Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "What Are Valid, Orthodox Approaches to Outreach?":
Thank you so much Pastor G J! I have been meaning to ask you this question for some time. Could you provide some examples of out reach and canvassing? I am on the church evangelism comm. and would appreciate your helpful knowlege. Church and Change is not an option. We do not need the assistance of false teachers.
From WELS church lady
***
GJ - I provided some outreach examples before. With canvassing, I suggest picking a neighborhood and simply inviting people to church if they have none. Having a doctrinal piece to give them is a good idea - Not one that says "We are a friendly church with a lot of programs to suit your felt needs." Most churches are not that friendly; moreover, the Word converts - not love. I said to a WELS gathering that promoting the "friendliness of WELS" was not a good idea. M. Manthey said, "Greg, that was cruel."
Many are looking for solemn, digified, liturgical Christ-centered worship. Adults do not want kiddy sermons and arky-warky floody-muddy songs to sing. If they do, there is always a Shrinker sect to patronize.
We printed "We Still Believe" and used that all the time. We also paid for doctrinal ads in the newspapers.
Any approach should be Word-centered and not measured by man's concept of success.
7 comments:
I agree that "any approach should be Word-centered and not measured by man's concept of success." However, people look for a beautiful church building and lots of people when church shopping. How do we get people to look past our ugly church exterior to find truths and sacraments inside? Our pastor is an excellent preacher, top notch teacher and never fails to meet his visiting duties ( and has changed the inside of the church to a beautiful Christ centered worship space)but still, our membership shrinks due to reasons beyond our control. I feel our ugly exterior is unappealing to the outsider.
Fix up the church because it's the right thing to do; to take care of God's house of Worship, not to make it attractive to the shallow.
Scripture says of Jesus that there was nothing about Him to attract others. But also here is a germain scripture that just kills the "look at us, see all we have to offer" thinking out there.
1 Corinthians 1:27-29 (New International Version)
27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29so that no one may boast before him.
Where is the boasting today? Is it in The Word and Sacraments or is it in our nifty programs that are so "effective." They will TELL you it's the Word and Sacrament, but the actions and emphasis clearly indicate otherwise in so very many cases. Those actions cannot be ignored or denied. Just look around. It seems little trust are put in the marks of the true church.
Fix up the church because it's the right thing to do; to take care of God's house of Worship, not to make it attractive to the shallow.
Scripture says of Jesus that there was nothing about Him to attract others. But also here is a germain scripture that just kills the "look at us, see all we have to offer" thinking out there.
1 Corinthians 1:27-29 (New International Version)
27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29so that no one may boast before him.
Where is the boasting today? Is it in The Word and Sacraments or is it in our nifty programs that are so "effective." They will TELL you it's the Word and Sacrament, but the actions and emphasis clearly indicate otherwise in so very many cases. Those actions cannot be ignored or denied. Just look around. It seems little trust are put in the marks of the true church.
WELS Lady why are asking GJ? Don't you know that it is improper to go outside of your fellowship to gain knowledge in these areas?
That is God's will. He has control.
Word from the pew is that Gurgel is positioning Patterson to be the C&C presidential at the next synod convention.
Glaeske is about to retire and Patterson is poised to take over as district pope of the southcentral. Then watch the rock and roll churches grow.
Why the continual obsession with harranging Wels? Everyone agrees that the Holy Spirit is the only thing that converts someone to faith. The blog comments always seem to be geared to the extreme elements. What happened to offering comments/suggestions in love with the hope of bringing glory to Christ? Our focus in on the theology of the Cross--not glory.
Post a Comment