How do you implement congregational evangelism in a larger church? Turning a large ship takes more time, so how do we do it?
- Integrate with existing ministries rather than trying to compete with them. Large churches often have established, long-running programs such as L2L, VBS, youth activities, and education. Many dedicated volunteers are already serving in these areas. Instead of recruiting from these programs, focus on making existing ministries more evangelistic. Some ideas include following up with VBS visitors using Transition Questions, ensuring that Bible classes teach salvation and are welcoming to visitors, involving the youth in door-knocking efforts, or asking widows to prepare meals for studies.
- Plan and organize your evangelism efforts. Small churches can quickly pivot and adopt new programs, especially when few existing programs are in place. Larger churches must carefully select dates, coordinate with other ministries, and ensure they have enough people to support the areas of the Evangelism Model. Effective planning with elders and other leaders is essential to prevent conflict and resentment.
- Ministers cannot do everything. Even a full-time evangelist cannot reach everyone. The evangelist is part of the process—not the entire process. The church must learn how to evangelize even if the minister is unavailable or moves away. Delegation and proper training are keys to success.
- Secure the buy-in of church leaders. Congregations need to see that the elders, ministers, and deacons support evangelism in word and deed. Half-hearted leadership gives the congregation permission to revert to previous habits. Convincing a leadership to commit to an evangelistic focus can be challenging. Provide examples of other churches and conduct small-scale tests of different components of the Evangelism Model as a proof of concept. Train elders and deacons to do evangelism so they can train others.
- Create a data management system. What will you do when you have 3,000 contacts? Spreadsheets and paper will not work anymore. Identify people in your church with experience in sales, data analysis, or business management to choose a database solution. Use a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software like Airtable or church database such as Lightpost to track contacts. Print off or email reports to give the members the needed information. A proper system will save time, provide accurate statistics to measure progress, and reveal actionable insights.
- Provide as many opportunities as possible for evangelism and training. It is difficult to train every church member to evangelize. The more opportunities you provide for involvement and training, the more people you can incorporate into the ministry. Have regular training classes and sermons on evangelism. Do not let it fade into the background, or the work will fade with it.
Evangelism in large congregations has its own unique set of challenges. “For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required” (Luke 12:48). Those who invest wisely will witness incredible growth at the hands of God who alone gives the increase.