Pastor’s Page
October is Friend Month
I will begin a new sermon series about the church and its role in the community on Oct 4th. Let’s get serious about bring new faces into our church. God is working and we need to get busy and join Him in His work.
I want to encourage all our members to be aggressive about finding ways we can reach out to Owensboro. Christmas parade, fairs, and other community events are a great place to become known. I don’t want to be the best kept secret in Owensboro. I want get beyond being “a little country church in town”. We are the only General Baptist Church in the third largest city in Kentucky.
Oct 11 will be Mission Sunday and we will focus on our missions around the world.
Oct 18th will be Gideon Sunday with a special Gideon speaker as our guest.
Oct 25 will be Youth and Young At Hearts Sunday with special music by young folks of all ages. (if I can get it schedule we will have a baptism service)
We need a special outreach effort for Harvest Festival. We need volunteers to do games and the other activities. Put on your thinking cap. We may need some additional help with transportation to bring our Glory Bee kids and families to the event. Maybe some special live music in the parking lot --- make if a fun event --- the more church members that take part – the more opportunity we have to open doors to others.
Don’t forget the Life Chain Oct. 4 from 2:30 – 3:30 pm!
Jude verse 3, “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.”
Bro. Dale
August 20, 2009
I believe we all agree that we desire to have our church grow. To accomplish that requires change. Some of the changes are simple while others require more effort and commitment. The goal is to see first-time visitors become second-time visitors, then regular attenders, and ultimately members. If there is no real change there will be no real growth.
Those of us who have attended our denominations annual conference over the last few years have heard the same message. If you want to grow and you aren’t growing now, you must do something different.
Bro. Ed Tullis and I attended a training session at Camp Clark last year that dealt with how to re-focus the church. Most of the information presented was not new but did remind us of fundamental things that churches must do to grow. One of those things is an honest evaluation of where the church is at present. Dr. Franklin Dumond, Director of Congregational Ministries, conducted the training and is available to do an assessment of our church.
The CE Board of Union Association, of which I am a member, voted last week to invite Dr. Dumond to Camp Clark for the next step in the training process, “Next Level”. I have also invited him to visit us here at our church.
An easy place to start is called the “First Seven Minutes”. This critical time takes places during the time that a visitor (guest) arrives at the church and is seated for service or class. Case study after case study shows that a first-time guest decides if they want to come back BEFORE THE SERVICE BEGINS. All the growing churches we have seen at the M&M conferences have addressed this issue. The goal is to have first-time guest become raving fans of your church. Never underestimate the power of wowing your guests.
One simple thing we need to do is “DO NOT ENTER THE BUILDING BY THE KITCHEN DOOR”. I will discuss this in detail later. That is the worst possible entrance for guest. They do what they see you do. They don’t know it is the kitchen door!
Another simple change is the use of attendance cards. I will discuss this with the deacons at our next meeting. This simple act plays a major role in gathering information from guests. For it to be effective everyone must fill out a card; members included.
Case study has shown that the best time to collect those cards and the offering is at the end of the service. Not during the service. I have to admit I personal resist this idea, but this change has proven to be an important part on connecting with first-times guests.
In his book “Fusion”, Nelson Searcy asked this question, “Why would God send new people to a church that is not ready to welcome and nurture them?” Think of it this way; you have special guests coming to your home --- how do you prepare for them and how are they welcomed when they arrive? Aren’t our visitors people God has sent to us and shouldn’t they be treated as guest in His house?
Another important fact for us is the number of “guests” we have each week.
Ratio of First-Time Guest to Regular Attenders
3/100 = a church in maintenance mode
5/100 = a steadily growing church
7 to 10/100 = a rapidly growing church
Anything less than 3 guests per 100 regular attenders is a dying church
Another area we need to address is small group ministry. I have talked and talked about this. Research consistently shows that new people must make friends within four to six months, or they will not stick. I believe in our community, that time-frame is much shorter. My guess is that if they do not make friends within two months they will be gone.
Churches that have small group ministries are growing; church that do not are not. Small groups can be in a variety of forms but to be a growing church we must have them. Existing auxiliaries should be aggressive in searching for new members both inside and outside the church. Church members should SEEK to become part of opportunities we already have. If the church membership is not involved with the church beyond Sunday worship, guest will not connect with them. Remember they do what they see you do.
I need a group of volunteers to work with myself and the deacons. I need people who will give an hour or two each week. This group will undergo training and be involved in discussions about how we can start from where we are and go forward in growing God’s church. Let’s pray that together God will direct our hearts and minds.
Bro. Dale