Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - May/91

Contributor - Rev. Murray Moerman

Title - Ideas That Work: Entertaining With a Purpose

Topic - Evangelism

Question: How can we help members of our congregation who want to help evangelize their friends and neighbours but who feel they are unable, for any reason, to introduce a person to Christ directly?

Answer. We have seen wonderful results with simple expressions of hospitality channeled towards natural evangelism. Here's how it works:

The venue can be varied to any setting which is comfortable to the cultural setting of your congregation and their friends. In our church we've tried small dinner parties in homes, a Valentine's banquet in the church and at a nice restaurant, and a hoe-down barbecue on a farm. Groups have ranged from 15 to 225 persons. Other settings could be picnics, youth pizza parties, a nursing home birthday party, a Christmas celebration, or almost any other time or place.

An afternoon or evening of food, music, games, or entertainment is carefully planned. The purpose of this time is to have fun and to provide a quality experience of relaxation and relationship building.

In the planning process an appropriate person or couple is also invited to share a brief talk related to the setting or the season from a Christian perspective. Titles of the talk might be something like: Secrets to a Successful Marriage, Self-Esteem and the Ordinary Person, How the Meaning of Christmas was Deepened to Me, or Finding Love in a Modern World - in each case with the subtitle: from a Christian perspective.

Invitation cards are prepared, (handwritten or professionally printed) and Christians distribute them to invite unchurched relatives, friends or neighbours to join them to meet their friends in an evening of fun and inspiration. In this way half of those who attend are unchurched. On one occasion we had a couple bring eleven unchurched friends! The evening is of course free, underwritten by the church or those who invite guests.

During the evening a brief presentation of the gospel is made by the speaker and in the course of his or her talk an opportunity is given for those who wish to receive Christ or ask questions to indicate their desire. People have become Christians and begun to attend the church on each occasion we've offered this experience. Also, as people already in the church have become convinced that their guests will not be embarrassed or pressured during such an evening, but have a great time, the number of those wanting to bring friends has increased on an ongoing basis.

We've found that the organizational aspects of quality planning are best handled by a small task force. More information is available from the task force in our congregation or from your nearest Campus Crusade for Christ office.

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