As Christians, we all have the same call to “go and make disciples of all nations…” and to “preach the gospel to every creature.” But does that mean we each need to do it in the same way? Is there a “right” way to make disciples? Is there one way to preach the gospel? Much like each of us has a unique calling from God on how to spread His message, the way each church spreads the gospel can be equally unique. Jesus didn’t tell us to specifically conduct revival meetings or hand out beautifully designed pamphlets. He gave us the Holy Spirit to guide us in reaching the world with His gospel in our own way. Here are some basic steps to find your church’s best outreach plan.
Being Unique
The first thing to do is figure out your church’s God-given gifts.
Just as every fingerprint is unique, it is one part of a being that is unique. There has never been, nor will there ever be anyone just like you. No one else has had your life experiences with your parents and siblings; your education or your skillset. This is also true of every church.
We all have unique human beings that make up the body of believers, ensuring that no body of believers is the same either. Perhaps your church is exceptional at making people feel welcome. Or maybe you have an outstanding youth program. Each of your members’ special gifts comes together in a singular way to make your church distinctive from all the other churches in your community.
Take a comprehensive look at your members and their gifts and how their gifts come together to create the collective church body gift. This is where you can excel. The goal is to use what God has given you to be the best version of your church that you can be.
Similarly, those you are trying to reach are unique too. Even if demographic data shows that your community is very much like one in another state, I would argue that it is still different. Maybe it’s due to the weather, or the proximity to outdoor activities like mountains or beaches.
Each community has its own fingerprint. While there are some universally proven methods for reaching people, it is a good idea to craft your outreach to your community in a way that not only fits who you are as a church body but also who your community is.
Jesus in Four Forms
Next figure out how you want to use that gift to reach your community.
Take a look at the writers of the four gospels. They had the same exact message to tell, the story of the Messiah. They all wrote with the same goal in mind, to convince people of who Jesus was and what He had to offer them, but they did so in four different ways.
Matthew’s message was primarily to the Jews so he emphasized Jesus as the Messiah. Mark wrote to the Romans, and he portrayed Jesus marching across the land with news about the kingdom. John was Jesus’ beloved, and in his gospel, we see more about the love of Jesus and His saving grace and mercy. Luke wrote to the Gentiles and he presented Jesus as a friend, the Savior of the world, and the Son of man.
Each of the four gospels presents a different view of the same person. We too can present different aspects of Jesus to our different audiences. This does not mean we are trying to hide anything or present less than the truth. Just because one author tells a story the others didn’t, does not make it any less true. Presenting Jesus in different ways to different people simply means we understand where our audience is at and what they are ready to hear at that moment.
Mixed up Media
We can approach the same exact Jesus in different communication vehicles too. Perhaps video is something your church excels at. Then you should be doing that, not going door to door like the church in the next state over is doing, even if they are having tremendous success. Many preachers over the years have had extraordinary gifts for eloquence and oration. But if that is not how your congregation does its best work, then maybe a series on Revelation is not a good option.
We can approach the same exact Jesus in different communication vehicles too. Perhaps video is something your church excels at. Then you should be doing that, not going door to door like the church in the next state over is doing, even if they are having tremendous success. Many preachers over the years have had extraordinary gifts for eloquence and oration. But if that is not how your congregation does its best work, then maybe a series on Revelation is not a good option.
People don’t believe in Jesus and His saving grace because we talk pretty or because we hand out one million pamphlets. The Holy Spirit works with us and the gifts we have been given. We don’t have to do things the way others do them to win souls to Christ. We simply have to do our best with what we have been given.
Who’s on First?
The final step is discovering who you are going to outreach to.
The types of programs or activities you plan as part of your outreach not only depend on what your church’s gift is, but on who you are targeting. Do some research about your community. Who you are trying to reach? Is your community primarily young millennial families or retired Baby Boomers? This information can be easily found through a state or county website.
The next step is to find information on how this group likes to receive information.
I can tell you that someone who is 25 years old probably has different ideas about communicating than someone who is 75 years old. Use the tools and resources that are already out there. Secular companies have already done a lot of this work for you and you should take advantage of that.
Reaching Out
Once you have identified your church’s unique gifts, figured out how that gift best translates into sharing the gospel, and discovered the unique traits of your community, the final step is to put it all together into an outreach plan. I like to call this a marketing plan because the goal of marketing is to “exchange offers that have value for customers, clients, or society at large” and I believe that we as Christians have the best offer in the history of everything.
I’ve written about how to create a basic marketing plan for a church. You can read it here. Or you can reach out to me for personalized help. Find out more about that here. Either way, I wish you the best. May God bless you and your efforts in spreading His love to all.