{"id":737080,"date":"2021-03-23T12:30:23","date_gmt":"2021-03-23T17:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/?p=737080"},"modified":"2021-03-23T06:18:41","modified_gmt":"2021-03-23T11:18:41","slug":"7-old-fashioned-church-growth-ideas-to-consider-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/7-old-fashioned-church-growth-ideas-to-consider-today\/","title":{"rendered":"7 \u201cOld-Fashioned\u201d Church Growth Ideas to Consider Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I think back across 40 years of full-time ministry, I\u2019m reminded of some older ways we did church then that <\/span>could <\/span><\/i>still work today. These ideas from years ago, in fact, make me wonder how we might use them today:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

1. \u201cFriend Day\u201d<\/b> \u2013 I know that\u2019s a strange thought in COVID days, but I trust we will move past these days at some point. Regardless (and for now, assuming we can provide proper space), there\u2019s value in challenging believers to make intentional efforts to invite their friends to church.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. 24 Hour Prayer Wall<\/b> \u2013 In my day, church members signed up on the \u201cprayer wall,\u201d came to the church, and prayed in 15 or 30-minute segments\u2014though some older folks still prayed at home. Today, we can use electronic means to make this same commitment to prayer.<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Annual Bible Study<\/b> \u2013 Every January, we used three consecutive nights to teach through a book of the Bible. I\u2019m convinced believers still want to know the Word, and they\u2019ll attend as long as we provide the strongest teachers. Weak teachers, though, will kill such a study.<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Prayer Chain<\/b> \u2013 We did it via telephone then, but it worked this way: someone in need of prayer called the prayer line, and the leader called the next prayer warrior on the list . . . who then called the next person, and so on. Today, we can easily enlist members and groups who stand ready to pray as soon as they learn of a need (most likely, by an electronic means).<\/span><\/p>\n

5. Care Group Shepherding<\/b> \u2013 Each small group had \u201ccare group leaders\u201d who were responsible for shepherding an assigned list of members of the small group. If, for example, a small group member missed a gathering, the care group leader would follow up that week to check on him or her. This kind of follow-up and ministry is still in order.<\/span><\/p>\n

6. Weekly Small Group Leaders Training<\/b> \u2013 Every week, we met together to pray, to discuss the next week\u2019s study, to follow up about guests, to do training, and to encourage each other. In fact, we enlisted small group leaders with this expectation in mind. Even if we do it via Zoom these days, building a team of small group leaders will make a difference.<\/span><\/p>\n

7. Weekly Contact Groups<\/b> \u2013<\/span> In this process, a group of members met at the church each week to contact other members and guests. Some made phone calls, some wrote notes, some made personal visits, and some covered the whole process in prayer. How we do this would likely be different today, but intentional, ongoing contacts will pay dividends.<\/span><\/p>\n

What are your thoughts? What other \u201cold-fashioned\u201d ideas might you implement today?<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As I think back across 40 years of full-time ministry, I\u2019m reminded of some older ways we did church then that could still work today. These ideas from years ago, in fact, make me wonder how we might use them today:\u00a0 1. \u201cFriend Day\u201d \u2013 I know that\u2019s a strange thought in COVID days, but…","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":737081,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"publish_to_discourse":"0","publish_post_category":"1","wpdc_auto_publish_overridden":"","wpdc_topic_tags":"","wpdc_pin_topic":"","wpdc_pin_until":"","discourse_post_id":"","discourse_permalink":"","wpdc_publishing_response":"","wpdc_publishing_error":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,175,192,177,180,176],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-737080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-answers","category-grow","category-how-to","category-lead","category-outreach-and-evangelism","category-revitalize"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n7 \u201cOld-Fashioned\u201d Church Growth Ideas to Consider Today | Church Answers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As I think back across 40 years of full-time ministry, I\u2019m reminded of some older ways we did church then that could still work today. 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