Growth Points with Dr. Mc
Fruitful Communication
On Your Mark — Good doctrine, good fellowship, good prayer, and good ministry. Do they guarantee the growth of a local church? Not necessarily. Sometimes churches don’t do well, even though they have the basic ingredients. The growth of a church is a complex mix of factors.
One factor is your church’s visibility in its ministry area. How well do people in a 20-mile or 20-miniute radius of your church facility recognize your church’s name? If your church disappeared tomorrow, would people even know you were gone? These are crucial questions to ponder.
New Testament churches never had a brochure, direct mail campaign, or web page. However they did create an atmosphere where growth occurred. Often the means they used were what we today call advertising. Note the following examples.
Word of Mouth advertising was instrumental in reaching unchurched people around Thessalonica. “The word of the Lord sounded (echoed) forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything” (1 Thessalonians 1:8).
The Personal Letters of the New Testament are an obvious advertising medium — social media, websites, or blogs — in our terms. Luke, John, James, Peter, and Paul all communicated their love, care, teaching, and exhortation to people through the social media platform of their day.
Get Set — If your church’s name is well-known in the community, that’s good. But, if it’s not, it’s time to get the word out on your church. While most churches are cutting back on advertising, those that invest in getting the word out on their church will reap major benefits.
A number of years ago, I consulted with a Reformed Church of America church (RCA) in Michigan. At the time auto corporations were closing factories throughout the state, and the city in which this church existed was hit with the loss of several factories and the resulting loss of jobs. People were moving out of the city in mass, which led most churches to cut back on ministry and advertising. The RCA church decided to increase its advertising and ministry budget instead of cutting back. It worked! While other churches saw decreased attendance, their church was the only one communicating to the hurting people in the community. And . . . the only church growing during a time with the city lost population.
G0! — Growing churches must create an environment where people think of their church and think of it positively. Here’s some ideas to get you started.
First, Increase positive word of mouth advertising by stressing the Great Commission and Great Commandment. Build congregational morale. Help members identify reachable friends and family. Provide events for attendees to bring people from their social network.
Second, build your church’s website and Facebook page with the unchurched person in mind. Make certain it clearly communicates the times, location, and types of ministry available. Highlight important links to online worship services, contact information, and a place to ask questions. Your website and Facebook page are your brochure.
Third, use your Instagram site to communicate stories of your people serving the community. Share stories of people whose lives were changed by faith in Christ and participation in your church. Use pictures of people participating in your ministries. Note answers to prayer and communicate histories and positive themes.
Always invite people to become part of your faith community by engaging in face-to-face or online worship, small groups, or ministry activities.
A basic question all churches should ask is, “How effectively are we communicating to the people in our ministry area? In all cases there are only three potential answers. 1) They think of our church positively. 2) They think of our church negatively. 3) They don’t think of us at all. Answer number one creates an atmosphere for growth. Anwer number two is a tragedy. Answer number three is anathema!
How Effectively are you communicating to your ministry area? What are you going to do about it?
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