Easter Outreach Idea
From Chuck Warnock at Confessions of a Small-Town Pastor (click to read full post) comes this low cost outreach idea:
Several years ago when I was pastoring a suburban Atlanta church, we wanted to reach our community. Like a lot of churches, our advertising budget was limited, but we wanted to make an impact. We ruled out direct mail — too expensive. TV, ditto. But we came up with an inexpensive and effective plan that accomplished our goal.
About 4-weeks before Easter, we designed and printed 1,000 invitations to our three Easter worship services. The invitations were simple, one-color folded notecards printed on the front only. Plain envelopes, without the church return address were purchased for the cards.
We bagged the cards and envelopes in groups of ten. One Sunday morning we put all 100 bags of cards on the front pew and asked each member household to take a bag-of-10-cards. Each family sent invitations to 10 individuals or families they knew, with a personal handwritten note inside each card. Families provided their own stamps, saving the church the cost of postage.
Each family was also encouraged to follow-up their invitations with a phone call to their potential guest, inviting them personally to worship with us on Easter. Our members offered to pick up their guests or meet them at the church, and sit with them during worship.
I encourage you to read the whole article to find out what the results were. Studies have consistently shown (along with personal experience) that the best way by far of increasing attendance and membership is to have members invite their friends in an intentional loving way.
Posted by GPC.
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