SPORTSPASTOR

Do you applaud or are you annoyed when you read about a church that is all about the numbers? I say that it all depends on who gets the glory (God or man) and on what ministry measures a church has in place to evaluate their effectiveness evangelistically or otherwise.

Let me offer 7 things that a Church Sports Outreach Ministry should do to avoid becoming “The Numbers-Driven Church”:
1) Offer a clear presentation of the Gospel
Did I say well done? You can be creative in your presentation, but don’t sacrifice clarity for relevance.
2) Counsel each person who makes a decision
Do not simply count hands! Have a quiet place that trained volunteers can counsel each person who has made a decision immediately following their salvation experience.
3) Send them home with a Bible designed for new believers
Make sure that every new believer is properly equipped for the first steps of their new life. Having a new Bible is a privilege and new believers are usually excited to dive into Scripture.
4) Send out a praise e-mail
Send this e-mail to those you have previously e-mailed to pray in advance and make sure to give GOD the glory for the decisions. Ask people to pray for the follow-up process.
5) Contact those who have made decisions
Have trained volunteers make a follow-up call to the person and/or families on one evening during the next week.
6) Offer a new believer’s class
Offer and inform the person and/or families about a new believer’s class your church will be offering in the near future
7) Send a formal letter from a pastor
Draft a formal letter from your sports pastor or senior pastor congratulating the person and/or their family on their decision to trust Christ. This is also a great place to invite them to visit your church if they do not already have a church home (be sure and include your service times).

In conclusion, if you have a comprehensive follow-up process like I have described above, I can guarantee you that your church or at least your sports outreach ministry does not have an over-focus on numbers. Thanks for reading and thanks for being the 500th visitor to my blog today! Oops! My bad.