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One of the things I try to do when I am traveling
around the Presbytery preaching or attending meetings is to arrive at a
community a little early. This allows me some “get lost” time, but it also
affords me an opportunity to check out the community.
Typically, I look for two things when I arrive in
a new community: Children’s playthings – bikes, swing sets, basketball goals
- and For Sale signs in yards. This goes back to the days when I was
organizing new churches and I, along with the fledgling congregation
members, were constantly on the look out for potential new members. The
evidence of children means there is a potential Sunday School member living
in that house. A For Sale sign means that a potential new member family
will, at some point, be moving into that house.
Which brings us to the title of this month’s
Chat, “Evangelism Season.” Now that Lent and Easter have passed,
the Class B basketball tournament has ended, and it’s not quite time to get
into the fields to till and plant, the time is perfect for members of all of
our churches to engage in “Evangelism Season.”
One of the misperceptions about the communities in
our Presbytery is that they are either declining in population or static.
Another misperception is that there are no young families in these
communities. My observations of the communities in our Presbytery suggest
that we need to look afresh at our communities. For the purpose of having a
context, let’s look at For Sale properties in our communities.
In March I have been to Casselton, Steele,
Buffalo, Baker, and Gilby. The number of For Sale signs I saw in the yards
of homes in those communities prompted me to do a little research. I went to
a website, www.realtor.com, to see if my perceptions about properties for
sale in those communities was correct or not.
My findings, as of this writing, March 28, are:
Casselton 37 homes for sale
Steele 2 homes for sale
Buffalo 1 home for sale
Tower City 6 homes for sale
Baker 7 homes for sale
Gilby 2 homes for sale
Randomly, I also checked out homes for sale in
other communities of the Presbytery:
Dilworth 37 homes for sale
Bottineau 16 homes for sale
Rugby 21 homes for sale
Ellendale 8 homes for sale
Hallock 5 homes for sale
Wilton 2 homes for sale
Now, while these numbers don’t suggest that folks
are swarming to our smaller and/or rural communities, it does suggest that
there are evangelistic opportunities available; opportunities to invite new
residents in our communities to be part of our church families. And now may
well be the best time to be on the look out for new families moving to town.
I know lots about moving. My dad worked for oil
companies and when I was growing up we played revolving households every
three years or so. Typically, those moves took place in early summer, after
school was out, but the actual acquiring of a new home usually occurred a
little earlier than that. My folks began scouting out new homes in late
spring so that when school was out the moving van would be in the driveway
ready to haul our household to our new residence. One thing I learned
through these experiences was that invariably, on the day the van arrived at
our new residence, there were neighbors in the driveway welcoming us to the
neighborhood, bringing casseroles or picnic-type meals, and offering to help
us get settled.
So, when I was involved in new church development
or church redevelopment settings, I made it a point to recruit a team of
“For Sale Sign Watchers” to keep an eye on when the “Sold” label was placed
on a sign, and, if possible, to find out when the new families were actually
going to move in.
In a lot of ways it was kind of like being
detectives. We would assure folks of our credibility and good intentions
ahead of time by telling neighbors and realtors that we were members of the
Presbyterian Church and wanted to welcome the new residents to the community
and invite them to our church. We notified the local police about what we
were up to. All “Sold” watchers had business cards identifying them as
members of the Presbyterian Church. When we saw a “Sold” sign in a yard we
would contact the realtor who had sold the house, sometimes they would
contact us, and find out when the family was going to move in. Other times
neighbors would call us.
Members of the church family, like Sarah, would
bake bread, or provide jars of jams and jellies, put together crock pot
meals or casseroles, and be in the driveway waiting when the new family
arrived. Often times arrangements would be made for the children of the
family to be entertained during the move in (a true gift of grace as anybody
who has tried to move in a household with children underfoot well knows).
With the food items there would be included a brochure about the church,
maybe a tape of a worship service, and a letter from me welcoming the family
to the community.
Sometimes these folks would join the Presbyterian
Church. Others would say they were of a different faith tradition and we
made it a point to let the pastor of that particular church tradition know
that a potential member family had arrived in town.
There was no heavy selling, no backing people up
against the wall and sweating a membership commitment and a pledge card out
of them. It was simply Christian people showing hospitality to strangers in
their midst, strangers who very often would become friends.
And it was NOT the pastor doing the visiting and
welcoming! It was folks in the church who loved their church and who wanted
to share that love with others.
But what are the implications of “Evangelism
Season” for the larger communities in our Presbytery? Here, too, the fields
are ripe for the harvest!
Fargo 639 homes for sale
West Fargo 273 homes for sale (including one farm!)
Moorhead 273 homes for sale
Bismarck 411 homes for sale
Mandan 135 homes for sale
Jamestown 100 homes for sale
Minot 148 homes for sale
Grand Forks 309 homes for sale
What if each church in the communities listed
above were to welcome one percent of the families represented by those homes
for sale into their fellowship? Five percent? Ten percent? Would that not
have a dramatic effect on the overall life of the congregation? Would those
new members not infuse a congregation with new energy and enthusiasm?
The window of opportunity for “Evangelism Season”
is not large. Before long folks will be farming, taking vacations, and
becoming involved in other activities. NOW is the time to be seeking out new
families in the communities of our Presbytery and to invite them to be part
of our churches.
This is a Gospel moment! There’s no telling whom
the Holy Spirit will lead us to!
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