Article by Teresa Chang
Do you like the word structure? Many of us church leaders in prophetic environments shy away from that word, but the right kinds of structures can propel your church into its destiny. Church small groups, ministry groups, children’s ministry and so forth can cause an explosion of growth in your church and city.
As your church moves into a culture and lifestyle of evangelism, how can you structure your growth and cause it to increase? Let’s look at a few ways you can purposefully create structures that will help spread a heart for souls through your church family.
1. Assign an outreach leader to every church small group.
An outreach leader helps his small group stay “outwardly focused.” This leader can take simple steps to remind people about the lost. Maybe once a week, that person could share a Scripture about God’s heart for the world. He could lead people in prayers for unsaved friends or help other members of the group come up with ways to share their faith. Perhaps every six weeks or so, the small group could do an outreach. No matter the reason or focus of the small group, challenges like this have value and power because they get us out of our comfort zones.
2. Prepare people to share the gospel…at church.
Your church will be visited, or even possibly attended, by people who don’t know Jesus very well or at all, so it is good to make sure your main meeting is evangelistic in some way. Your ushers and prayer ministers need to know how to share their faith, should the opportunity arise and people begin asking them questions. Show them a simple process of how to lead someone to Christ.
Your church could also employ more direct routes of spreading the gospel. For example, you could have an evangelism team who goes on regular outreaches to tell people about Jesus. Or you could send the evangelism team out to gather people and bring them to a special meeting, where the church prays for the sick, shares the gospel and leads people to Christ.
3. Set up creative outreaches.
With your leadership team, sit down and come up with different ways your church could have an impact on your city and region. When you think of fun ways of doing outreach, what comes to mind? Be as creative as possible!
You could have individuals in your church whose primary job is to link with other ministries. They could spend time with different missions, after-school programs or on outreaches to the homeless.
You could have specialized groups of people who go into an area, get an apartment together, and live there to have a long-term influence. They could build up the local ministries that already exist there, influence the different spheres (business, government, culture, etc.) in that area, and minister to neighbors. These are just a few ideas.
4. Be strategic and make friends.
Evangelism goes beyond the traditional idea of “outreach” as well. Spread the love of God as you do things in your community. Join community organizations, school boards and other kinds of groups, and build friendships among the unreached, injecting the gospel when the time is right.
Constantly be on the lookout for ways you and your church can create interfaces with the world around you. These days, your “neighborhood” is your workplace, gym, or the neighborhood organization you’ve joined. We encourage you as a pastor to foster that kind of participation in your community because this will do several things at once:
- It will enliven your church members because they are serving others.
- It will connect the people in your church with non-Christians in a non-religious environment.
- It will act as a bridge for non-Christians to find their way into a church.
