I know some on this board do not like to have invitations
but I think all of us would agree that the following is way out of bounds:
TO: General Baptist Leaders
From: Dr. Franklin Dumond, Director of Congregational Ministries
Most General Baptist churches would not even think of concluding a Morning Worship service without a time of response. The opportunity to pray or to declare a new found faith in Christ has been built into our churches since the frontier days of the Great Awakenings. That’s just been the way we do things.
In many settings the response time is guided by the pastor who asks for hands to be raised. Generally the congregation is instructed to have heads bowed and eyes closed so the response of a raised hand can be done privately.
In one worship service I saw the response time carried to an extreme when the guest pastor concluded his message by asking the folks on the back row to stand. Then he pointed to them one by one asking them to declare whether they were Christians or not. They were seated and just as he called for the next row to stand and make their declarations, the host pastor interrupted. This kind of response was not conducive to an honest response. In fact, some folks who probably should have responded to the invitation to receive Christ chose to walk out of the service.
In our day folks need assistance to make a public response to the gospel. If we truly reach into our communities we will find connections to folks from a variety of church backgrounds and to an even larger group of folks who have no church background. Thus to them a public response to come forward may be ignored and misunderstood.
In these days of social distance resulting from the pandemic coming forward as a response may not be well received. So how does the effective church leader help folks to respond and still maintain social distance?
First, a communication card may be used as a commitment card. The basic format of contact information is followed by a check list of responses. Sometimes a blank line will be added to allow prayer requests to be included.
When used as a commitment card the communication card may not even be explained until after the message. Generally the emphasis is on the spiritual decisions being made as a result of the worship service. Unless someone is making a specific commitment there is little incentive to complete the card, and those who do complete it may feel awkward or singled out since most folks around them are not completing cards.
In our culture some type of directed response is very important, and the strength of using the communication card as a commitment card is that unchurched respondents can be taught how to make a commitment without the initial step of publicly coming forward during an invitation. If the unchurched, non-Christian can be directed to make an initial private commitment, then the public commitment can easily come later through baptism and membership.
If at all possible I try to use a notes page with my sermons to be distributed as a handout. This allows me to leave a few blanks the hearers can fill in during the message, which helps conserve the learning. I have begun adding this response guide to those sermons notes.
It is not a complete communication card but it does offer a means of personal response in a socially distant model.
Second, a Spiritual Survey may be conducted. This second approach to responding by way of a communication card has been suggested by Clint Cook, Senior Pastor of Real Life Church in Springfield, Illinois. In his coaching sessions he often teaches about using the communication card to conduct a spiritual survey. Designed to be used by everyone in the room this Spiritual Survey is the kind of information church attenders expect the church to discover.
The wise church leader might choose to offer this kind of spiritual survey every couple of months. This way it is offered with enough frequency to allow responses but it is offered sporadically so that its use is fresh and invites a meaningful response.
About this time someone who is reading this is probably saying something like “I’ve tried that and no one responded. It just doesn’t seem to work for me.” Before giving up in despair consider two illustrations Jesus offered to guide your efforts.
Remember the illustration of the unproductive fig tree? A vineyard owner was frustrated with his unproductive fig tree so he ordered its removal. The caretaker suggested an alternate approach. He offers to cultivate and fertilize to facilitate fruit production (see Luke 13:6-9). “Don’t give up too soon,” Jesus seems to say.
Then there is the mystery of plant growth pictured in Mark 4:26-29. The farmer plants the seed. He stays on task with his routine chores. The seed grows and the harvest arrives because, to borrow an observation from Paul “God gives the increase.”
The need for personal salvation and spiritual maturity is so great that we dare not abandon our efforts to generate an honest response in a socially acceptable manner.
but I think all of us would agree that the following is way out of bounds:
TO: General Baptist Leaders
From: Dr. Franklin Dumond, Director of Congregational Ministries
Most General Baptist churches would not even think of concluding a Morning Worship service without a time of response. The opportunity to pray or to declare a new found faith in Christ has been built into our churches since the frontier days of the Great Awakenings. That’s just been the way we do things.
In many settings the response time is guided by the pastor who asks for hands to be raised. Generally the congregation is instructed to have heads bowed and eyes closed so the response of a raised hand can be done privately.
In one worship service I saw the response time carried to an extreme when the guest pastor concluded his message by asking the folks on the back row to stand. Then he pointed to them one by one asking them to declare whether they were Christians or not. They were seated and just as he called for the next row to stand and make their declarations, the host pastor interrupted. This kind of response was not conducive to an honest response. In fact, some folks who probably should have responded to the invitation to receive Christ chose to walk out of the service.
In our day folks need assistance to make a public response to the gospel. If we truly reach into our communities we will find connections to folks from a variety of church backgrounds and to an even larger group of folks who have no church background. Thus to them a public response to come forward may be ignored and misunderstood.
In these days of social distance resulting from the pandemic coming forward as a response may not be well received. So how does the effective church leader help folks to respond and still maintain social distance?
First, a communication card may be used as a commitment card. The basic format of contact information is followed by a check list of responses. Sometimes a blank line will be added to allow prayer requests to be included.
When used as a commitment card the communication card may not even be explained until after the message. Generally the emphasis is on the spiritual decisions being made as a result of the worship service. Unless someone is making a specific commitment there is little incentive to complete the card, and those who do complete it may feel awkward or singled out since most folks around them are not completing cards.
In our culture some type of directed response is very important, and the strength of using the communication card as a commitment card is that unchurched respondents can be taught how to make a commitment without the initial step of publicly coming forward during an invitation. If the unchurched, non-Christian can be directed to make an initial private commitment, then the public commitment can easily come later through baptism and membership.
If at all possible I try to use a notes page with my sermons to be distributed as a handout. This allows me to leave a few blanks the hearers can fill in during the message, which helps conserve the learning. I have begun adding this response guide to those sermons notes.
It is not a complete communication card but it does offer a means of personal response in a socially distant model.
Second, a Spiritual Survey may be conducted. This second approach to responding by way of a communication card has been suggested by Clint Cook, Senior Pastor of Real Life Church in Springfield, Illinois. In his coaching sessions he often teaches about using the communication card to conduct a spiritual survey. Designed to be used by everyone in the room this Spiritual Survey is the kind of information church attenders expect the church to discover.
The wise church leader might choose to offer this kind of spiritual survey every couple of months. This way it is offered with enough frequency to allow responses but it is offered sporadically so that its use is fresh and invites a meaningful response.
About this time someone who is reading this is probably saying something like “I’ve tried that and no one responded. It just doesn’t seem to work for me.” Before giving up in despair consider two illustrations Jesus offered to guide your efforts.
Remember the illustration of the unproductive fig tree? A vineyard owner was frustrated with his unproductive fig tree so he ordered its removal. The caretaker suggested an alternate approach. He offers to cultivate and fertilize to facilitate fruit production (see Luke 13:6-9). “Don’t give up too soon,” Jesus seems to say.
Then there is the mystery of plant growth pictured in Mark 4:26-29. The farmer plants the seed. He stays on task with his routine chores. The seed grows and the harvest arrives because, to borrow an observation from Paul “God gives the increase.”
The need for personal salvation and spiritual maturity is so great that we dare not abandon our efforts to generate an honest response in a socially acceptable manner.