By Cynthia Woolever
The fastest-growing Presbyterian churches exhibit an outstanding ability to reach out to their members, potential worshipers, and people in need. Think of these churches as having more tentacles than the most gregarious octopus! Comparing growing PC(USA) congregations to a random sample of PC(USA) churches reveals the reach of their tentacles.
More growing churches than others reach out to, communicate with, and involve members in these ways:
- Use a church website to communicate with worshipers
- Use email to communicate with worshipers
- Invite new members to serve in the church (help in worship, for example)
- Invite new members to join a group (fellowship group, Sunday school, or others)
- Invite new members to serve in the community
- Offer a group or course for new members
More growing churches than others reach out to potential new members in these ways:
- Offer more than one worship service weekly
- Started a new worship service in past year
- Send letter to recent visitors
- Send email to recent visitors
- Phone recent visitors
- Maintain a user-friendly website
More growing churches than others reach out to people in need by:
- Offering emergency relief
- Offering counseling or support groups
- Offering programs for children and youth
- Offering arts, music, or cultural programs
- Offering health programs
- Offering leisure activities
- Offering hobby or craft groups
- Transporting people to worship
- Sponsoring a mission trip (in the past year), sending members to help people in need
- Allowing community groups to use their facilities
The top 23. Growing churches multiply their impact by multiplying their methods. We’ve found 23 different strategies that expand their mission and ministries. Review the many efforts in the lists above that growing churches use to connect with worshipers and those outside their doors. Can your congregation consider undertaking one or more of these to increase your reach?
The big thing is maintaining a website and keeping it current. You can't just do a poster on the web and think, we did it.
Keep it changing and current.
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