Purpose Driven Church- Assign. #5

Chapter 9: Who is your target?

This chapter is about identifying who your church is specifically targeted for. A lot of people will say their church is trying to save the “unchurched.” That’s great but the unchurched are not all the same. Everyone is different! It’s important to find out what the people in your surrounding area is like and then go from there. After discovering your purposes, this is the second most important thing, it can even be found in the bible. Several occassions Jesus states he came here to seek the lost Jews. He tells Peter and Paul to target the Gentiles and Jews. We have to remember, it’s impossible for one church to meet everyone’s needs. Pick one target group and focus on them. So how do we define our target? Find out all you can about your community. The typical person will drive 15 minutes to church. Make a 15 mile radius on a map around your chuch location and find out the population. Church location is important, but so is what it offers. Some people will drive farther to a church that offers a program they can’t find closer. Define your target demographically. This means finding age, martial status, education level, jobs, income etc. Get to know what kind of people live in the population. Depending on these results, should decide how you set your services and programs up. You wouldn’t have the same service for an elderly congregation that you would for college age. Define your target culturally. Different cultures have different values, morals, and beliefs. Get to know what they think. This requires talking to people personally. Also define your target spiritually. Sometimes even depending upon location, some people will associate themselves with a denomination. If you know a general idea about the other religions dominant in your area, you can relate to what people already believe. Personalize your target. If you have a visual representation of the typical person you are targeting, this helps you stay focused. Make sure your church knows who your target is also.”The more you understand someone, the easier it is to communicate with him (171).”

Chapter 10: Knowing whom you can best reach

This chapter relates to the previous one. It is easiest to reach people that you have something in common with. We are all made differently. One church is not going to be able to reach everyone. One way to find out who you can best reach is by looking at who already attends your church. When a visitor walks in, they naturally look around to see if there is anyone else like them there. If there is, most likely they will return. If not, they won’t. “A church may be unsuccessful in reaching certain types of people isn’t a matter of right or wrong, but a matter of simply respecting the wonderful variety of people God has placed in the world (175).” What kinds of leaders do you have? What is the cultural makeup and background of the leaders in the church? Are they all young? All old? All caucasian? A lot of people can even relate to you as a pastor. You are a key factor in determining whether they come back or not. The kind of person that you are, will decide what kind of people come to your church! As stated before, you will reach those who you best relate to. Naturally you attract people like yourself. Get used to this. Be true to who you are and don’t try to be a certain way just because you want your church to grow. When there is growthit’s because the type of people in the community, the congregation, and the pastor all match. Go in the location where your strengths are. If your church does not match your community there a number of things you can do. First build on your strengths. Be the best pastor to the type of people in your congregation that you can be. Another option (but a terribly tough one) is to reinvent your congregation. This means new music, new programs, worship, etc. This can take years to complete and can cause a lot of hardships. If you chose this route, be prepared! Another option is to start new congregations. Create new services for those you are trying to reach. This might include a different form of worship, or preaching. Know how you are spiritually accepted in your church. There are two types of people that are most receptive: those who are in transition (such as people new to the community, getting a new job, new school, etc) and those under tension (loss of job, loss of relationship, death, etc). People in both situations are looking for hope and someone bigger than them. The next step, is to discover your evangelism strategy.