Doorknocking

I have done some doorknocking. ALthough I will confess I need to do more of that type of ministry.

I am interested in hearing your normal procedure for doorknocking...when...what do you say...how often...do you have a plan you follow?

 

I am a former SBC man myself, pastor, missionary, etc. I did as much door-knocking as an SBCer as I do now with the Independent Baptists and both groups have good emphasis on soul-winning. We go once a week, sometimes twice and even though there is a meeting on Saturdays, I do not attend because the Deaf will shoot you if you knock on their door before Noon on a Saturday.
The goal is soul-winning and if it does not work, a tract and an invitation to church is next alternative. Play it easy, dont force the issue. Be attentive to the guidance of the Spirit.

tim

 

Sorry for this off-topic Dr. Tim, but i'm curious to know why you changed from sbc to ind. bapt?

 

I changed from SBC to Independent because I was so disappointed in the liberal shift of the Southern Baptists....there shouldn't even have to BE a debate over some of the issues that the SBC has debated the past 20 years. Bible is Bible truth! I am grateful that SBC still believes in saved by grace, though.

And yes, every Saturday is visitation, door knocking, and soul winning...unfortunately, I don't get to do it much, but I do it when I can.
I like to go with Pastor Chappell's wife, she is a pro.

 

I left the SBC for several reasons. I entered the seminary during the most turbulent of times. Most of the professors were liberal. It killed me that the Cooperative Program was paying the salaries of these liberal professors and the missionaries who were as liberal as they were. I couldnt accept throwing my money into a pot to support people who did not hold the same beliefs as rank and file SBCers. The professors truly (my impression)snubbed their noses at those who were more conservative because they didnt think we could do anything about their liberal slant. They had signed the statement of faith and they were going to preach the liberal stuff they believed. I just got sick of it.

When I joined the Ind Baptists, there were less fighting over doctrine and the missionaries came to church quite often. I developed a greater respect and burden for them. I, along with Dr. Bob and a few others, would like to see the Ind Bapt churches giving a large chunk of mission suppoort to 10 missionaries rather than $25 a month to 100 missionaries....


tim

 

Why is it that churches or Christian's in general don't do this much anymore? Does anyone know?

You see the cults out there evangelizing all the time and bringing people into their 'group'.

Rachel

 

No, I do not do it because I believe that it is rude . The people who are at home might be right in the middle of their family Bible reading time, eating dinner, lunch, or breakfast, or they may be praying, watching the news or an education program on television, writing an important letter or school paper, or doing any one of a thousand other things where it would be very rude and inappropriate to interrupt them by knocking on their door . The last thing that Christians should do is to disturb their neighbors that they are supposed to be loving .

About six or seven times people from an IFB Church have disturbed my household by knocking on our door . That church is almost 15 miles away; in a radius of 15 miles from that church there are more than 500,000 homes. If they knocked on 500,000 doors six times, that is 3,000,000 times that this one IFB Church has disturbed their neighbors!!!!!!

May they burn in hell ! Or, I should say, may God forgive them for these 3,000,000 sins against humanity!

 

No, I do not do it because I believe that it is rude . The people who are at home might be right in the middle of their family Bible reading time, eating dinner, lunch, or breakfast, or they may be praying, watching the news or an education program on television, writing an important letter or school paper, or doing any one of a thousand other things where it would be very rude and inappropriate to interrupt them by knocking on their door . The last thing that Christians should do is to disturb their neighbors that they are supposed to be loving .

About six or seven times people from an IFB Church have disturbed my household by knocking on our door . That church is almost 15 miles away; in a radius of 15 miles from that church there are more than 500,000 homes. If they knocked on 500,000 doors six times, that is 3,000,000 times that this one IFB Church has disturbed their neighbors!!!!!!

May they burn in hell ! Or, I should say, may God forgive them for these 3,000,000 sins against humanity!

 

Our church in the city is about to begin this June 2nd. We will meet for prayer in the early evening, then go out into the neighborhood introducing ourselves and asking folks if there is anything we can pray about for them. Then we will meet back at the church, possibly bringing some of these folks with us if they wish, and pray for the needs. Sort of a "spiritual emergency room."

I hope it helps, and the Lord keeps us safe.

 

I have done a lot of door knocking in my time. I can't say that it has filled the churches I have been with, but I am of the view that if we don't knock on doors to tell folks of Christ they won't knock on our door to ask.

recently our church engaged in a new door-to-door campaign. We placed a booklet "Why Believe the Bible?" by John Blanchard in an envelope alongside a cover note letting folks know that we would be calling to their home within the next few weeks. The purpose of this was to remove the defensive barriers that go up when a stranger arrives 'cold turkey' on your doorstep. We have now begun the calls and so far we have received a welcome at homes, and I think our pre-notification has been appreciated.

FYI our letter reads:

Dear Resident,

Is it not true that there is a greater unity in home life today, that crime is decreasing, and that society in general is becoming more peaceful, more reliable, more truthful and better in every way? Unfortunately it is not! Many thoughtful people are becoming concerned about the way of the world. Lawlessness and violence abound, family life seems to be falling apart, standards of right and wrong are being discarded and some of today’s youth seem to be in rebellion against every kind of authority.

Politics, education and an improved economy help but little. We believe, however, there is an answer, there is hope. Christians have always believed that the answer to both national and personal problems is to be found in a person - the Lord Jesus Christ. What a different place this world would be, for example, if everyone were a Christian in the true sense of the word. Have you ever wondered what makes a person a true Christian?

Whether you have or not, as a gift to you, from our church we would like you to receive the booklet “Why Believe The Bible?” by acclaimed author, John Blanchard. This booklet explains why we believe the Bible is a credible resource for a fulfilling life, and what a true Christian really is. There is no charge, and we hope you will take the time to read and enjoy it.

Within the next few weeks we intend to call to the homes in your area,to offer you another by the same author, entitled “Ultimate Questions”. Again, there is no charge. In no way do we desire to hassle you or to give you a “hard sell”.
By presenting you with these booklets as a free gift our only motive is to help you understand what a true Christian really is, and how the person of Jesus Christ can bring salvation, peace and satisfaction to your life.

Looking forward to meeting you personally,

David Moore, Pastor
Milton Baptist Church

 

Copper [/qb][/QUOTE]No, eating dinner, lunch, or breakfast, ..... watching the news or an education program on television, writing an important letter or school paper, or doing any one of a thousand other things where it would be very rude and inappropriate to interrupt them by knocking on their door [/QB][/QUO

how loving would they be if they let thier nieghbor go to hell just because they did not want to disrupt the viewing of the mating habits of the african elepahnt ont pbs. how many would have been not saved if they did not knock on doors. maybe Christ should not stand at the doodr knock be cause He might tbe interutpting thier lives to.

 

Our church has visitation every Thursday and half the folks do follow ups with individuals who visited our church recently and th eother half knock on doors in the neighborhood right next to the church.

Since we are about a 75-80% military church, every neighborhood around the church is military housing and with much of th emilitary hosuing going privatized we are allowed to knock on all the doors. If the hosuing is not privatized and still belongs to the military we can not knock on the doors.

It has been a successful ministry as we have at least a couple of folks attend our church every week that directly came from us knocking on their door. If we knock on 100 doors a week and 1 family comes and gets saved or gets back right with God, isn't it worth it? To my surprise, I have rarely had a rude person slam the door on me.

Aloha and God Bless.

John

 

Copper,

More than likely Craigbythesea is talking about Lighthouse Baptist in Lemon Grove, (San Diego area)Pastor Doug Fisher. This church is, in my opinion, the most New Testamentlike church I have ever seen. Soulwinning, preaching, teaching, loving, a place of refuge for the hurting! You get the picture. And BTW, they probably have knocked on all of those doors 6 times...maybe more! Praise the Lord!

Max

 

I have knocked on doors in some areas where I lived and other areas I did not where it was inappropriate. In fact one night there was a man knocking on doors late at night in the area where I once lived and people called the police. The next door neighbor lady told me he scared her. I talked to him for awhile and told him that it was too late at night. While I was talking to him the police drove up.

I have always felt that if every person in the church prayed for people and shared their faith with the people they knew with wisdom the church would be very different.

Today, there are too many preachers and not enough disciplemakers.

Many areas now have closed gated communities and it extremely important that we are able to make disciples.

 

I used to knock on doors, but now I make phone calls. I have far better results with phone calls.

Problems I've encountered with unscheduled, unannounced door knocking:

--In the middle of dinner
--Not ready for guests
--Seem annoyed that no appointment was made
--Do not answer because they do not recognize me(safety concerns)
--Doing house chores
--Talking on the phone
--Not a home or no answer 50% of the time

All in all, these are legitimate reasons and we should respect peoples "space", especially when we come unannounced.

For Me and the area I live in, phone calls are more productive and yield more "live" contacts.