Purpose Driven Church- Assign. #8

Chapter 17: Turning Attenders into Members

Once you have a group of attenders turning out for service, it’s important that you turn them into members! This would be considered getting people to “first base.” Like everything else, it’s important to start out with a plan on how you’re going to handle new members. You can do this through asking questions, but be prepared, each member with have their own answer (ex questions: what do we owe our members? What do our members value, etc). There are five unspoken questions that are said to be at church: do I fit here? Does anybody want to know me? Am I needed? What is the advantage of joining? And what is required of members? Take this into consideration when planning your approach. It’s important that you communicate the value of membership. Give your attenders a reason for wanting to be a member by giving them the benefits. Remember, when planning to personalize it for your church and your target. Being a member gives a variety of benefits, but it also gives a sense of belonging, which many people are searching for today. Create a mandatory membership class. In this class let the members know what will be expected of them. Keep it a decent length, not too long and include a variety of activities to keep it exciting. In order to be a member, the person would have to complete the class, and maybe even take a quiz just to verify they understand important information regarding the church. Gear your class towards specific age groups. Next, develop a membership covenant. The members need to know what they are committing to, a lifestyle of serving Christ. First you commit yourself to Christ, then to the church (believers). These can also be used for accountability purposes. Make your members feel special. You can do this in a number of ways. Baptisms are always great celebrations. Hold banquets to welcome new comers and special times for them to get to know the pastor one on one. Sending cards, recognizing anniversaries and birthdays are all ways that you can make someone feel special also. Create opportunities to build relationships. If a person has friends in the church, they are less likely to leave then the person who feels alone. Weekend retreats are perfect for this. When people are together for 48 hours, they create bonds and friendships faster than would happen if they merely relied on Sunday services. Also encourage members to join a small group. Develop a variety of small groups for interests, ages, etc. As your church grows so should your number of small groups. If possible, hold these in homes. Keep communication lines open. Use a variety of communication techniques (email, prayer chains, newsletters, etc). Keep your members informed of what’s going on and let them know that the church is also there for them. Always remember, that this is a group effort. Everyone’s in this together.

Chapter 18: Developing Mature Members

This chapter is full of information so I will do my best to condense it. It begins with presenting several myths regarding spiritual maturity:
#1: Spiritual growth is automatic once you are born again. Many churches have no follow up once a person has committed their life to Jesus. They are simply left on their own. They think as long as they show up to meetings and services, their job is done! The truth is spiritual growth is intentional. A person has to make the decision that they want to spiritually grow and make effort in order to. It just doesn’t happen.
#2: Spiritual growth is mystical, and maturity is attainable by only a select few.
Sometimes people picture spiritual growth as something they cannot reach. It is only for the true holy Christians that have never sinned, they cloth themselves in white garments. The truth is spiritual growth is very practical. Any believer can achieve this if they have the habits needed. Just like you become physically fit, you can also spiritually. It just takes time.
#3: Spiritual maturity can occur instantly if you find the right “key.”
Many people look for the right book, video, experience, etc to tell them what exactly they need to achieve spiritual maturity. The truth is spiritual growth is a process that takes time. We must realize this is a process and takes time. There are no short cuts for this and it can take a lifetime!
#4: spiritual maturity is measured by what you know. A lot of Christians think you’re spiritually mature when you know scripture in depth. The truth is spiritual maturity is demonstrated more by behavior than by beliefs. Maturity is how you life your life and the actions you take day to day.
#5: Spiritual growth is a personal and private matter. Because of how America is today, a lot of people think growth must take place in private. The truth is Christians need relationships to grow. Like stated in the previous chapter, fellowship is vital to growth. It keeps people coming to church and the bible even encourages us to question our faith if we do not love one another.
#6: All you need is bible study to grow. This is when a church merely teaches straight from the bible, never relating it to real life, or emotional needs. The truth is it takes a variety of spiritual experiences with God to produce spiritual maturity. Just like the previous myths, this takes time and can be enhanced in a variety of ways! It includes participation and dedication. We are to learn through experiences.
The next section was about designed your strategy. It encouraged raising the level of commitment. People want to be committed to something. Whether it’s a group, a club, or church, people want to be committed. When there is purpose behind commitment, people will act. When you raise the standards of commitment with your leadership, you will raise that for the church also. It’s a chain reaction! Don’t’ be afraid to ask people for big commitment. Jesus wasn’t, so why should we? Let people know what the benefits of committing are. Possibly even create classes that are geared towards certain levels of commitment. Build on your commitment rather than toward it. It’s easier to start with a foundation then it is trying to get somewhere without a track. It’s ok to break a big commitment into small steps also. Celebrate when someone makes a big commitment and keeps it! Help people develop spiritual growth habits. This is when classes also come in handy. As they advance from class to class they will grow and learn different habits. Build a balanced Christian education program. There are five levels of learning that should take place. Knowledge of the word. Find out what the people know and what do they need to know. Start from ground zero and assume your new members don’t know anything. Offer new believer bible studies and small groups. Perspective. This basically means seeing life from God’s point of view. Perspective helps us see why God wants things to go certain ways and helps us answer the ‘why’s’ in life. It causes us to love God more, resist temptation, handle trials, and protects us from error. Conviction. Conviction is used to motivate. Convictions are essential for spiritual growth and must be taught in order to counter act the secular pulls that we face everyday. Jesus lived his life under conviction and was very influential and powerful. Skills. This is the ability to do something with ease and accuracy. You have to develop your skills by going through certain situations and having experiences you might not necessarily want. “Skills are how to steps of spiritual growth (358).” Character is the last part and our goal is to have a Christ like character. It is not something that can be taught but is developed also by experiences and situations we go through. God allows certain things to happen to mold and shape us into who he wants us to be. “On top of knowledge of the word, you add perspective. The better you know God’s word, the more you’ll begin to see life from God’s viewpoint. Conviction naturally grows out of perspective. Once you begin to see things from God’s perspective, you begin developing biblical convictions. An understanding of God’s purposes and plan changes your motivations (362).”