From project to discipleship
Synod Evangelist
The 4P's
So what happens once we've got our project up and running?
How do we take it from a 'great community involvement' piece of work to a journey into discipleship?
Do we have a plan or do we just leave it to the Holy Spirit?
I would suggest as has been said before that:
If you 'fail to plan, then, you plan to fail'.
May I suggest that there is a better way! A simple tool to help us think about the way forward. It could be called a 'short-cut' to enable folks to name and engage in the big questions of life.
This tool is called the 4 P's.
Presence
Proclamation
Persuasion
Prayer
By now, most of us have got our 'presence' sorted, these are our community activities, the ways in which we interact with the community, but how do we take it from there to talking about faith and sharing Jesus with those whom we meet and live with?
By having a culture of invitation to 'Proclamation' events. It helps to open cultural and social doors for those on the outside so they can have a look at what Jesus offers.
Proclamation events come under 3 headings. I've named these box 1, box 2 & box 3.
Box 1 type events are just good fun events, with no outright gospel message.
Box 2 type events are very similar to box 1, but have a short personal story/testimony about why Jesus is so important to the speaker. It's really important that those invited know that there will be a short talk.
Box 3 events are a very open gospel message, either at a social event or a service. Again really clearly advertised as such.
This leads us to having conversations and finding out who maybe asking deeper questions and inviting them to come on an enquirers course (Persuasion) and then onto a discipleship group.
Prayer is our final P but it doesn't come last.
It underpins everything we do and all whom we invite.
Our invitation sound a bit like this:
I'm going
It's going to be good
Do you want to come with me?
Along with a nice invitation card with each event.
Of course all this supposes,
1: You are going and are committed to the vision for growth.
2: It is going to be as good as you can make it.
3: And meeting your friend/ neighbour and bring them to the event.
Contact: ashleymtevans@hotmail.com
Links: http://www.leadingyourchurchintogrowth.org.uk/
http://seasonofinvitation.co.uk/
Enquirers and discipleship courses: Start course, Alpha, Pilgrim, Christianity Explored, Jesus Shaped People. Moving on.