Reaching the De-churched

Mike attended the Dechurched workgroup on Apr 23.  Here are some of the ideas he picked up:

• Reach immigrants with ESL classes (English as a Second Language).  Helps build relationships.
• Add a casual service – one church has coffee and donuts and jeans at 8:30 before Sunday School.  They maintain the traditional service at 11
• Show movies – G-rated films, for families to come.  (get your CCLI license first!)
• “Movie and a Dinner” – a small group gathers at a house to watch a movie and then talk about it over dinner.  Movie at 5, supper at 7.
• Serve Our City – tell the community you intend to do community service projects and take reservations for small jobs around their house – simple yard work, small home repairs, etc.  Especially good for single parents and elderly.  Gets your name out as an involved community church
• Host summer day camp, using visiting mission teams.  Make contact with every child’s parent, asking them what their child is saying about what they learned and did.  Gives you a chance to start a witnessing conversation.
• Serve as story time readers in school library.  Can’t initiate a conversation about our faith, but can respond to a question
• Teacher Appreciation Day at the local school – breakfast, small gifts, etc.
• Back-to-school backpacks in low-income neighborhoods, pre-filled with school supplies and a Gospel tract
• Seminars at the church – Health issues:  enlist a doctor to speak
• Host a neighborhood discussion group in a home
• Host a neighborhood social with church people there to meet the neighbors – “front porch event”
• Have home study participants visit the neighbors 45 minutes prior to the discussion group / home event start time to invite them spur of the moment.  About the 3rd week in a row, they start to get the message and will start coming.