Planning For Outreach Activities

Transcription

1 Planning For Outreach Activities There is something wrong with a Sunday school that does not grow but remains the same size year after year. When a Sunday school teaches the Word of God in the power of the Spirit there should be growth as the result. Enlargement is important. The Sunday school is the powerhouse of the local church. It invariably becomes the greatest power for recruiting and enlisting people. Growth in the Sunday school will build up the church membership. This is not to say that all new Sunday school pupils will become church members, but there will be many contacts made and the message shared because of each new Sunday school pupil. Growth in the Sunday school will also serve to help people grow spiritually as they begin to work more for the Lord. Growth in the Sunday school will add new life to the local church, will bring replacement for the loss of pupils and will provide seekers at our altars. The statement has been made that at least 85 per cent of the people saved at our altars come by way of the Sunday school. So growth in the Sunday school is important to the entire church. Enlargement is also a necessity. We must remember that every effort made to see growth in our Sunday school is in direct response to the command of Jesus in Matthew 28:19, 20. He gave us our marching orders, He issued the first forward march, and He promised to be with us as we go into the highways and hedges of our community seeking people through enlargement activities. If we are to have divine approval we must make growth in the Sunday school a real priority item. The need to evangelize our community further compels us to see growth in our Sunday school. Yes, growth in the Sunday school is an absolute necessity. Enlargement of the Sunday school is possible. It is certain that we cannot enlarge our Sunday schools by wishing and hoping. There must be a cause behind our growth. Only a positive and definite program of enlargement can meet the challenge that is before us. A pastor with a growing Sunday school stated, In this time of crisis and uncertainty, we will need to reach out into the darkest corner to bring people to Christ. The Sunday school properly geared for enlargement will be found reaching out, out, out. It can surely be said that through effort, Sunday school growth is possible. We have before us the challenge of enlargement but you must remember it is POSSIBLE, it is a NECESSITY, it is IMPORTANT. The question now is just HOW? The answer to this question is found in three simple words; plan work pray. Each of these must be present in every enlargement activity if it is to be effective. PLAN by beginning with the people. Analyze the present needs. Build a program but only after you have taken a look at your people and analyzed the needs. You must then count the cost not in dollars or cents but in souls. Then you can begin to plan by setting goals for your Sunday school and seeking to involve every possible person in your programs for enlargement. WORK by utilizing every possible opportunity to put your plan of operation to work. Be actively involved in every enlargement campaign. Be sure that every special day is put to work for you by encouraging more WORK by everyone. Be sure that every teacher is working at GOING AFTER THOSE ABSENTEES! Be sure that the Sunday

2 school departments such as Cradle Roll and Extension Department have special times of outreach. Children s Day comes but once a year, so why not try to have a record-breaking attendance? Keep in mind it is not for the record s sake but for the sake of souls. Remember, these and countless other opportunities for enlargement can be yours during every Sunday school year. The work is oftentimes just in finding them. PRAY in order that every plan will indeed work. As we reach out to people we must also be found reaching up to God. He will provide the inspiration, the initiative, and the necessary insight to make our labors fruitful. Prayer is the key to all promises and provisions. Let us ring those prayer bells and rejoice in His blessings. The challenge is before us to ENLARGE. Let us PLAN, WORK, and PRAY that people with never-dying souls might be reached through the Sunday school. The following material will hopefully assist you as you plan a time of promotion that leads to Sunday school and local church growth. VIEWING ENLARGEMENT ACTIVITIES The enlargement efforts will provide a strategic time for your church to emphasize community outreach for the entire Sunday school. Any period of special promotion can be effective if the leadership of the church provides adequate organizational planning well in advance of the scheduled outreach emphasis time. By the help of the Lord we can make each campaign or special day meaningful to people. Let us remember our challenge reaching people to teach people to win people. Yes, ours is definitely a people ministry. Enlargement activities are valuable because of the concentrated effort put into a limited period of time in community penetration. The church which is enjoying enrollment gains is the church which is actively engaged in regular Sunday school enlargement projects. Objectives To obey the command by Jesus Christ, our Commander-in-Chief, to share the Good News, Jesus said, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come I, that my house may be filled. To revitalize interest in Sunday school outreach ministries. To enlist people in active Christian service. To stimulate faithful Sunday school attendance of all church members. To contact new people for your Sunday school. To permanently increase your Sunday school attendance, thus providing dedicated Christian workers who will be motivated to continue in the work of the Church. OUR MOTTO --win the unsaved to CHRIST --build them up in CHRIST --send them out for CHRIST

3 OUTREACH EFFORT ESSENTIALS PRAYER The success of any outreach activity depends largely on whether or not the church is prepared in prayer. Prayer is absolutely essential because our Christian service is weak when we are not prepared through prayer. Prayer is the most powerful form of energy that a Christian can generate, so why not generate adequate power for every Sunday school outreach activity through a church-wide prayer plan? In your pre-campaign planning be sure to include all age levels in your prayer groups. Children can and do pray powerful prayers. Don t underestimate their interest in reaching people. The youth of the Sunday school can set in motion a prayer machine that will prove to be a tremendous blessing. Arrange for their participation to be meaningful and on their level. Suggested Prayer Clock: Prepare a clock poster for auditorium or bulletin board. (See illustration that follows.) Volunteers will sign their names in a time frame thus designating a prayer time that will work for them. The number of signatures will determine the number of minutes required of each. (midnight) Pray Without Ceasing (noon) PLEDGE CARD I pledge to be a part of the SUNDAY SCHOOL ENLARGEMENT PRAYER TEAM. Signed The adults in your Sunday school could be given special prayer assignments. These could include individuals, small groups and community prayer meetings. Prayer chains are effective when properly organized. Prayer teams are very meaningful and can add great power to your enlargement efforts. These teams should be assigned specific needs. Your Extension Department should be involved in your prayer plans and efforts. This involvement will provide shut-ins with active participation opportunities in the outreach efforts of the local church. The campaign director will want to contact each church leader and request their assistance in preparing the church in prayer for this campaign. There are 144 hours (or 8,640 minutes) in the week (Monday through Saturday). Divide 8,640 by the number of persons who enlist in this prayer action plan. This will

4 determine the number of minutes each will be expected to pray during the week. Encourage total church prayer participation for effective outreach. OUTREACH DIRECTOR The key persons in any enlargement activity are the pastor and the outreach director. This assignment could be given to the Christian education director, superintendent or whomever the pastor would appoint. The outreach director s responsibilities are many. He is not responsible to ddo all the work, but rather, to organize the Sunday school staff into specially trained teams for community penetration, remembering to use every volunteer that can be found. The following are some of the responsibilities of the outreach director: All advance planning activities. Along with the pastor and superintendent, the outreach director will establish campaign policies and methods of action; also, set campaign goals. Appoint each committee or action group necessary to accomplish the enlargement activity goals. The training of workers and defining of job responsibilities for each. Generate enthusiasm for all campaign activities and direct each special Sunday. In order to have total cooperation, leadership of the campaign must be involved. The outreach director must always remember that the pastor is the chief administrator of all the church programs and should be kept well informed of all plans. PLANNING WAIT! Before you launch any campaign, take a long hard look at what is taking place in your Sunday school. What is your Sunday school doing to share the GOOD NEWS with the unsaved and unchurched? Does the leadership of your Sunday school have the spiritual motivation and desire to reach out to people with the good news? What is your school doing to motivate growth? Is your school membership being challenged to demonstrate Christ s love through practical means? By thus evaluating your school s current status you will be in a better position to project some meaningful goals for your school during the campaign. Only accidents happen unplanned. Growth of the Sunday school will come only as we plan, pray and work for results. The outreach director and superintendent will want to call a workers conference early in the planning stages of the campaign for the purpose of: a. Meeting with the Sunday school staff to outline the campaign, determine campaign strategy and a general schedule of events. b. Assigning the various aspects of the campaign to committees or individuals for development, promotion, and spiritual preparation. c. Working with the promotion committees in publicizing the campaign through the use of news releases, posters, bumper stickers, banners, etc. Generate a community awareness of your campaign. d. Emphasizing prayer throughout the campaign planning and activities. Our efforts and talents are not sufficient for total success. We must have the fervent Holy Ghost anointing and blessing upon us.

5 e. Emphasizing the objectives, purpose, goals and overall scope of this campaign. f. Allowing plenty of time for introducing all campaign promotional tools and their potential value. All in all, it takes prayer, planning and promotion if you are to see results. In planning your workers conferences it might be good to consider having a social time arranged. Endeavor to bring your staff together in a relaxed atmosphere which may lend itself to a more fruitful meeting. Child care service should be offered for thos parents with small children, if at all possible. A staff prayer meeting for the success of the campaign is essential. The campaign staff must first be prepared in prayer if they are to be effective in leadership responsibilities. PROMOTION The promotion or publicity phase of any campaign is a vital link to its effectiveness. Remember, you will have both in-church and out-of-church phases in your promotion efforts both are important. We must always keep in mind that the committee s responsibilities are to inform as many persons as possible regarding the outreach or rally day dates, the theme, and the objectives. Enthusiastic persons should serve on your publicity committee because it is a proven fact that individuals who are enthusiastic stimulate a similar response from others. The publicity committee could be divided into two grups. One group could be responsible for all in-church promotions and the other group would be responsible for all out-of-church promotions. The campaign promotional tools are provided and can be used effectively. Each year sample packets of materials prepared for outreach are made available to each local church by the General Sunday School Department. A well organized committee will use every available means to spread the campaign news throughout the community as well as to inform every church member. This is to include shut-ins and church family contacts. News Release News releases to the local radio and television stations, and newspapers are a must for out-of-church promotion. In some cases these services are available on public service time. It would be necessary to prepare our news release and take it to the radio, television or newspaper offices. Suggested News Release: Community outreach is the central thrust of a -week campaign being launched this Sunday, (date), by the (church name and address) based on the theme.

6 The campaign will include the Sunday school members of the church in a variety of activities including (give a brief summary of the projects). The church is interested in our community, states Pastor (give pastor s name). A new emphasis on the reason for the existence of the Sunday school and church is being stressed and each individual member of the Sunday school is encouraged to demonstrate community interest. Special emphases are planned for each Sunday of the campaign. The Church of God of Prophecy is located (address). The Sunday school meets at (time). (Name of campaign director), the campaign director, gives you a special invitation to enjoy the special Sunday school activities during this campaign. A warm welcome awaits each of you. VISITATION The community potential provides a tremendous challenge for the total church to share God s love during any outreach activity. The community visit is simply a matter of contacting the people in your church community. You and the local church alone can determine this. It may include only a square mile or less of the community surrounding the church or it may include the entire city or village. The essential factor in determining boundaries is vision. God reminds us that Where there is no vision, the people perish (Proverbs 29:18). This truth can now be applied to your Sunday school during any enlargement activity. HERE IS A PLAN: 1. Divide your designated area into as many visitation blocks as is practical. You may want to number these blocks for each reference. Keep in mind that you need a block leader for each block. (Note: This is not necessarily a street block, rather an area block.) 2. Appoint a qualified leader over each block. Prior to this, make a list of all current members of your Sunday school who live in the particular block. It will now become the responsibility of the block leader to: Check on every enrolled member absent on any one Sunday during the campaign. This contact will remind the absentee that the Sunday school is concerned. Supervise and participate in all visitation and other surveys conducted in the block; to oversee all assignments given those who will be assisting in this area. Where feasible, make sure that transportation is available for all who need it within their block. 3. Conduct a meeting of all block leaders each week during the campaign for a complete briefing of activities and details involved. 4. Provide supplies for each block worker where feasible: a marked community map of all block assignments; list of all enrolled members within their assigned block;

7 list of all available workers in their block area. This is a workable plan for your community. Why not give this approach to community contact a try? FOLLOW-UP The success or failure of every enlargement activity will not be determined on the closing date of the campaign! It will be determined during the weeks following these special times of outreach. The very nature of these projects requires a workable follow-up program to begin immediately following the conclusion of any outreach activity as special emphasis time. It is requested for maximum results in any Sunday school enlargement effort, that the pastor, Outreach Campaign director, and Sunday school staff set in motion a well planned and directed follow-up program. Your Sunday school enlargement campaign staff could plan the follow-up approach. Involve your staff in planning and you will have full support FOLLOW-UP IS A MUST! CHRISTIAN EDUCATION MINISTRIES P.O. BOX 2910 CLEVELAND, TENNESSEE 37311, U.S.A.