighbors. Here are some tips for starting a successful small group:
REACHING TEENAGERS In a recent book, it stated that of Americans 12 to 29 years old, less than 10% claim to be a Christian. If that is true, it ought to give us a reason to think long and hard about how we go about youth ministry in our churches. It seems to me that our basic approach is often to separate all the middle and high school students away from the rest of the people in the church. At the same time, we encourage parents to spend time with their children – as long as they don’t do it at church. We say we believe in training the future leaders of our churches, but we don’t invite them to be part of the process until they graduate from college and seminary. At that point, 80% of our students who used to attend have already dropped out of church. For the sake of discussion and brainstorming outside the box, I would like to throw out a few ideas to think over.
MENTORING If we were fortunate, we grew up in a family where our father taught us how to change a tire, lay tile in a bathroom, and study the Bible. Perhaps our mother showed us how to cook a ham and cheese omelet, balance a checkbook and pray. If we were fortunate, we grew up in a church where people took time to walk closely beside us and help us grow in our relationship with God. I became a Christian in a church like that. When I was a college student, a deacon asked me if I would become his apprentice. He took me with him to visit the hospital, to share the gospel, and to pray with grieving families. An older woman in our church asked me to be her visitation partner. Week after week we visited homes and I watched her lead people to faith in Christ. A man in our church had a lot of compassion for people in prison. He asked me to go with him to visit and pray with men in jail and in the state prison. You cannot imagine the impact it had on me when older men and women the age of my parents and grandparents asked me to come with them and help in the ministry of the church. It helped me to grow tremendously when I not only heard sermons about loving people, but also got to see church members demonstrate that love. I hope you will remember this week the important influence you can have on a young person’s life by just inviting them to go with you, and help you, as you serve others in Jesus’ name.
GETTING THE MOST FROM OUR DISCIPLESHIP CONFERENCE This month, Feb. 19-20, is our annual Discipleship Conference. Here are some ideas for getting the most from this conference: 1) In addition to inviting the whole church, also ask some specific people to be your church’s representative to a particular workshop. There are 15 workshops so 15 people from each church would be a great goal! 2) Focus on the youth and college group. These are our future leaders. Ask 10 specific students if they would be willing to go to a workshop on either Monday or Tuesday night. 3) Invite all your college students to attend either the lunch meeting at FSU on Monday, or the lunch meeting at FAMU on Tuesday. 4) Call the Association office and ask us to email you the bulletin insert. This ½ sheet of paper can be used for worship or Sunday School classes. It has the place and times as well as a description or each workshop. 5) Schedule a conference speaker to come to your church during the day on Monday or Tuesday.
COLLEGE MINISTRY It is exciting to live in a town like Tallahassee with 80,000+ college students. The potential to make a difference in the lives of these young adults is awesome. One resource you should consider is a partnership with the Baptist Campus Ministry. 1) The BCM has a large fellowship group that can welcome the newly graduating high school seniors from your church. But don’t leave it to chance. Call the BCM and set up a time when some of their strong Christian students can come to your church and meet with your graduating seniors. Plan a time to take your seniors over to FSU and take a tour of the BCM so they can meet the Director and some of their student leaders. Invite a group from the BCM to supply music, drama or testimonies during your worship service.
2) Help welcome new students each Fall on move-in day. Churches also help host a progressive supper for new students who are looking for a church.
3) Attend a weekly meeting at the BCM.
4) Churches are needed to help supply a meal once each semester for a BCM event.
5) Help a student with financial assistance for summer missions.
6) Students who did summer missions are available to come to your church and share an extended testimony.
7) Help reach Internationals – Thanksgiving food and furniture donations are collected each year.
SINGLE ADULT MINISTRY There are thousands of single adults in Tallahassee. Here are some tips to help your church build a single adult ministry.
Resources: We have video tapes at the Association office for Divorce Recovery or Grief Recovery. Check them out to use at your church.
FAMILY MINISTRY Here are some ideas about passing along our faith to our children and grandchildren:
TRAINING MISSIONARIES IN OUR CHURCHES Jesus has already called us and sent us to make a difference in the world (Acts 1:8). Now, how can our church help our members to be successful in their calling?
One way is helping our church members to experience hands-on missions. A children’s class can help widows or single mothers. Teenagers can help collect winter coats for the Haven of Rest homeless shelter or take school supplies to a neighborhood school. Families can help a sick neighbor and more.
The more we all interact with the people in our community, the more compassion God will develop in our lives for hurting people.
MOVING FROM WORSHIP TO SMALL GROUPS TO MINISTRY Most of what we do at church falls into one of three categories: worship services, small groups and ministry. Our goal is to help our church members move in a process from one to the other.
How can we help move church members from worship into small groups? One way might be testimonies in the worship service by the pastor and others about what they are learning in their small groups. A second way could be to set up tables with small group representatives in the foyer as people leave a worship service.
How can we help move church members from small groups into ministry? One way is to ask small groups to choose a ministry project or an on-going ministry that their group would like to be involved with. One church actually forms small groups that are centered around the type of ministry they will do. For example, the Children’s Ministry small group meets for Bible study and then does ministry once a week at the Children’s Home.
DEALING WITH THE FEAR OF CHANGE One of the hardest things for many churches to deal with is change. Change is hard because it often brings up an emotion of fear. Church leaders want to facilitate change because they want to make sure their church is going to be effective in reaching our present culture and community, as well as the next generation. So, they think about changes that might be needed for worship services, Sunday School, youth and children’s programs, mission projects, and building space. At the same time, Church leaders are hesitant of making too many changes which might cause people to be uncomfortable who have attended there a long time. It is just human nature that once we get used to doing things a certain way, it is more comfortable to keep it that way. So what is the answer? From my perspective, I want whatever church we attend to do the things that are necessary to reach the next generation. I want my church to teach us to live and share the unchanging good news in a way that communicates with today’s culture. I am okay with new styles of music, and different methods of preaching, if it helps us keep focused on the goal of sharing the Son of God with our world. The God who helps us with everything else can also help us face the fear of change.
NEW MEMBER TRAINING It used to be (in the old days) that when someone joined your church they already had some basic Bible and church knowledge because they grew up attending a church. It isn’t safe to assume that anymore. Many of our church members have never read the Bible all the way through, they don’t know what the Bible says about the Christian life, and they don’t feel comfortable trying to explain what it means to be a Christian to someone else. A New Member Class can provide part of the solution. New Member Classes can help people get to know the staff, the basic teachings of the Bible, the vision and goals of your church, and a little bit about your ministries. In a relaxed atmosphere, new members may feel comfortable enough to ask the questions they have been dying to ask. After spending several hours or weeks together, new friendships will often be formed. If your church needs more information about resources for new member training, please contact the Association at 877-7600.
SPACE NEEDED FOR NINE CHURCHES TO MEET If you know of an empty space where a church could meet, let us know at the Association office. Several thousand Christians praying and thinking together should be able to solve this opportunity. There are currently nine churches in our Association looking for a better place to meet so their churches can continue to grow. These nine churches have between 20 and 300 members attending each week. They are meeting in rented facilities, like schools and restaurants, which they have either outgrown or are too expensive for a small church to afford. Five churches need worship space for less than 100. Two churches need space for 200 in worship. Two churches need space for 400 in worship. All of the churches need some additional space for child care and Sunday School.
WORLD CHANGERS AND OTHER MISSION PROJECTS Every Sunday, David Southerland and I are in one of our Association churches, sometimes preaching and sometimes just enjoying the fellowship and worship. It is so exciting to hear pastors each Sunday talking about the local mission projects that their churches are involved in. Working together we can make a big impact and change lives. Thank you for helping with our World Changers construction project which will involve over 100 Southern Baptist students coming to Tallahassee to do construction and repair work for low income families. At the same time these students will share the gospel in each neighborhood. Last year, 20 people made a decision to trust Christ.
PARTNERING WITH THE NEXT GENERATION AS WE DO MINISTRY
u Last Sunday 2 college students from the FSU Baptist Collegiate Ministry went with me to Forest Heights Baptist where I was preaching. They spoke for 5 minutes about their involvement in international ministry on the campus and did an outstanding job.
u This month I will lead a witnessing workshop at Crossway Baptist and two college students will go with me to help with leadership.
u A FAMU BCM student went with me to share a testimony at a local church.
u A panel of seven college students helped me during a sermon as we talked about the "Future of the Church".
u We took conference leaders from the Florida Baptist Convention to meet with students on the campuses of FSU and FAMU and lead discipleship workshops there.
u This past February, when the Association hosted our Operation: Training Church Leadership conference, we had three workshops just for students on "Leadership" and "Evangelism".
u The BCM sends out teams to local churches to share music, drama and testimonies.
u This summer, dozens of college students from our Association are all over the world doing mission work. Every week I receive an email from one team as they travel through Southeast Asia.
u I was in a local church this past Sunday night and was thrilled to see more than 30 students taking places of leadership with the music, drama, taking up the offering, leading in prayer, greeting visitors, taking care of technology needs, running the web site and leading in small group Bible studies all over town.
u This summer, hundreds of students will help our churches lead mission trips, camps and VBS weeks.
u June 8-13, around 100 students will come in to Tallahassee and do construction projects all over the city of Tallahassee in the name of Christ. They will share the gospel verbally and through their sweat and blisters as they care for families who need help.
I could go on, but I think you get the idea. We have a tremendous resource in our students on the campus and in our churches and I thank God for them.
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