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Back to Church Sunday: 700,000 people accepted an Invitation to Church?

Posted by: Todd
Posted on: Mon, September 21, 2009
Viewed 104
(26) comments so far

Back to Church Sunday: 700,000 people accepted an Invitation to Church?

According to Outreach, Inc., "Back to Church Sunday (held September 13) was a huge success... 'as many as' 700,000 people accepted invitations to come to church on that day.

I'm not sure how they came up with that number, but it's a great number. And I'm all for churches getting people to invite their people to invite their friends. But this hit me with a little of the 'too much marketing' vein. It's kind of like Hallmark creating 'grandparents' day. Create a day; and people will buy stuff to support it. In this case, create a day; and people will buy direct mail and marketing materials, banners, invitations, etc.

In fact, here's the 'mini catalog' for the event.

Did YOUR church participate in "Back to Church Sunday"? If so... how did it go?

Todd

Comments

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CS on Wed, September 23, 2009

Peter:

You’re right. When I talked about using the, “negative,” words, I don’t mean using those as the choice of theme—that wouldn’t be helpful. What I did mean is that there are so many people who think that they are presenting the Gospel when they go out of their way to avoid any sort of harsh biblical language. So, the challenge is to make sure that the Gospel presentation would be a true Gospel presentation and not one of, “God can give you purpose and make you happy.” And I doubt that many Christians would be willing to do such an action.

As for churches being inviting places, yes, we should always welcome visitors warmly. But I take exception when on occasions such as these, “Back to Church Sunday,” events cause the worship in churches to be changed to focus on the non-believers, or water down the message. There’s a difference between explaining some of the theological and Christian concepts and phrases out of courtesy for those not in with the lingo and revamping the worship so that the offense of the cross is lost.

So, indeed, we do sorta kinda agree. =)

—
CS
Leonard on Wed, September 23, 2009

CS, you seem make the assumption or at the very least imply that these churches watered down a message for this Sunday. Do you have some insider information not published?

I agree people should definitely go share the Good news of Christ. Here is a question I have for you.

what should in your opinion a church service look like? what kind of teaching (we know biblical but what kind) Who “should” be there? How in your opinion should it be structured? I am not asking how not to do that, you have in previous posts shared the how nots, I am asking HOW you think it should be.
CS on Wed, September 23, 2009

Leonard:

“CS, you seem make the assumption or at the very least imply that these churches watered down a message for this Sunday. Do you have some insider information not published?”

I reviewed their website and saw that while their main flyer said, “Don’t deviate from your usual sorts of sermons,” there were subtle things like recommending changing the worship for the visitors and such. I also checked the sermons that they recommended, and many of them seemed more focused on people and what they can get out of going to church than having the focus on God.

So, no there was no, “insider information,” that I had that said, “water things down,” there are some signs that things could have been changed around.

“what should in your opinion a church service look like? what kind of teaching (we know biblical but what kind) Who �should� be there? How in your opinion should it be structured? I am not asking how not to do that, you have in previous posts shared the how nots, I am asking HOW you think it should be.”

Here is an abbreviated list of the important things I believe the Bible says we should have in church services:

-The focus of the service should be for the glory of God (Hebrews 12:28). It should be solemn, not silly, with focus on holiness and reverence.

-There must be reading, preaching, and teaching of the Word (1 Timothy 4:13). Style-wise, I believe expository teaching is the wisest way of doing this rather than topical presentation. But the focus should be on Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 2:2).

-There should be music (Colossians 3:16). As for what style or type, that should be at the conscience of the individual church, from a capella choirs to drums and electric guitars in a band. But the music should be about God, not secular or distracting. I prefer hymns, myself, and love it if a church has an organ because it is a powerful musical instrument that can show the majesty and power of God.

-The ordinances, in particular, the Lord’s Supper should be presented (Acts 2:42). I accentuate the warning of self-reflection that Paul wrote about in 1 Corinthians 11:29 because I have often found that that caution is not stressed when the elements are passed, and ate and drank unworthily when I was unsaved.

-There should be time for prayer (Acts 2:42).

-There should be a time for tithing, with the focus not on a percentage, but on giving with gladness (Acts 4:35, 2 Corinthians 9:7). I believe in giving discreetly (Matthew 6:4).

-Church discipline should be exercised when appropriate (Matthew 18).

-The purpose of the service is for believers to praise God. Unbelievers should be welcomed warmly, too, if they choose to come. But, the worship should be convicting (1 Corinthians 14:25), and the primary purpose of church services is not for evangelism (though it may happen).

How all of this is ordered is up to the discretion of the individual churches. They may even choose to include things like baptism, infant dedication, and discussing the church budget as they see fit.

—
CS
Leonard on Thu, September 24, 2009

CS,
Thanks for your response. It is my opinion that you are so committed to looking for problems that you see them even when they are not there.

As for what church should look like: I agree with the word solemn in as much as we do not go with humorless as a part of the definition. I believe reverence is inspired in many ways. I find reverence in excellence, simplicity, passion, truthfulness and clarity. These words inspire me to a place of reverence.

As for the Glory of God, I agree. To quote Piper, God is most glorified when we are most satisfied.

As for preaching, I agree it must be biblical and Christocentric. It must be practical and sound doctrinally. It must inspire people to discover more and dig for themselves. I don�t really care about the style.

I think music should be about the greatness of God, his love, our relationship with him, declarations of praise and adoration, proclamation of his greatness and a bending of our hearts to him. Music should declare our love for Him as a response to his love for us. The broadness of the Psalms is an inspiration. I personally like it loud and in a southern rock style.

The ordinances are not presented on a Sunday morning at my church. We will about 6-10 times a year, but more likely in a small group, at a celebration, in a special worship service. I think the warning given by Paul was given to believers and was an instruction to examine and change rather than a �don�t do it� The sternness of the warning is designed to push for God centered examination.

I agree there should be prayer! There should be a sensible offer for people to receive prayer as well.

I believe in tithing, or better stated, percentage based giving. I think giving should be prayerfully and carefully decided by an individual. It should be marked by words such as generous, joyful, sacrificial, faithful� It is considered an act of worship.

I believe in church discipline, but believe it is a last resort and should not be exercised on a Sunday morning. When we have done it we have always gathered at a different time.

For us the purpose of a Sunday morning is to celebrate the greatness of God. We lead people. It is not my job to prepare a meal but rather to lead people in such a way as they can be fed well. People get fed, but the focus is to lead. I work to equip with teaching, equip people to follow Christ. I want teaching to inspire, instruct, convict and rebuke. I want people to be aware of God�s greatness and in these moments, people who are believers are drawn by God the Holy Spirit to mature and unbelievers are drawn the God the Holy Spirit to repent and confess Christ.
Ron Forseth on Thu, September 24, 2009

Todd,

At Outreach, we endeavor to support churches in their desire to reach their communities so people might discover a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. How we do that will always be subject to scrutiny and constructive criticism.

A note of clarification to your post: I have checked around and have found nothing from Outreach which says that 700,000 invitations were “accepted.” If someone here wrote that, it is not an accurate representation. The only thing I found was that 700,000 neighbors “were invited.”

I was struck by the accusatory tone of your post. If you think that we are ill-intentioned in our approach, I’d be interested to see how you determine what our motives are.

If anyone wishes to read our full press release, they may at http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/1214011567.html.

It seems we agree on one thing: Inviting people back to church is a good thing.

Thanks for the ongoing stream of fascinating content you provide on MondayMorningInsight.com.

Ron Forseth
Outreach, Inc.
CS on Thu, September 24, 2009

Ron Forseth:

Thanks for coming here and commenting. I have a question for you. Would your organization endorse a, “Back to The Gospel Day,” where you would have people share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with one person in their lives whom they know is not saved?

—
CS
Mark Jackson on Thu, September 24, 2009

How about a “Back to Hellfire & Brimstone” Sunday? Or perhaps “Back to the Substitionary Atonement To Stave Off the Wrath of a Holy God” Sunday? Or maybe “Back To a “Back To The Place Where They Use Big Words & Make Me Feel Like I Don’t Deserve To Sit Here” Sunday?

Sarcasm aside, one of the Biblical assignments of churches AND individuals is telling the truth about who Jesus is, what He did for us on the cross, and how that transforms our eternity & our right now because of His unfathomable grace. NO ONE in this conversation has argued against that.

Outreach has been clear about their objectives - making them use “church-y” words to defend themselves seems like a parlor trick rather than an actual discussion.
Leonard on Thu, September 24, 2009

I don’t need a back to the gospel day but I am really waiting for hymnals in the narthex Sunday. My favorite is visions in the vestibule Sunday.

Good thoughts Mark. I really like the idea of empowering people to bring others to church. The most effective way to reach people in literally every country of the world is to start new churches. Has been since the New Testament.
Ron Forseth on Thu, September 24, 2009

Hi CS,

Thanks for the question and for your heart to see an accurate gospel preached so people come to saving faith. Leonard and Mark, thanks too, for your spirited input. It is appreciated.

My thought is similar to Mark’s in that an invitation to church that said, “Welcome to Back to the Gospel Sunday at Sky Community Church” would likely have few if any takers. But our desire is to help churches reach out SO THAT they can share the gospel when the connect.

About our interest in a gospel emphasis day, we are currently working with another organization in the development of a World Day of Evangelism envisioning one billion Christians presenting the gospel to one billion non-Christians. It’s in the early stages and a very long way from being realized. But, I think it does express our sentiments and love for seeing people receive God’s gift of life in Jesus who was crucified.

For the furthering of God’s kingdom,

~ Ron
Brian L. on Fri, September 25, 2009

I think the idea is that inviting people to church builds bridges to sharing the gospel, and exposes them the to reality that churches don’t have to be what Dan Kimball describes in “They Like Jesus but Not the Church.” If readers don’t know what I’m talking about, then read the book. It’s excellent.

Churches can be Christ/gospel-centered without being harsh, unfriendly, judgmental (in the real sense of supposed moral superiority actually in view in Matthew 7, not the way society interprets it), and whatever.

We invite people to church so they can experience the love of Christ in a worship setting, meet people who truly try to live for Christ in every area of life and want others to find Him, realize that the Word of God is applicable for real life today, and hear the gospel of forgiveness and eternal life in Christ.

Ron, if you do this again next year, I think our church may become involved. Thanks for getting involved in the conversation.
Ron Forseth on Sat, September 26, 2009

Brian, We had an excellent meeting this morning about next year. We’re learning and looking to put some of our experience to work so it will be even better. If you want to keep in touch on it, feel free to shoot me an email at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).