Mobilizing Your Congregation to Fish for Men

Written By: Dr. Alan Avera

And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” Mark 1:17 (ESV)

As Jesus called his disciples, he trained them and mobilized them as a group to become fishers of men.  How can we mobilize our congregations to be actively involved in fishing expeditions?   I have loosely adapted the four phases below from an approach presented by Dr. Bruce Finn to the Carolinas New Church Community of the ARP Church. Bruce is church planting coordinator for the Metro Philadelphia Church Planting Partnership

1.             Theological Preparation Phase.  Reflect deeply on the gospel and on the work of the Holy Spirit in bring people to Christ.

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:5-8 (ESV)

o   Make sure that people in the church understand and are grounded in the gospel.

o   Teach on the work of the Holy Spirit in leading people to Christ.

o   Equip people in your church to listen, to learn, and to look for the work of the Holy Spirit in people’s lives.

2.             Prayer Foundation Phase.  Have people individually use a focused prayer list, and then gather corporately for prayer summits.

I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word John 17:20 (ESV)

o   Give each person a copy of the Ten Most Wanted list and explain how and why to use it.  Ask each person to pray regularly for people on their list.

o   Have people circle or highlight the name of the person on the list that they would most want to see believe and receive Christ.  Ask for a commitment to pray diligently for this person.

o   Have one or more prayer summits where each person brings their prayer lists.  Pray together and specifically by name for the people on these lists, and pray for the work of the Holy Spirit in your community as a whole.

3.             Team Orchestration Phase.  Find ways for many people to be involved in a coordinated effort. 

Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.  And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”  And immediately they left their nets and followed him.  And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets.  And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him. Mark 1:16-20 (ESV)

o   Fishing in the New Testament was not an individual pursuit.  Whole families gathered together in fishing partnerships, or fishing teams.  There was a place for everyone on the team, whether the support crew back on shore, or the boat crew casting nets.

o   Boat crews would go out on fishing expeditions repeatedly.

o   In calling men with a background in these kinds of family fishing partnerships, Jesus conceived of fishing for men as a family or community partnership through which men are reached for Christ.

o   Orchestrate your outreach and evangelistic efforts so that there is a way for all kinds of people to be involved, no matter what their personality or spiritual gifting.  Think of different ways people can be involved, and then prepare them, organize them, and get them involved.

o   Plan fishing expeditions (outreach and evangelism strategies) repeatedly throughout the year.

4.             Individual Conversation Phase.  Prepare everyone for the individual conversations they will have in the course of this fishing endeavor.

But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience 1 Peter 3:15-16 (ESV)

o   Prepare a list of four or five topics that ought to be included in any gospel conversation or series of conversations.

o   Give people examples of gospel conversations.  Model it as leaders.

Repeat these phases several times throughout the year in coordination with planned fishing expeditions (outreach and evangelism strategies).

The Grace of Giving

Written by: Dr. Alan Avera

The Apostle Paul, perhaps the greatest church planter of all time, urges the Corinthian Church to excel in the grace of giving (2 Corinthians 8 & 9). Giving is important to the healthy growth of a church.

Many of us find that counterintuitive. We are afraid that asking people to give might drive some people away. But that’s not what Ed Stetzer found in a 2007 study of church plant survivability. He found that having a proactive stewardship development plan increases the likelihood of a church plant surviving by over 178 percent.

Before you discount that as being only about having the money to keep on going, consider two other things Stetzer found in that same study.

·      Being intentional about financial stewardship is one of the ten factors correlated with higher church plant attendance. In other words, while a proactive stewardship development plan risks potentially driving someone away, the positive impact is greater than the potential risk.

·      A proactive stewardship development plan is also correlated with more baptisms. Stetzer argues that this is a basic aspect of the Christian life that needs to be nurtured rather than neglected. When it is nurtured, it tends to produce a higher expectation church that sees more professions of faith.

Given that having a proactive stewardship development plan is important both Biblically and practically, what is the best way to teach stewardship?   Ruben Swint, ministry partner of The Columbia Partnership (http://www.thecolumbiapartnership.org/) suggests that younger generations respond better when you emphasize the concept of generosity, “generosity is a companion word to stewardship.”

Swint writes, “If you are planting a new congregation or your congregation is less that 20 years old, then begin to emphasize generosity. Generosity is a term that you do not need to hide from your visitors either. They are used to the term from popular culture. In fact, your church may be more appealing if it is seen as being a generous group of believers.”

Swint notes what II Corinthians 8:7 – 9:15 tells us about generosity:

• Generosity is excelling in the grace of giving.
• Generosity is not an obligation, command or duty.
• Generosity measures the sincerity of a person’s love.
• Christ was rich, yet He became poor for our sakes.
• Christ is the example of God’s generosity to us.
• Be generous with an attitude of enthusiasm, not reluctance.
• Generosity is good for us.

“If generosity is a word or action that has value for the Christian life, how can one grow generosity in their congregation?” Swint gives the following suggestions:

• Engage in a Bible study on generosity.
• Receive an offering and give it all away.
• Preach on God’s generosity and that we are made in God’s image.
• Train and empower a generosity team or task force.
• Plan an act or event of generosity for your community.
• Make generosity the guiding principle of budget planning.
• Remind, remind, and remind members of what they still have.

How does generosity relate to a proactive stewardship development plan?  What do you think, or what has been your experience?

Is Your Website Effective?

Written by: Tessa Taylor

Joel Gardner (Office and Finance Manager for ONA) and his wife recently moved to Greenville after graduating from college. They used the web in deciding what churches to visit. They landed at a church plant that they decided to visit because of its website. Joel represents many people his age. The first contact they will have with your church is through your website.

Below are some helpful guidelines in critiquing and building your website:

Content

    1.       Understand that the average visitor spends only 90 seconds on a church website. How does   that impact your layout?

    2.       Think about topics from a visitor’s point of view- not yours!

    3.       Make information potential visitors need easy to find. If information is too hard to find on the site, it will drive people away!

a.       Add a “I’m new here section” consisting of:

                                                              i.      Location and service time

                                                             ii.      Directions

                                                            iii.      Vision statement, brief summary of beliefs,  and denomination affiliation

b.      Add pictures, graphic designs, and videos instead of lots of words upfront. 

Design

   1.       Using website templates can make building a website much easier

   2.       Make the page elements obvious, using patterns and alignments- be consistent!

   3.       Use space effectively

a.       Break text into small chunks. 8-10 words per line makes reading easy.

b.      Use lots of headings

c.       Don’t center text- instead left justify

   4.       Text and Colors

a.       Don’t write in all caps. All caps is computer language for yelling and is harder to read. Use bold or colored text for emphasis instead of capitalization.

b.      Don’t underline anything but links. Use italics sparingly.

c.       Provide good contrast between text and background. (Some people are color blind, so contrast is essential.) Dark text on a light background is easier to read that light text on a dark background.

d.      Think about all your site visitors when you choose colors. Colors evoke emotions. Warm colors include red, orange, and yellow and can evoke emotions ranging from feelings of warmth and comfort to feelings of anger and aggression. Cool colors include blue, purple, and green and are often described as calm, but can also be melancholy. You also don’t want to use too many dark colors that cause your website to appear dark.

Drew Goodmanson is also a great resource for church websites and technology. He offers tips on his website as well as articles for other publications.

http://www.goodmanson.com/resources/articles/