If you read my post yesterday I had a few thoughts on Pastor Nieuwhof’s predictions about the future of church attendance . I conducted a two question Twitterview with Pastor Nieuwhof and he was very gracious to answer my questions. If you start with these two questions you could start making more disciples sooner.
Question # 1
Me: What does the engagement process look like in your church? How do you engage the un-engaged?
@cnieuwhof 4 simple steps. Join a group. Serve. Give. Invite a friend. Order of steps doesn’t matter.
I live in Alabama, home of the University of Alabama. Nick Saban is the coach and the one word I hear a lot is about his process. He has a process for making average players good players and good players great players. The team understands and buys into the process. Pastor Nieuwhof offers four areas his church uses to engage people.
Join (a group)
Once someone comes to Christ in your group or wants to further their faith, in community, where do you usher them to next? Where will they grow? A class? One on one?
Serve
How quickly do find out what a kid is good at and does your youth ministry have a place for that kid to use their gifts and talents.
Give
I am never ashamed to take offering in youth because I teach kids that it’s where worship begins in our service. When I ask a kid to give, it’s like when the little boy was asked to give his lunch for a greater miracle.
Invite
Engaged kids invite others to engage. If kids are having fun they will invite others to have fun with them. If a kid is learning they will invite others to learn with them. This is both a sign of discipleship (Andrew invited his brother Peter to meet Christ) and a goal for kids to reach where they feel comfortable sharing what they know with who they love.
Questions #2
Me: You say engagement will drive attendance in the future. What is it about the steps that you hope will be so attractive?
@cnieuwhof People need community. And they are about giving more than getting. That’s engaging.
I am reading between the lines here but I believe Pastor Nieuwhof is saying that people are drawn where there is vibrant community, where people are committed to giving than getting. I think youth ministry cave in on themselves where there is no greater goal than to have fun or more kids. A youth ministry that challenges kids to give to something greater than themselves reinforces the community structure. Self absorbed youth ministries, whose goal is to simply build itself, is terminate eating at the foundation of that ministry. When kids are no longer having fun they bail, but a kid who sacrifices their fun for the greater good is a sign that the youth ministry is deeper then where we are having fun. I believe, and I think Pastor Nieuwhof believes, it is this kind of giving that will attract others.
Your Turn
What does you process look like for engagement?
Which, if any, of the four engagements Pastor cary offers do you have in place in your ministry?
Which one of the four could you implement or improve upon in your ministry?