| 1. |
Formation
of cell group which can meet once a week (a group of five to
twelve) and invite friends to attend - Bible teaching - time no
more than one and half hours. |
| 2. |
Vestry
members and others appointed to canvass other churches by
visiting and introducing ourselves to the church communities in
Austin and other social arenas. |
| 3. |
Did I
mention coupon clipping yet? |
| 4. |
When a
church is involved with exciting programs, the members naturaly
invite their friends to join them. |
| 5. |
To be
attractive there must be some reason to join. If we look and act
like completely normal American citizens then it is hard to see
much appeal to joining. |
| 6. |
I was
drawn to the small size of St. John's, now a thing of the past!
It was the welcome of everyone on a personal level that helped
me stay. |
| 7. |
Not
comfortable with churches that obsess about numbers but do feel
that the Gospel is something to be shared and that we need to
make evangelism happen. |
| 8. |
The
coffee houe is a good start, but we have to be more friendly. |
| 9. |
events
which our neighbors can attend @ St. Johns |
| 10. |
It
pisses me off to see mega churches grow when I love St. John's
so much and feel that we have so much to offer.It is a sad
commentary on what the general public wants |
| 11. |
Various
events at St. John's like the Fall Festival, concerts etc.
Sorry, but I think residential canvassing is a really awful
idea! Too much like Jehovah's Witnesses. Again, I think the best
evangelism is the way people live their lives. |
| 12. |
The
most effective way to grow a church is to have enthusiastic
members who invite others. It is also the most difficult for
most of us. I personally see many members of St. Johns who seem
less enthusiastic than they did 2 years ago. Perhaps some
expected the "new church" to automatically fill
itself, and felt let down when it didn't. I hope to see renewed
enthusiasm with this new process, but many parish activities
require a "critical mass" to be successful, and need
more involvement by more members. |
| 13. |
Community
activities for children. Community activities for adults
(Speakers: covering current events, faith based organizations,
solicit info on children programs for the community, community
business leaders. Social activities: children's soccer games,
adult social events. |
| 14. |
Mass
media advertising is expensive and a waste of money. Personal
invitation works best. Anything aimed at getting people to know
one another will help growth. |
| 15. |
The
"new, non traditional" service should reach out to
more than "families". When I think of "new,
non-traditional" i think of a service that would attract a
20's crowd that would not necessarily have families. Perhaps an
innovative service with a contempotrary message and music. |
| 16. |
We need
to make sure that the neighborhood folks feel comfortable coming
to the church. Many people are more comfortable attending a
service AFTER they have gotten to know someone here or have come
to a function and know who we are. |
| 17. |
We do
need more 'socialising' after the service to encompass any
newcomers we have. |
| 18. |
Despite
the studies that show that inviting a friend to church is the
best Evangelism tool - it doesn't seem to work for us. We are
either too reticent or too small to make a difference. We need
some kind of bold external campaign that will probably involve
moving away from engaging lifelong Episcopalians. I would like
to see the Church used for outside events - readings, concerts
(e.g., Strings Attached, recitals, chamber music, acoustic,
praise, gospel, etc.) and other community events. |
