LOCAL CHURCH MINISTRY CLASS 9
MIN
201 - INSTRUCTOR: LEN BALLENGER
REACHING THE COMMUNITY
I. Why Target?
A. Targeting is Biblical [Matthew 15:22-28]
-
Jesus focused on the “lost sheep of
- Paul targeted the Gentiles [Galatians 2:7]
B. All Nations
- ta ethne – all ethnicity (or people groups) [Matthew 28:19]
C. Matthew (to the Jews) – Mark (to the Gentiles)
II. Researching and Defining Your Community – Avoiding “People Blindness”
A. Define your target geographically
- identify where the people live that you want to reach
- where is your church located
B. Define your target demographically
- Age: How many are in each age group?
- Marital Status: Single, Married, etc. . .
- Income: Both the median and average per household.
- Education: What is the level of education of the community?
- Occupation: What type(s) of work are predominant?
C. Define your target culturally
- Lifestyle
- Mindset
- Psychographics: values, interests, fears, etc. . .
D. Define your target spiritually
- Spiritual background
- Other churches
- Unchurched
E. Making a Composite Profile
- Combine all the characteristics of residents into a single, mythical person
- Saddleback Sam (Example)
- Hit and Revisit your target
III. Becoming Attractive
A. To Principles of Relatability
- You will best reach those you relate to
- You will attract who you are, not who you want
- A healthy church should reflect its community: Build on your strengths, constantly change, reinvent yourself periodically
B. What does your leadership look like [Matthew 9:10]
IV. Developing Strategy
A. Fishers of Men [Matthew 4:19]
- Know what your fishing for
- Go where the fish are biting
- Learn to think like fish [1 Corinthians 9:22]
B. Four Basic Complaints
- Church is boring – Messages don’t relate to my life
- Church members are unfriendly
- Church is more interested in my money than in me
- Worry about the church’s child care
C. Understanding and adapting to culture
- constant change is here to stay
- use more than one hook
- develop, review, and re-develop strategy
V. Ministry to the multitudes
A. Loving unbelievers
B. Creating an atmosphere of acceptance
C. Meeting needs
D. Getting people’s attention
E. Relate truth to life
F. Go & Tell or Come & See?
G. Worship!