Here is one way to offer your congregation an opportunity to grow in their faith as a church and as individuals:
Ask for Quick Response
Send an email to your congregation saying that you would like to share in a faith conversation about the church. Assure them that this is meant to be fun and is not intended to lead to any specific decisions. Also tell them that any report back on people’s response will be shared with the congregation without any names attached. Tell them that over the next 5 weeks, you will send a conversation starter and ask to hit reply and offer no more than a ten-sentence response.
First Email:
If God has provided us with the gifts for the up building of the church, then what are those gifts as they are evident in our particular church? Ask people to reply with the five things that they would want to share with a church visitor about what this church has to offer. The statements can be about programs, people, what happens in worship, how people are cared for, etc.
Second Email:
If you think about it from God’s perspective, and as you look at this church and the people God has gathered in this church, what might be one of God’s specific dreams for this church? What is it that God would like to happen in the next year? Don’t over analyze your response, just hit reply and share your thoughts.
Third Email:
In the Lord’s Prayer, we pray, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” What is one commitment you would like to see the church make that might contribute to a world that more closely reflects God’s kingdom on earth.
Fourth Email:
If as Jesus said, the world will know that we are Jesus’ disciples if we show love for one another, (John 13:14-15), what is one act that our church could take that would demonstrate to the larger society our love for other churches transcends any differences we might have?
Fifth Email:
If part of our church journey is to deepen our own personal faith, what is one area of faith that you would personally like to deepen? Are you willing to pray daily for the next four weeks that you might grow more faithful in this area?
Share the cumulative response with the Congregation:
Both in sermons, and newsletters or on your webpage, keep the congregation apprised of the type of responses you are receiving. Encourage all of them to join in the conversation.
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