We actually don’t put the church’s name on the seminar…just the presenter (who is one of the pastors). We tell people right up front that we’re Christians, but other than that we don’t push it. They always end up asking for more info about the church and a handful of them come and check it out.

There is a man at my current church who teaches a Philosophy of Religion class and a World Religion class at the local community college. He sees it as pre-evangelism. There are some in the class who have their position and that’s it. There are some who have never been exposed to any worldview other than evolution and they’re fascinated. Jonathan makes sure that he covers the material, but he also engages the church to pray and invities some folks from the church to speak in the class. He has seen fruit from this ministry.

Yea, I know, it isn’t about getting the church publicized but I don’t think it is too far removed! :)

I have found the best way to share Christ with people is to get out among them. A good way to do this is using a paint board in busy areas, like Michigan Ave and painting a gospel message and preach the message while painting it. Many people are out on the street trying to earn money through street performances, why not share the gospel for free? Many people stop and are curios what you are painting, after a crowd is drawn you began with a natural story and lead it into the spiritual. Also one to one’s are great ways to share the gospel. In Chicago they have so many fests throughout the year, get out and get among them and use some great gospel tracts to start conversations. I do this weekly and have seen many people come to Christ and plant many seeds. Obviously relationships are very important. Check out http://www.livingwaters.com it has the best resources on evangelism I have seen yet.

Our church has done carnivals, free car washes using a drug store’s parking lot for four consecutive weekends, gift wrapping in the front of Kmart for the four weekends leading up to Christmas, gift wrapping and free assembly of toys (like bikes for single moms) at our church, and blood drives. We also do random acts of kindness by going into a neighborhood and knocking on doors and offering to rake leaves or shovel snow.

We run a crisis pregnancy center that is in a motor home – we park it on the Akron University Campus. We purchased an ultra sound machine and give out free ultra sounds to pregnant women. Once they see that baby they usually decide to keep it! We also provide clothes and diapers etc. for the new moms along with meeting their spiritual needs through Bible studies and classes on how to mother according to God’s word.

Tonight at the church we are having our hunting outreach. It’s called the Big Game Dinner and there will be Hunting Tips and Amazing Survival Stories. There’s some prizes like a 10-Point Crossbow. It costs $7.50 per person for the first ticket and $5 for each of your guests.

In October we take a Saturday and have a Touchdown Classic (flag football). Each team has 4-8 players, it’s $10 (that includes lunch), the Grand Prize is tickets to see the Cleveland Browns take on the Kansas City Chiefs from the Dawg Pound. Rosters must include non-members/unbelievers.

We do the same type of outreaches using volleyball, golf and softball also. The gospel message is always given at these events.

We’ve also rented out the local YMCA for a superbowl party/family night. We just asked church members to bring food and unbelievers and there was plenty of both.

Finally, a huge ministry that has brought in over a hundred new members is our urban connection ministry. We bought a cheap school bus and painted it blue and every Sunday morning it picks up over 40 children from one project in Akron. As a result we have parents attending. We have begun direct ministries in their neighborhood from parenting and family classes done in their homes to after school tudoring and kid/teen mentorships. This has required a TON of time and commitment from our members of our church and it has changed the face of our church – both racially and spiritually. That has brought it’s challenges.

I know I am leaving out some of the ways we have gotten the word out about our church in the area to people but I hope that the most important thing you see from this list is… the leaders plan the events but it is up to the members to attend, bring an unsaved friend or family member, wash a car, serve some cookies with a Bible at the blood drive, wrap a present, donate baby items, ride a bus into the projects, give us a Saturday to rake some leaves, mentor a teen, tutor a child, etc.

The entire body serves together with their own spiritual gifts and the power of God is displayed in it and we can’t help but to shine in a dark community. Get your believers serving their bot bots off (if they won’t you have a spiritual issue and it needs to be addressed!) – they will grow closer to one another and love being used by God! It’s so exciting!

Ps. Our growth did not happen overnight – we have remained consistent for 10 years with these events and slowly year after year we see the lasting impacts. It takes some time.

Courtney
Maranatha Bible Church
Akron, Ohio

I got that and other things from being seen and known in the community. Like Ron Burgundy … I don’t know how to put this, but I’m kind of a big deal. People know me.

Not only do I have many leather-bound books and an apartment mahogany scented, I try to show up (with the family) at as many community events as I can (e.g., block parties, neighborhood deals, city Independence Day celebrations, Santa party, etc.). I’m not sure how effective it is in getting rears in seats, but I figure if I’m even giving a positive impression regarding the church or Christ, then I’m pleased.

We also advertise with the local schools. They typically send home a monthly deal to parents where the PTA defrays costs with ads and they also do a student directory that contains all the information about the kids (e.g., names, grades, addresses, parents, etc.). Parents use that a lot and see our propaganda from time to time throughout the year.

We don’t do anything special with the yellow pages since it seems nobody uses it anymore. However, that is how I found a new church one time, because of it’s tagline: “The Bible as it is for men as they are.”

We’re also ramping up an ESL program and we get our folks involved at fundraising events for the local crisis pregnancy center.

Some good ideas shared here and in general we try to do good in such a way that the heathen see as good, so that God will be praised.

Thanks,
Gunny