I started pastoring in 1978. I was young, excited and loved people. But I had a mind set that being a pastor meant I would do the bulk of ministry. I love doing it! I didn't understand that my greatest business was to equip the saints for the work of ministry. By neglecting to get the saints busy I shrank the work of the church down to only what I could accomplish. This is the hard way.
Jesus made his disciples into fishers of men. They did the work of ministry too, and continued making disciples who made more disciples. Christ kept ministry simple so that they could follow his example and keep multiplying disciples the way he did with them. Pastor you must help the souls in your church get into ministry. It's their job and privilege also. This is the easy way.
How much money do you spend for special meetings in the church?
It is great to have special meetings at the church. Many churches regularly pay outside speakers $500 or more. May I ask you a tough question? How many people who had never attended your church before came to your meeting and asked you to pray with them? Now take the amount of money, say $500 and divide it by the new people, say 5. That means your special services yielded 1 new soul for every $100 spent. A great investment because one soul is worth more than all the money in the world.
May I suggest... one time take $500 from the budget for special speakers and spend it on a Prayer Stand so you can go out into the community and minister to new people again and again. If your budget is tight it's much more cost effective. The business men in the church understand this kind of math and may be glad to help the church get one.
I wish I understood this when I was just getting started in ministry. So many more souls could have been impacted.
Don't have time to knock on every door in your community? Get a Prayer Stand and set up in the parking lot of that large store. The community will drive to you.
Successful pastors get very busy. There are messages to prepare, church members to council, hostpital runs, weddings, funerals, it goes on and on. Often the one thing they would love to do... evangelism... they do the least. Canvas the whole area? Most Pastors don't have that much time. Some don't have that much gas money.
Busy Pastor you have time for this. Take an hour a week and set up in the parking lot of the local store where you and the community shop. Those who are open to the gospel will come to you. You won't waste any time with people who have no interest, they will simply walk on by.
"Do I need a permit? Do I need permission?" Most people love this so don't go around town asking for permits and permission. Don't put managers in an ackward position, many don't know what to say. If you run into a place where they think you need a permit, they will let you know. Just make sure where you set up doesn't hinder business and that you are very thoughtful how you interact with the public. You will have people telling you how much they appreciate your Prayer Stand ministry.
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