Better Than Resolution Six

The much discussed Resolution Six is scheduled to meet its fate tomorrow morning. What can your church do to get your community's attention - regardless of what happens to ol' Number Six?

1. Instead of buying an ad, become the story. Figure out a first-class way to meet some need in your community. Promote it well and, chances are, your local news media will notice. Some outlets even have hotlines so they can be informed of these newsworthy events. Matt Maddix (www.myhouseofprayer.com) is one metro pastor who has capitalized on this concept. Many TV stations archive their local news stories on their web sites. That means your church can be in the news for several days. And you never have to buy a camera or pay for an ad!

2. Some churches, both rural and metro, have used sidewalk Sunday schools as an outreach into their communities - and as an effective promotional tool. It won't work for the "anyone needing God will come to our church on Sunday or Wednesday" crowd. But those willing to sacrifice the time and effort required to deliver a quality program will touch lives who will never forget the name of their church. David and Kim Ramsey tell how they do it in their book - available here www.pentecostalpublishing.com.

3. For those living in metro areas that do not permit house-to-house evangelism - remember David Yonggi Cho? The church he pastored in South Korea, back in the 1980's, was considered to be the largest in the world. (His name then was PAUL Yonggi Cho, but never mind that). Anyway, in one of his books he told about a woman who lived in a high rise complex that prohibited any door-to-door solicitation. According to his story, this lady spent every Saturday riding up and down the elevators of that complex helping all the residents carry their just purchased groceries into their apartments. She sacrificed her day off every week, but gradually gained the trust of her neighbors and eventually built a huge home fellowship church in a complex that did not allow door-to-door visitation. She could have bought an ad on television. If she could have afforded it. I wonder if it would have worked as well?

The fact that advertising is an effective tool is undeniable. But advertising can become an easy out because it requires nothing personal from us. We can buy an ad in the Sunday paper or a spot on the radio and nobody gets their hands or clothes dirty. We carefully craft the image we want them to see, usually omitting our human side, freeze it in a photo or sound bite and proudly wave it around chanting, "Don't you want to be like us?" Our personal evangelism efforts should drive our advertising - not the other way around.

We all want to be "cutting-edge" with our buildings and technology, but what about spending some of that creativity to generate evangelism opportunities? Something like what that little lady in South Korea did.


©2006 Doug Ellingsworth