Written by: gfesadmin on March 2, 2013

One of my first full time jobs out of Theological Seminary was church planting and evangelism in a large church in Southern California. Although I had never planted a church before or led evangelism, I was naive enough to take the job. I read every book or article I could find on evangelism and church planting. Fuller Seminary in Pasadena California at the time had a church planting certification program which was a great help. Part of the program was to spend a day with Rick Warren from Saddleback Community Church.

Rick shared with us that when he started Saddleback church, he went door to door to ask why people did not go to church and what they would like to see in a church they would possibly attend. He then took the common themes from his interviews to invite people to a different church that reversed the reasons most people do not attend church. Rick and a few friends, hand addressed some 40,000 envelopes to invite people to church who lived within a 5 mile radius of where they were to hold their first service on Easter Sunday. 200 people attended their first service and the rest is history. Today more than 20,000 attend services.

Rick Warren used modern marketing techniques to start and to grow his church. This is a method that has been used through the centuries by Evangelical leaders. Bebbington in Evangelicalism in Modern Britain (Bebbington, 1979) shared how Evangelical churches in 1780 began to visit homes to invite people to church and to share the gospel message. This marketing method took a new turn when in 1857 Mrs. Ranyard’s Bible women were paid to go house to house to encourage church attendance.

Activism, according to Bebbington, is one of the four marks of Evangelicalism. The other three are conversionism, biblicism, and crucicentrism. Activism is the act of spreading the gospel to those who do not believe. John Wesley’s Methodists were exemplary in preaching the gospel 5 or 6 times a week and some would travel hundreds of miles every month to get the message out (Bebbington, 1979).

For the Evangelical leader, is there a place for current marketing techniques to get the word out or should we stay the course with old techniques for sharing the gospel? In college, I was trained by Campus Crusade for Christ to start up a conversation with strangers and to share the gospel through a small booklet called The 4 Spiritual Laws.  As pastor of evangelism, I had the opportunity to train volunteers to share their faith with seekers who were invited to become believers at the end of a service. Later in life, I was involved in Evangelism Explosion, a home visitation program developed to share the gospel to those who attended the church for the first time. In current times, home visitation is usually looked upon with suspicion and distrust. What worked in the past may not work in the future.

I believe Evangelical leaders need to be aware of current marketing trends and develop new programs that will open opportunities to share the gospel. I currently work for a company who develops, builds and manages Retirement Communities for older adults. Current marketing trends we are finding success with are small group meetings called Lunch and Learn or Dine and Discover. We send out direct mail cards inviting income qualified individuals to a Lunch and Learn. The direct mail piece has an eye catching message and an invitation to a meal and discussion. Then one-on-one appointments are set up with persons who are interested in more information. This marketing technique could be transferred to the church. I have yet to see a church that has a budget line for marketing and using an ad agency. Our society is geared towards marketing and I believe churches who want to be effective in reaching the un-churched can effectively use direct mail and small seeking groups to invite and share the gospel.

Building personal relationships to share the gospel is timeless. How we get the invitation out and the process of meeting new people is contemporary. What are new and creative ways you are seeing today in the church to share the good news? Oh, by the way, when we started our first church plant in California, we used Rick Warren’s direct mail technique and started on Easter Sunday with an attendance of 367, with a lot of help from above! Evangelism can work with current marketing techniques with the right attitude and heart.

Bebbington, D. W. Evangelicalism in Modern Britain:A history from the 1730s to the 1980s. London, Routledge. 1989.

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