How can a Church attract attendees?

[Former Christian]

Re: What are ways to get people to come to a church?

Jethro Bodine

One could try something simple. Like actually having worship services. Instead of sermon services that are called Worship Services. But then, maybe that's a bad idea if all that's desired are more people to help defray expenses. Yet it might appeal to new believers. Older believers might not understand what it is being so used to sitting in their pews listening to the pastor expound on what he believes the bible is saying.

FC

 

[Elijah674]

Re: What are ways to get people to come to a church?

I'm okay with this, but how do you get people into a church in the first place for them to even know that your doctrine and purity are good?

(I'll read the Joshua passage later when I have more time, thank you)

I think that first when you look for such ones, they will have to be to the point of desiring to know truth. The Holy Spirit does STRIVE on all mankind. (Gen. 3:6) And the everlasting Gospel (Rev. 14:6) is summed up in Matt. 28:18-20. And this is personal labor + evangelistic meetings.

--Elijah

Matt. 28
[18] And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
[19] Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
[20] Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

And even this 'teaching' finds the way that it is to be done in the Bible Study thread.

 

[Danus]

....odd. I thought I posted in here? guess not

 

[Bob Carabbio]

The Lord will send 'em in when He chooses to.

YOUR problem is to be in a spiritual condition to give 'em something then they get there.

Prayer is the ultimate answer. Get the people on their knees, and God will handle the details.








-------------------------------
20 For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress
And embrace the bosom of a foreigner?
21 For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the LORD,
And He watches all his paths." (Proverbs 5:20-21 NASB)[/QUOTE]

 

[Jethro Bodine]

....odd. I thought I posted in here? guess not

You did...and your post was actually the one that I wanted to talk about!

 

[Jethro Bodine]

The people I have in mind are the people who started the church I have attended for the last six years. They broke off from the local Church of God (Anderson, IN) when the pastor was accused of making advances on a woman in the congregation. Long story short, he was cleared by the Church of God after an investigation, but they said his influence was probably damaged and he probably could not continue as the pastor of that church. So him along with maybe half of the church started a new church--mortgage and all.

Within months of moving into the new church, the pastor was forced into retirement by his Parkinson's Disease (he passed away 6 months ago). They did well under the next pastor, had another pastor after that, and an interim pastor serving them now. Things aren't so great. Numbers are way down. They've been looking for a way to build numbers back up.

The Church of God just happens to have a very active and thought out plan for church growth, and it is the same as what Danus shared. Target the 20 and 30 somethings with families and you'll grow.

More later. I want to share my own thoughts about that and the other ideas you all have shared here. I'll comment as I can give quality time to do that. Thank you for posting. I'm interested in your thoughts and insights.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Oh, and let me add. As far as I know, paying the bills is not a problem. But obviously it's an important factor that makes closing the church not an option. Nor is having enough people to fill key positions in the church a problem.

It's just that they feel strongly that church is for evangelizing the lost and bringing them to Christ. A mission that I certainly feel is essential to the church, but in my scripturally based opinion (IMSBO?) is not the main reason we Christians assemble.

 

[reba]

If this reads a bit different.....Two threads have been merged into one... At the OP request...

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Preaching the Word... The gimmicks dont do the job. From the sweet side of the Gospel, The harsh side of the reality of being a true follower of Christ. Please dont serve coffee and donuts to get them in ... The lack of teaching in our churches is sadly amazing.

That said ... depending the location of the church... Dont bother to feed the soul when the belly is hungry....

Well, the donuts and coffee thing is where the church I have in mind is heading. The idea is you fill the place up with all kinds of people and then you get them saved.

I personally don't think you make true believers out of people just because you make it enjoyable to come to your church over and above another church. And what happens when the donuts run out? Reminds me of the second type of soil in the parable of the soil (no roots--they dry up when the good times end).

Jesus chastised the large group of people who gathered because they were only there because he had fed them food:

Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill." (John 6:26 NIV1984)

Like you, I'm a firm believer in feeding people quality spiritual food. The people who God is genuinely calling will stay for that. But it does seem that in our affluent societies that is a very small group of people indeed. Are churches really able to accept this fact?

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Put an "all-welcome sign" on the front lawn. Put clever catchy slogans on the billboard. Invest in a good sound system. Preach salvation for a simple acceptance of what the church is up to. Ignore the harder verses but if some narrow verses are somehow brought up...never let the Holy Spirit maintain any conviction of sin in the departing attendees....instead fix that with an altar call!

So true.

But it seems that even when a church does want to bring some conviction on it's according to their own narrow view of life and service to God. For me this whole thing hinges on serving up the real and whole truth of God under the annonting of the Holy Spirit. And the people who are presently enjoying and thriving under it going out themselves and encouraging people to attend with them.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

The central thing needs to be the ministry of the Word.

If ppl are 'saddled' with an expensive building they can't afford, then maybe it's time to quit using it; maybe they should sell it so they can concentrate on the Word.

...but then down goes the numbers.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Re: What are ways to get people to come to a church?

I think there are several things:

1) Get out and support the people of the community. A caring church that involved in outreach shows the people in the community that they "walk the walk" of the gospel.

2) Publish sermons online to get people interested in the preaching

3) Have a statement of faith online.

4) Pray!

In regard to #1. Do you think this attracts unbelievers who now want to become believers because of what you did for them? Or it attracts other people who already believe and are just interested in finding a church that does things?

I'm kind of pessimistic when it comes to thinking that many people will come under the conviction of their sins and be saved through the service of their needs. I've never seen or heard of a person eventually getting saved because you paid their electric bill. It always seems like a waste of time and money to do that in the church. Don't get me wrong I'm all about helping people in (genuine) need...but I'm very pessimistic about it as an evangelistic tool.


And as far as #2 and 3, in this age I think that is a great way to get exposure for your church.

 

[reba]

Jesus stated with only 12.. or 11 depending on who ya count....

These mega churches are not for me some folks like em and thats good.
Dont know if i can get my thoughts to come out in words..... Our churches should be getting folks ready to the evangelizing. Doing this by teaching the Word to the members. The depths of His Word... Not just teaching us to quote John 3 16... Some history..
Rom 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
Some grasp of the OT that sorta thing...

The importance of Sunday School can not be over looked... The age appropriate
simple teaching of the Bible stories... NOT adapted to today. I miss the flannel boards... THe OT comes alive in the bible stories.... enough ramble

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Re: What are ways to get people to come to a church?

Jethro, you've asked an honest question and I'll give you my honest opinion on the subject you raised... and please keep in mind that you have my greatest respect, but......

Instead of focusing on the gospel message and taking it out to the streets, too many in the Body have taken to coming up with ways to attract people, mainly already church going people, away from other congregations and into our own local church. The focus is to get people to "come to church" as if being in "church" is our great commission.

Christ didn't command us to go out and increase the membership rolls. He sent us out into the fields which seem even whiter for harvest now than ever! I think there is only one biblical way to get people to "come to a church"... and that is get out and preach the gospel to the lost.

Back in 1987, a pastor in Ireland had a vision to start a church. It was to be a Presbyterian Church, holding true to the Scriptures (as opposed to some main-line Presbyterian churches that do not.)

Now, "Presbyterian" is a very loaded word in Ireland, smacked with all kinds of political overtones. So, how to start the church, without "robbing the other vines" and not getting folks confused about "presbyterian" vs. just a godly church.

What he did was ask both the Orthodox Presbyterian and the PCA here in America to send teams over to Ireland. Each team went over for a period of two weeks and there were either 3 or four teams that went throughout the summer.

Our ministry was to go out into the streets of Dublin and share the gospel. The way we did this was via street plays, mimes, sing-a-longs, skits, Q&A type testimonies. We met on Grafton Street, which is a street closed to traffic, so that it was basically a large, open air mall. All it took to get a crowd around was to simply begin the performance. Each performance had something to do with the Gospel and those not performing were to observe the crowd and take note of who seemed to be interested in the message. We would then engage these people in conversation, sharing the gospel clearly and depending on how the conversation went, we'd ask them to dinner with us. Each night, we would have a couple of guests for supper. The pastor would follow up with each and every guest, not just as a possible "contact" but as a person needing the Holy Spirit and...by September, when the new church opened it's doors, it had over 80 charter members, almost all of whom were converts from the streets, with the exception of the pastor and his family.

There are all kinds of helps out there to train people to share the gospel with the lost. D. James Kennedy's "Evangelism Explosion" provides great training material, The Navigators have some good stuff....but the main thing is to get out there, on the street corners, in the malls, farmer's markets, home shows, knocking on doors in neighborhoods,... wherever and whenever, "in season and out of season" and share the gospel.

I like this story for all good spiritual reasons. And the proof is in the pudding, isn't it?

Do you think this would work in the public square of your community?

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Re: What are ways to get people to come to a church?

This is a difficult topic, I think. I think churches sometimes resort to "pandering" to attract or keep members.

Do you believe in maintaining a smaller number of genuine, dedicated believers rather than a larger number of not-so-genuine 'believers' that may or may not eventually believe?

My opinion has always been that if your church is sincerely trying to do the Lord's will, people will be attracted to THAT. Maybe the Lord will even bring people to your church, in that case. Love, love, love.

Do you think adopting this mindset will pretty much lower attendance overall and force a church to make hard financial decisions? I do.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

I miss the flannel boards...

What's a flannel board?

 

[Jethro Bodine]

If a church is saddled with lots of debts and empty seats, I'd wonder if the Holy Spirit had been behind the church's building and other projects from the beginning. I don't mean that to sound harsh, I'm just stating one of the first questions to come to my mind.

The church I have in mind is not saddled with debts, but the seats are emptier than when they first started.

This to me is probably one of the hardest realities to face--"is my lack of success a sign that God did not start this thing?" Very, very hard to face. Especially in light of a need for continued financial investment.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Re: What are ways to get people to come to a church?

I think happy members sharing their enthusiasm for their wonderful church is the best way to attract new folks. Most people attend because someone has personally invited them, they have someone to sit with and talk to about their experience.

This is really the heart and soul of my personal convictions about the matter.

And if you don't get them to attend a service, you can always get them to visit a life group meeting with you after you've interested them in the gospel.

As true as this is it does seem to defy the mindset of people here in the US. It seems churches are store fronts that advertise for people to just walk in off the street and shop them. The fundamental notion seems flawed somehow.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Re: What are ways to get people to come to a church?

I'm probably on the fringe opinion here with this one, but I see church marketing as an important component of any church in a community of people.

I've been a member of two churches that many traditional churches don't like because they see us as pulling from their membership, or gimmicky and not serious about the word of God. However nothing could be further from the truth.

The first church I was a member of grew from a hand full of people to currently 9 thousand members. The church I'm with now is up to about 3 thousand. Both churches pulled the majority of their members from the community of people who had no church home, or who have not been in church for some time.

Both churches preach the word of God, spread the gospel, and have missions within the community and beyond, but both churches are also examples of how to lead the way in attracting people.

It starts with understanding demographics. You have to know who lives in the communities you serve. Typical ages, income, church affiliations, race, and so on.

I live in Olive Branch MS. It's a suburban city of about 37,000. The fastest growing city in the United states by the way. with some of the top public schools in the nation. Tons of houses. My point, families. We have mostly families. Most people are married, have kids, middle to upper middle incomes and a variety of races. So, how does a church attract these people? Our church centers around family. We are kid friendly to the max. We have the rock'n band, free coffee, swanky furniture and all around hipness

This is because we are trying to attract that demographic. Young, married, working, families. We tailor our message to this demographic. We preach the gospel, and we provide resources beyond just the service for growth, biblical knowledge, and servitude. We just completed our second "campus" 10 miles away from our original campus.....we call the buildings campuses.

So, I would ask; what are your goals as a church? What's your community like? What type of growth are you wanting?

Well, this is what the church I've been attending is now actively pursuing. All music will now be 20 to 30 something rock worship music. In fact, everything will be changed to cater to and attract this particular demographic...because that's where the numbers are. The rest of us have been asked to let our own needs and wants concerning church go in favor of this group, because after all "it's not about you". Many seem to believe that somewhere along the line it is selfish to expect the church to meet your spiritual needs and that you must now focus entirely on others needs. You can probably guess I disagree with that entirely. That simply is not Biblical at all.

This is not an attack on you Danus, of course. But I question if sheer number success is somehow clouding spiritual truths in regard to church and what church is supposed to be all about.

 

[reba]

Way back in the dark ages when i was a kid...

Flannel boards a heavy cardboard board about a yard square or so....covered in fabric,flannel, sat on a easel.. most often the upper part was blue then faded to green.. the sky the earth..... Paper will "stick" to the flannel colourful cut outs of Bible figures were placed on the boards while telling the story...
To this day can not think of Joshua & Caleb with out seeing the 'picture' of the 2 of them a pole over their shoulders holding a bunch of grapes , grapes the size of apples...Then had returned with a good report! I still see Moses in his tiny ark etc..Samson pushing the pillars... getting a hair cut... Abe, his son, the alter, and praise the Lord the ram...