Count What Counts – CLI Newsletter Rewind

One of the best parts of being a member of the “Church Leader Insights Family” is that each month you receive the CLI Newsletter, packed with the best church leadership content I can find.

Here’s an article from Steven Furtick that was included in this month’s newsletter (in case you missed it):

COUNT WHAT COUNTS

“Here’s the distinction: it’s good to be concerned with numbers.  But we’ve got to be concerned about the right numbers…for the right reasons.  We’ve got to make sure we’re measuring ministry numbers to measure our effectiveness and enlarge the Kingdom of God…not simply to placate our ego…I want to count what counts.  It matters to me how many people show up for a worship experience.  But it also matters to me how many of those same people are plugged into community and embracing Christ-centered generosity.  It matters to me how much money we take in.  But it also matters to me…” Read the full article here…

The Church Leader Insights Newsletter is designed to bring the best and latest thinking on Church Growth, Evangelism, Leadership and Church Planting directly to your inbox every month!

If you’re not already subscribed, you can click this link to sign up right now.

Communicating Your Big Day Evangelism Strategy to Your Church (Free Download)

A number of you have already let me know how my new book Ignite has helped you and your church.

That’s always encouraging to me, so keep ‘em coming! Feel free to use the “Ask Nelson” button on the right side of this blog to send me your story.

One such email that I recently received from Clark Frailey, member of the CLI family and Pastor of Coffee Creek Baptist Church in Edmond, Oklahoma.

He took what he learned from Ignite and created a PDF Whitepaper to share with his Leadership Team, then he gave me permission to share that document with you here.

This document takes the Big Day principles from Ignite and applies them to their church’s four Big Days.  It’s a great example of one way to create excitement and buy-in in your leadership team.

Download your copy here:
Coffee Creek 2010 Big Days Strategy (PDF)

Thanks so much for your feedback Clark and especially for sharing your hard work with us!  Keep up the good work!

P.S. To learn even more about developing a local church strategy for each of your church’s systems, including Evangelism, check out The Strategy Seminar.

Maximize Easter – Sample Invite Tools from The Journey

Thanks so much to all of you who joined me last week for the Maximizing Easter 2010 Webinars!

I mentioned that I’d share some sample invitation tools that we have used at The Journey, so here they are (right-click and choose “Save As…” to download now):

2009 Samples:

• Easter Mailer #1 – Front (PDF)
• Easter Mailer #1 – Back (PDF)
• Easter Mailer #2 – Front (JPG)
• Easter Mailer #2 – Back (JPG)
• Easter Tent Fold Card – Outside (PDF)
• Easter Tent Fold Card – Inside (PDF)

2010 Samples:

• Easter Ticket (PDF)
• Easter Tent Fold Card (PDF)

P.S. For more information on how to make the most of Easter (and ALL of your church’s Big Days), check out The Ignite Seminar.

How Ignite Helped Set an Attendance Record

Wow!  I’ve been blown away by all of the response to my newest book Ignite: How to Spark Immediate Growth in Your Church, but this one is pretty amazing.

I recently received the following email from Jonathan Bilima, Lead Pastor of Kairos Church in Riverside, California.  Jonathan is in my brand new Tele-Coaching Network and here’s the Ignite testimony he shared:

Hey Nelson

Just wanted to thank you for all the valuable insight you give in your resources. Reading Ignite really pumped me up for having a big day at our small church plant. We run about 65-70 people a Sunday.

After reading Ignite, we organized a Big Day centered around our Christmas Eve service and had 300 people come out for our service. That’s huge for us being that we are a new church plant.

I look forward to learning more and implementing the strategies you teach.

In Christ alone,

Jonathan Bilima

That’s awesome to hear Jonathan – thanks for sharing! I look forward to seeing how God will use our Coaching Network together to grow you and Kairos Church in the coming months.

Do you have a story of how God has used Ignite to spark immediate growth in your church?  Click on “Ask Nelson” to the right of this blog to share your story.

P.S. If you still haven’t picked up your copy of Ignite, you can order it now from Amazon by clicking here.

How to Invest Your Advertising & Promotion Budget (Part 2)

Last week I shared one of the most common mistakes that churches make when it comes to allocating the annual advertising/promotion budget (click here to read that post).

Today I want to share Advertising Mistake #2…

Advertising Mistake #2: Spending your advertising funds on “branding” messages without a clear call to action.

“Branding” is a great word for two groups: multi-billion dollar corporations and people who sell advertising.

I can say definitively that in all but a few rare cases, your church doesn’t have the funds to compete to become a “household name” and all of those branding efforts rarely lead to unchurched people in the seats anyway.

Solution Principle #2: Focus your spending on direct response, call to action advertising.

For example, develop a checklist that you use to evaluate every ad or promotion that your church puts together.  Be sure that it spells out in crystal clear fashion:

• What you want them to do (You’re Invited to Easter Sunday at ______ Church!)
• Who you are ( ___________ Church)
• Where you are (the physical address of your meeting location)
• When this event takes place (Sunday, April 4th, at 10am)
• How to find out more (phone number, web address, etc.)
• Any other pertinent information (childcare, etc.)

Over the years I’ve observed more promotional pieces (direct mail, email blasts, invite cards, billboards, radio ads, etc.) than I choose to recall that leave me thinking, “That’s great and creative… now what do they want me to do about it?”

I guarantee that if you employ these two principles in your church’s advertising this year, you will serve as a better steward of the available funds AND you’ll see a much higher rate of return for your efforts.

P.S. For more information on planning, preparing, promoting, executing and following up on “Big Days” at your church, check out The Ignite Seminar.

How to Invest Your Advertising & Promotion Budget (Part 1)

I shared some thoughts on how to set up your church’s budget a while back (click here for that post), and today I’d like to give you the first of two “hard-learned” tips about how to spend that budget.

I want to address specifically how you spend the line item in your church’s budget marked “advertising” or “promotion” or whatever you have chosen to call the funds that you have set aside to spend on getting the word out about your church.

You do have an advertising budget, don’t you? If not, that may be a topic for a different post…

Too often I see well-meaning church leaders take their already scarce advertising budget and make two painful (and completely avoidable) mistakes that lead to very few, if any, results in their churches.

Here is the first of those two painful mistakes (and how to avoid it):

Advertising Mistake #1: Spreading the advertising funds so thin that none of it makes an impact.

I see this all the time.  Your church carves out a few thousand dollars to spend on advertising for the year and then tries to streeetttccchhh those funds to do something each month.

The end result is that very few people are even presented with your advertising message (whatever media you choose  to use) and you end up disillusioned about the whole process.

Solution Principle #1: Focus every dime of your advertising budget on your church’s Big Days.

Like I teach in The Ignite Seminar, I believe churches can maximize their evangelistic efforts by building to four “Big Days” each year (one in February, Easter Sunday, one in the summer, and one just after school starts).

By focusing your advertising on these special Big Day opportunities, you can afford to touch more people with your ads AND you can boldly avoid….

Advertising Mistake #2 (which I’ll share in Part 2 on Monday)

P.S. For more information on planning, preparing, promoting, executing and following up on “Big Days” at your church, check out The Ignite Seminar.

New Maximizing Easter E-Book & Webinars!

If you’re a frequent reader of this blog, you already know that I’m convinced that NOW is one of the greatest times in our lifetime to reach more people and grow our churches!

Combine that with the fact that Easter is the most likely day of the year for unchurched people to attend your church, and Easter 2010 has tremendous potential to expand God’s Kingdom!

That’s why today I’m releasing my revised and expanded Maximizing Easter 2010 E-Book!

I went back and updated this new version with information we couldn’t fit into last year’s Easter e-book, plus a lot of what we learned from your feedback.

Download your Free Copy of the Maximizing Easter 2010 E-Book (PDF) here:

www.ChurchLeaderInsights.com/easter

I want to do even more to help you make the most of Easter this year, so I’ve put together a brand new Maximizing Easter Webinar that I’ll be leading for you next week.

In this 75-minute webinar I’ll walk you, your staff and your volunteers, step-by-step, through implementing the most important ideas from the E-Book and give you many more impactful ideas that were not included.

Best of all, you and your entire team can participate without ever leaving the office!

We’re offering the Maximizing Easter Webinar at 4 different times to be sure that you can attend one of them, PLUS - just for registering you’ll receive over $190.00 in FREE BONUSES (more than 4 times your investment for the webinar).

For more info and to Register Now for the Maximizing Easter Webinar:

www.ChurchLeaderInsights.com/webinar

A Record-Breaking Big Day Report!

I‘ve found that February is one of the best times each year to reach new people, so ’tis the season for Big Days!

I just received a great report from Jamey Stuart, Senior Pastor of Believers Church in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Jamey is a two-time coaching alumni, an advanced coaching grad and one of our great CLI-certified trainers – he gave me permission to share this report with you:

Hi Nelson,

Our Big Day was BIG!

If a Big Day is an all out push towards a specific Sunday in order to break an attendance record and reach as many as possible for Jesus, then we did pretty good.

Average attendance at Believers has been around 585 recently. Sunday we had 796! Our previous non holiday attendance record was 694, so we smashed some records and created a lot of buzz and a lot of momentum.

We had 5 people make decisions for Christ, but I had some very significant spiritual conversations with folks who are clearly getting close and even got a couple of them connected with a small group. It was a GREAT Big Day!

Thanks for your leadership and teaching to make it happen. Felt like I implemented the plan and had a textbook big day. In saying that, I don’t want to discount God. He kept the bad weather north of us, he touched peoples’ hearts, he brought them in. Grateful just to be a part of it.

Anyways, thanks for your impact on Believers Church in Chesapeake, and thanks for your friendship!

Blessings,

Jamey

That’s an awesome report Jamey – Go God!

And great job cooperating with Him to “smash some attendance records.”

P.S. Time is running out for you to apply for my new Senior Pastor Tele-Coaching Network (it begins next Thursday) — click here for more information and to apply now!

P.P.S. To learn more about planning and executing a Big Day in your church, check out The Ignite Seminar.

Ignite Ideas – Right on Time!

Among the responses I’ve received to Ignite: How to Spark Immediate Growth in Your Church is this note from Rob Huffman, Senior Pastor of Clearview Church in Chesapeake, Virginia and one of my Coaching Alumni:

Nelson,

Thanks for the insight in the new book. I read it the first day I got it in about 2 hours.

I am already working with my Associate Pastor to focus on our 4 big days for next year.

It’s funny you would write about the calendar and the big day, because the Sunday before we got the book we put 4 big days on the calendar for next year.

So reading the book helped reinforce that.

Thanks!

Rob

Isn’t it great how God seems to bring just the right book or resource at just the right time to equip us to do what He’s leading us to do!

I am far from the first person to write about using “Big Days” to help grow your church, but in Ignite I tried to give a solid explanation of how Big Days tie into your overall Evangelism System.

Thanks for the feedback Rob!

P.S. You can order your copy of Ignite: How to Spark Immediate Growth in Your Church by clicking here.

Igniting a Culture of Evangelism

I am still blown away by all the great feedback you have been sending about my latest book, Ignite: How to Spark Immediate Growth in Your Church.

It’s so rewarding to see how God is already using it to encourage church leaders to stoke the fire of evangelism in their churches.

I got permission to share one of the emails I received recently from Pastor Mat Weeks in Arizona:

Nelson,

I started Ignite today.  Honestly, I was not looking forward to it.  I thought it would be another book on doing a ‘big day’ and I didn’t want to read a book on doing a ‘big day’.

I’m not against or theologically misaligned with ‘big days’—just stink at doing them and they’re a lot of work.  Forgive me, after all, what I was thinking, of course the “Systems Guy” is gonna deliver more than ‘how to do a big day’ in a book on evangelism!

I was very encouraged to read that Ignite will show me how to “create a consistent culture of evangelism” in my church.

In fact, I have been praying for God to lead and assist us in that very endeavor, so the book must be part of His Divine response—and I’m confident it will deliver!

Have a great weekend bro,

Pastor Mat
Horizon Church
Surprise, Arizona
www.YourHorizon.org

P.S. If you still haven’t grabbed your copy of Ignite, you can order it from Amazon (best price available) by clicking here.

Igniting Growth In Your Church – Week 6 of 6

Welcome to the final week of my six-part blog series, “Igniting Growth In Your Church.” I trust that this weekly series has taken you to a new level in your understanding of how to keep your church’s evangelism temperature at the boiling point. If you haven’t already, make sure you pick up my new book, Ignite: How To Spark Immediate Growth In Your Church to keep digging even deeper into the truths of effective evangelism.

Last week, we talked about how to pinpoint your best fields for promotion. This week, we are going to shift gears a little and talk about one of the most critical pieces of evangelism – how you can prepare for people to say “yes!” to God and how to follow up with them when they do.

Today’s Topic:

Preservation: Preparing For And Following Up With People Who Say “Yes!”

PREPARATION

In addition to inviting people to say yes to God through our various evangelistic efforts, we have to prepare for them to say yes. God will not draw people to Himself in your church unless you are prepared.

Why would God cause people to accept His invitation of salvation under your care, if you aren’t ready to receive them and start shepherding them toward becoming fully developing followers of Jesus?

Preparing for people to say yes to God is actually more an assimilation discussion than an evangelism one. The process of clearing the way for them to meet God in a personal way begins the minute they decide to visit your church for the first time.

The Assimilation System that I detail in Fusion: Turning First-Time Guests Into Fully-Engaged Members Of Your Church outlines the process for making sure a first-time attender comes back again and again until they are ready to accept Jesus’ invitation of salvation, join your church and become fully-developing followers of Christ.

FOLLOW UP

Following up with new believers is a very important task for any pastor. Our faithfulness with the few will prove our trustworthiness with the many. (Hey, that sounds like something Jesus said one time!)  While each church must wrestle with their own new believer process, the goal is to be clear and intentional. Ask yourself these questions:

• What do you want a new believer to do in the first hour after becoming a follower of Jesus? At The Journey, we invite them to check the box on their connection card, so we are aware of their decision. Other churches invite them to come forward during an invitation time. I’m not against come forward invitations. If you use them, just make sure you also have a way for those who are so introverted they will never come forward to register a decision within the first hour.
• What do you want a new believer to receive within one day of becoming a follower of Jesus? For us, it’s a personal email, with the link to the online bible study.
• What do you want a new believer to do within one week of becoming a follower of Jesus? We want to put a new believer’s book in their hand to help them start growing in their faith.
• What steps do we want a new believer to take in the first month? At The Journey, the answer is baptism. What’s the answer for your church?
• What’s the future plan of discipleship for a new believer? For us, it’s connecting them into a small group and normalizing their church attendance.

There’s no such thing as a perfect new believer process, but do everything you can to insure that the new “babe in Christ” that God has entrusted to you has the best chance to grow!

God has big dreams for your church. Bigger than you can imagine. And He has called you to do the work. As you do, He will add His Spirit to your efforts.

My prayer for you is that you will latch into and implement all that we’ve discussed here over the last six weeks. Make sure to pick up Ignite: How To Spark Immediate Growth In Your Church and keep going deeper in your study. You may also want to check out my popular resource, “The Evangelism System.” Just click here.

Make the changes that need to be made in your church. Mobilize your people for evangelism. Keep the evangelistic temperature boiling hot. And then give God the praise as He sends you the harvest.

- Nelson

P.S – If you missed any of this blog series, just use the links below to get caught up:
Click here for Week 1.
Click here for Week 2.
Click here for Week 3.
Click here for Week 4.
Click here for Week 5.

Igniting Growth In Your Church – Week 5 of 6

Welcome to week 5 of my 6-week blog series, “Igniting Growth In Your Church.” Happy Thursday to you, once again. My hope is that this series is consistently pushing you further in your study of evangelism by giving you special insight into my new book, Ignite: How To Spark Immediate Growth In Your Church.

Last week, we discovered how you can best mobilize your people for evangelism. This week, we are going to take a look at how you can use promotion effectively by targeting your “best fields.”

Today’s Topic:

Promotion: How to Pinpoint Your Best Fields

Jesus’ parable of the sower and the seed gives us great insight into the idea of promotion. (Take a minute to read the account in Mark 4:3-9.) The first principle Jesus wants to teach us through the wise farmer in his parable is this: Before you scatter your seed, Pinpoint Your Best Fields.

In order to sow effectively, you have to know what fields to scatter your seed in. You have to identify and concentrate on the most fertile soil and use seed that will take root there. Otherwise your efforts will be in vain. To identify your best fields, ask yourself these questions:

1. Who am I currently reaching?

If God is predominately bringing a certain type of person to your church, that’s a good indicator of who you are most equipped to reach.

A few years ago, the average age of Journey attenders was 27. That has increased a little now, but we’ve always had a special outreach with the late 20-somethings. So, we focused our seed-sowing on soil that would reach that group. We created invitations that would be appealing to them. We thought about how we could connect with them in their current reality.

2. Who is like me?

You are best equipped to reach people who are like you. That’s a fact of human nature. You will attract who you are.

A wise pastor-friend of mind once wrote, “If you are a pastor, you must honestly ask yourself, ‘What kind of person am I? What is my cultural background? What kind of people do I naturally relate to and what kind do I have a harder time understanding?’ You need to do a frank analysis of who you are and the type of people to whom you relate best.”

3. Who is not churched?

Your best fields are in the middle of the unchurched. If some of your promotion falls into the hands of Christians involved in other churches, so be it. But current Christians should not be your target. Instead, keep your attention focused on those who are unchurched in your community. God is working in their lives. Concentrate on pointing them toward His hope.

If you aren’t sure how to begin outreach to the unchurched, start by focusing on people who are under tension, undergoing transition, or in trouble. Time and time again, I have found that people are most open to hearing the truth of the gospel when God has them in one of these three situations.

Understanding these three Ts – tension, transition and trouble – will exponentially increase your effectiveness in the unchurched world. In fact, let me encourage you to do an exercise that will help you focus in on the types of T situations that the people around you are dealing with…

Pull the key leaders in your church together and talk through the greatest tensions and trouble they see in the lives of those they live around every day. Ask them to think about what kind of transitions they see people facing. Sketch all of these down and then begin planning outreach that will connect with those experiencing such, tension, transition and trouble. Think about planning a big day kick-off sermon around the greatest felt-need that comes up in your discussion.

One final warning note – Don’t get caught up in the seed that lands on rocky ground, gets eaten by the birds or gets scorched by the sun. God calls us to focus on the fertile soil. The enemy is always going to be working against our efforts to bring people into the knowledge of Jesus Christ. If we focus on what he is doing, we lose our clarity on what God wants to do.

For more in depth study on effectively evangelizing your community, make sure to pick up Ignite: How To Spark Immediate Growth In Your Church. You may also want to check out my popular resource, “The Evangelism System.” Just click here.

Next week, we’ll wrap up this “Igniting Growth In Your Church” series by looking at how to prepare for and follow up with the people who say “yes!” to being your guest! Don’t miss it!

- Nelson

P.S – If you missed the first four posts, don’t worry! Just click here for Week 1. Click here for Week 2. Click here for Week 3. And click here for Week 4.

Igniting Growth In Your Church – Week 4 of 6

Welcome to week 4 of my 6-week blog series, “Igniting Growth In Your Church.” Happy Thursday to you. I trust that this weekly series is driving you deeper in your study of evangelism by giving you a sneak peak (or review!) of my new book, Ignite: How To Spark Immediate Growth In Your Church.

Last week, we discussed how pastors can use the staff, stage and structure of the church to keep the evangelism temperature hot. This week, we are going to shift our focus away from the pastor and talk about our people’s personal evangelism. How can you light a fire for personal evangelism in your regular attenders and members? Read on…

Today’s Topic:

Personal Evangelism: x = tools + training + timeliness

As we discussed last Thursday, challenging your people from the stage is essential, but it won’t get you far if you aren’t also equipping them for the challenge. So, how can you give your members and regular attenders what they need to be able to invite their friends to church? What can you do to increase the likelihood that they will step out on faith and ask that often uncomfortable question?

Personal evangelism is all about helping your people see the opportunities they have to invite their friends and then helping them to seize those opportunities. You want them to see and seize every opening God provides.

Getting your people ready for the work of evangelism is, well, work. You’ll have to invest some time and effort. But if you commit to putting certain elements in place, you can ensure a heightened level of effectiveness.

There is a proven way to grow the percentage of your people who are actually extending invitations at every opportunity. You just have to put the Personal Evangelism Formula to work for you. This formula looks like one you may remember from your algebra days. It follows the form of x = a+b+c.

If x = high levels of personal evangelism, let’s take a closer look at the other elements we need to plug in to bring those high levels into being…

a = TOOLS. People are more likely to do what you ask of them, if you give them some tools that will make things easier.

b = TRAINING. They will respond even more favorably if you provide them with a little training, so they feel confident in what they are being asked to do.

c = TIMELINESS. With tools and training, you will have your people on the right track, but there’s one more thing that will greatly increase the likelihood that they’ll start inviting people to church. Give them a reason to do it “now.” Provide a sense of urgency.

x = TOOLS + TRAINING + TIMELINESS

That’s the true formula for personal evangelism. If you give people the tools they need, train them how to use those tools, and then give them a period of time in which they need to carry out their task, you will send your evangelistic temperature soaring:

HIGH LEVELS OF PERSONAL EVANGELISM = TOOLS+TRAINING+TIMELINESS

Don’t miss any of these three elements. Too often, we train people from the stage or through small group studies, but we don’t give them any accompanying tools. We don’t put anything in their hands.

Then again, sometimes we give them good tools and training, but set no timeframe. Successfully equipping our people means ensuring that we provide them with all three variables of the Personal Evangelism Formula.

For more in depth information on how you can keep the evangelistic temperature of your church red hot, make sure to pick up your copy of Ignite: How To Spark Immediate Growth In Your Church. You may also want to check out my popular resource, “The Evangelism System.” Just click here.

Did you know that you can also use promotion to ignite your church’s evangelism? In fact, promotion can be incredibly effective and lots of fun. It also provides great “air cover” for your people as they put their new evangelism skills to work. We’ll talk more about that next Thursday!

- Nelson

P.S – If you missed the first three posts, don’t worry! Just click here for Week 1. Click here for Week 2. And click here for Week 3.

Ten Secrets of Church Marketing – CLI Newsletter Rewind

Today I’m sharing another one of the articles from this month’s CLI Newsletter.

We pack each newsletter with the best content we can find.  Like this article from the good folks at Truth Advertising:

TEN SECRETS OF CHURCH MARKETING

“The problem is that most church ads I see are very boring and self-serving. The church drones on about this program and that ministry. ‘We have this, we have that.’ Who cares? Certainly most readers don’t and that’s why there’s a major disconnect and your ad does not work. Instead, write your ad and describe your church from the reader’s perspective. Write to their interests, appeal to their emotions and tell them how what you have to offer can help them get what they want. Lots of ad copy will help you accomplish that” Read the full article here…

The Church Leader Insights Newsletter is designed to bring the best and latest thinking on Church Growth, Evangelism, Leadership and Church Planting directly to your inbox every month!

If you’re not already subscribed, you can click this link to sign up right now.

Igniting Growth In Your Church – Week 3 of 6

Welcome to week 3 of my 6-week blog series, “Igniting Growth In Your Church.” I trust that this Thursday series is driving you deeper in your study of my new book, Ignite: How To Spark Immediate Growth In Your Church.

Last week we dissected the four best times of year to do a big day. Now that you have a big day on your calendar (you do, right?), the next step is to understand how you, as the pastor, can use it to ignite evangelism in your church…

Today’s Topic:

Pastor – Igniting Evangelism Through the Stage, Staff and Structure

Each and every time you step in front of your crowd, you have the chance to speak truth into their lives. Whether you are preaching from a stage to thousands of listeners, from a pulpit to hundreds, or from a makeshift sanctuary to just a handful, you have been given incredible power to shape the lives and eternities of every person listening to you.

That’s exactly why the responsibility for keeping the evangelistic temperature in the church boiling hot falls on you. There are three ways that you can raise the level of evangelism in your church…  1) through the stage 2) through your staff and 3) through your church’s structure. Let’s look at each one in a little more detail:

Stage: What gets presented from the stage is more likely to get accomplished in the pews. In other words, you can’t keep quiet and assume that your people will do anything. You have to challenge. You have to encourage. Here are three of the most effective ways to use the stage to challenge your people toward evangelism:

• Tell Your Own Evangelistic Stories
• Have Others Give Their Testimony
• Teach an Evangelism System

Staff: Challenge your staff to be actively involved in evangelism and then hold them accountable for what you’ve asked them to do. Encourage them to lead the way by:

• Serving in Evangelistic Activities
• Praying for Unchurched Friends
• Praying and Fasting for Big Days
• Inviting Friends to Church

Structure: Think about the underlying structure of your church. Have you structured with an eye to the greater community? Have you structured in a way that helps you mobilize your people for evangelism? You can either structure your church for control or for growth, but not for both. Here are three of the best ways to make sure you are structuring for growth:

• Plan Regular Evangelistic Events
• Engage Small Groups in Evangelism
• Allow People to Belong Before They Believe

As you use the stage wisely, expect the best of your staff and structure your church for evangelism, you will be cooperating with God in reaching people for His glory. He will bless your efforts with lots of new people!

For more in depth information on how you can keep the evangelistic temperature of your church red hot, make sure to pick up your copy of Ignite: How To Spark Immediate Growth In Your Church. You may also want to check out my popular resource, “The Evangelism System.” Just click here.

So now you have an idea of what you, as the pastor, need to do to foster evangelism in your church. But what about your church members? How can you mobilize them for evangelism? That’s what we’ll talk about next Thursday. Make sure to check back!

- Nelson

P.S – If you missed the first two posts, don’t worry! Just click here for Week 1 and click here for Week 2.

October Book Recommendation (Video)

Since so many of you seem to be enjoying my book recommendation videos, I decided to do it a little different this month by filming outside of the office.

In case you the last few months’ videos, you can click these links to see my book recommendations for July, August and September.

Here’s my October book recommendation:

October Book Recommendation:

Ignite: How to Spark Immediate Growth in Your Church by Nelson Searcy

P.S. Have you already read Ignite? I’d love to hear your feedback — you can send it using the “Ask Nelson” button on the right side of the blog.

94 Servant Evangelism Ideas – CLI Newsletter Rewind

I’m taking a moment today to share one of the articles from this month’s CLI Newsletter.

We scour the internet each month and pack each newsletter with the best content we can find.  Like this article from my friend (and mentor) Steve Sjogren:

94 COMMUNITY SERVANT EVANGELISM IDEAS

“Servant Evangelism wins the heart before it confronts the mind. A small act of kindness nudges a person closer to God, often in a profound way as it bypasses ones mental defenses. The average Christ-follower is willing to hand a stranger a can of soda (low-risk). The high grace is seen in the typical reaction. ‘Oh, thank you!’ ‘This is so nice!’ ‘I can’t believe this is for free!’ And, ‘Why are you doing this?’  Kindness builds the bridge for the person to receive a touch of love from God.” Read the full article here…

My goal with the Church Leader Insights Newsletter is to do the work that you may not have time to do every month – bringing the best and latest thinking on Church Growth, Evangelism, Leadership and Church Planting directly to your inbox every month!

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Igniting Growth In Your Church – Week 2 of 6

Today is the second installment of my 6-week blog series, “Igniting Growth In Your Church.” This Thursday series is your sneak peak into the pages of my new book, Ignite: How To Spark Immediate Growth In Your Church. If you are one of the tens of thousands who are already reading Ignite, well, thanks! I trust that this series will serve as a weekly reminder and reinforcement of what you are learning.

Last week we uncovered four of the most powerful reasons for doing a big day. Once you decide to go for it, the next step is to pick the most strategic date…

Today’s Topic: When Should I Do A big Day?

Here are four of the best times of year for a successful big day:

1. Easter Sunday – The Built-In Big Day - Easter is a big day “gimmie.” God has already put this one on the calendar for you, so your job is to maximize the increased turn out you are already destined to have. If you’ve never done a big day, this is a great one to start with because a large part of the structure is already in place.

2. Fall – The Back-To-School Big Day - The second best time of the year for a big day is one month after school begins. Yes, you read correctly – you should schedule your big day for approximately one month after school begins. Your regular attenders and members won’t all start returning with normalcy until the Sunday after school begins. You need some time for them to get back in the swing of things before your big day.

Also, we’ve found that reaching unchurched people is even more difficult than usual for the first couple of weeks after school starts.  They are consumed with getting everyone back in a routine.  Give them a month to settle into the school year and get back on track. Then, they’ll be more ready to accept your invitation to attend a big day.

3. February – The Unexpected Big Day - You may be surprised by this, but February is an extremely effective time to do a big day. It’s a hidden gem of a month that you can maximize to help you break through growth barriers. Why? First of all, February is a time of the year when people are home. No one is traveling; they’re hibernating. Secondly, February brings with it a host of emotional needs that stay repressed during other months. The days are short. It’s dark. In a lot of households, this leads to tension and fighting.

February is also an ideal time for a big day because of its proximity to Easter. If you have a big day in mid-February, you will usually have five to eight weeks before Easter. That double boom of two big days close together is a great way to build fast momentum and break through some barriers.

4. Your Pick – The Big Day of Choice

To fill in any seeming dry spells in your annual calendar, I suggest that you pick one more day each year and make it a big day. This big day probably won’t be as big as your Easter, fall and February big days – because it won’t necessarily have the natural rhythm of the calendar supporting it – but it can give you another burst of momentum at what you consider a low time.

To balance out The Journey’s annual calendar, I usually create a big day in the summer. I will either kick off a big summer sermon series or leverage an existing day, like Father’s Day, and turn it into a reason for people to invite their friends.  Be creative.

For more information on planning and executing a big day, make sure to pick up your copy of Ignite: How To Spark Immediate Growth In Your Church. You may also want to check out my audio resource, “The Big Day.” Just click here.

Once you decide why and when to do a big day, what’s your next step? That’s what we’ll talk about next Thursday. Don’t miss it!

- Nelson

P.S. – I just recorded a brief podcast on doing a big day, called “Is it possible to double my church in a day?” You can listen to it by clicking here.

P.P.S. – I also have some upcoming LIVE Ignite Seminars in North Carolina (one in the Charlotte area and another in the Raleigh area) – check out this link.

And watch for more Live Ignite events in 2010!

Ignite Events Coming to North Carolina

Hey guys, I’m coming to North Carolina to do two identical events.  One will be in the Charlotte area on October 28th.  The other will be in the Raleigh area on October 29th.

I’d enjoy meeting some of the reader of my blog and at the same time teach evangelism.

Click here to register now.

Here’s a glimpse of what I’m going to cover:

-  How to DOUBLE your church in a day (it can be done)

-  How to immediately raise the evangelism effectiveness of your church

-  How to mobilize your congregation to reach their friends

-  How to spark growth in a stalled church

-  How to keep momentum year after year in a growing church

-  How to excite your people, even if they’ve not been motivated in the past

-  How to influence your leaders to reach out to the community

-  How to plan and implement a proven BIG DAY process

-  And much more . . .

I look forward to seeing you in North Carolina!

Nelson

P.S.  If you haven’t picked up my new book Ignite yet, you can do so here.

Igniting Growth In Your Church – Week 1 of 6

Today marks two weeks since the release of my latest book, Ignite: How to Spark Immediate Growth in Your Church. I always say that leaders are readers – and thanks to leaders like you, Ignite has already begun to impact communities around the world. So, thanks for your passion and commitment to expanding God’s kingdom!

I am kicking off a six-week blog series today, called “Igniting Growth In Your Church.” If you haven’t gotten your copy of Ignite yet, this Thursday series will give you a sneak peek into its pages and uncover some key concepts for sparking your church’s growth. If you are one of the many who have already started studying Ignite, this series will provide you with some bite-sized reminders and reinforcement.

My hope is that these posts will leave you all with something to think about as you go through your day… and drive you even deeper in your study of how to spark immediate growth in your church.

Today’s Topic: Why Should I Do A Big Day?

First of all, let me define what exactly a big day is. A big day is an all-out push toward a single Sunday for the purpose of breaking the next growth barrier and setting an attendance record, in order to reach as many people as possible for Jesus.

Why should you worry about pushing past your next growth barrier? Why do a big day? Here are four reasons to consider:

1. Do a big day to reach new people – The biggest reason to do a big day is to cooperate with God in reaching the most people possible for the kingdom while we still can. We have a responsibility to do as much as we can to bring people to Christ and grow them up into spiritual maturity. Isn’t that why we do what we do?

Reaching our communities is not going to happen without intentional effort on our part. We can’t just stick to the status quo and assume that the people in our churches are going to be filled with a passion to reach others for Jesus. We have to make a concerted decision to put time and energy into connecting with the world beyond our doors. That’s where the vision for a big day begins – with a heart for the community and a heart to reach new people before God’s final big day.

2. Do a big day to make the devil mad – Okay, this shouldn’t be your primary reason for doing a big day, but every once in a while it’s good to do something that will irk Satan. If he’s not bothered by what you are doing, you must not be doing much against his cause. Or as a pastor/mentor of mine once advised me, ‘If you haven’t met the devil head on lately, maybe its because you are moving in the same direction!’

3. Do a big day to grow the Christians in your church – There’s nothing like doing a big day to ignite some passion in your people and mobilize them for service. When you share your vision for reaching a new level through a big day, you will find people more than willing to give extra time and energy to the cause. They will be eager to reach out to their friends, family and co-workers. You will spur them on to greater spiritual growth by giving them the opportunity to take part in something bigger than themselves.

4. Do a big day to build momentum in your church – I run into a lot of churches who say, “We feel like our momentum is beginning to wane.” If you can relate, that’s all the more reason to do a big day. Big days build momentum by uniting your people in a common goal, attracting buzz from the community, and propelling you to the next level of growth.

For more information on planning and executing a big day, make sure to pick up your copy of Ignite: How To Spark Immediate Growth In Your Church. You may also want to check out my audio resource, The Big Day. Just click here.

Now that you’ve discovered some of the strongest “whys” for doing a big day, you definitely won’t want to miss next Thursday’s installment of “Igniting Growth In Your Church.” We’ll be looking at the “whens” – the four most effective times of year to do your big day. In the meantime, take some time to envision the effects that a well-planned big day could have on your church…

- Nelson

P.S. I’m have upcoming Ignite Seminars in New York City, Charlotte and Raleigh – follow this link for more info