Starting a New Ministry From Scratch

We can reach unreached communities and people groups through ministries that are contextually relevant.

CORE VALUES FOR MINISTRY BASED EVANGELISM  Individual Service  Trustworthiness  Community Involvement  Professional Objectivity  Willingness to Share  Respect for Human Differences  Empowering Interventions  Persistent Advocacy  Transforming Strategies  Personal Renewal

What are the steps to starting an evangelistic ministry?

STEP ONE: Prayer  Provides direction  Spiritually prepares the way for Ministry Evangelism  Ensures powerful, appropriate, and timely witness  Allows for effective and fruitful follow-up

PRAYER  Seek God’s guidance and calling through personal and group prayer and Bible study  Prayer walk and drive communities and neighborhoods that are being neglected and unreached by existing church ministries  Prayer journey your city and/or church community to become sensitive to the needs of residents.

STEP TWO: Share the Vision  Preach a series of messages on Ministry Based Evangelism  Utilize the interpretive Video  Schedule testimonies  Place Ministry Evangelism stories in newsletter  Provide bulletin inserts about Ministry Evangelism opportunities  Organize a first time simple community project

What Is Servanthood Evangelism? Servanthood evangelism is intentionally sharing Christ by modeling biblical servanthood. Servanthood evangelism is a combination of simple acts of kindness and intentional personal evangelism.

Servanthood Evangelism Can Be Done By… Women Senior adults Teenagers Children Inter-generational

Strengths of Servanthood Evangelism 1 It is effective in reaching people in today’s culture; Is easily contextualized. 2 It is personal evangelism in a corporate setting. 3 It is low-risk evangelism. 4 It can become an essential part of the church’s mission.

Strengths of Servanthood Evangelism 5 it is fun! 6 it involves everyone in evangelism, especially family units. 7 Servanthood evangelism follows a model of Jesus.

Strengths of Servanthood Evangelism 8 Servanthood evangelism allows laypeople to use their creativity to initiate ministry opportunities. 9 Servanthood evangelism takes very few resources and can thus be done anywhere in any setting. 10 Servanthood evangelism is extremely winsome.

Foundational Principles Those participating must be intentionally evangelistic. Those participating must genuinely care about people. Eventually, those participating need be equipped as personal witnesses.

How to Begin Servanthood Evangelism Seek the father’s power and presence. Enlist the people. Resource. Vacate the church. Evaluate. S E R V E

How to Begin Servanthood Evangelism Seek the father’s power and presence. Enlist the people. Resource. Vacate the church. Evaluate. S E R V E

Keep in Mind Servanthood evangelism is not an end unto itself. Servanthood evangelism is a process, not a program.

Examples of Servanthood Evangelism  Single mom’s oil change  Windshield washing  Change burned out light bulbs  Give away water in a park in the summer  Free house number painting on curbs  Feed parking meters  Leaf raking

“People Are More Than Twice As Likely to Allow a Person to Share Their Faith When Evangelism Is Combined With Simple Acts of servanthood.”

Simple acts of kindness and intentional personal evangelism. Sharing Christ by modeling biblical servanthood

STEP THREE: Gather Information  Conduct a community needs assessment  Survey church members for ministry concerns  Interview people who live in the community  Use demographic data to identify lifestyle and people groups  Determine giftedness of church members

Purposes of a Community Needs Assessment  Learn about community services  Assess community problems and unmet needs.  Establish relationships with community agencies and organizations  Determine how Christians and churches can become involved in ministry

Who Should Participate  Church staff  Associational staff  On Mission Team members  Lay people with a passion for community ministries

Agencies/Individuals to Interview  Drug & Alcohol rehab programs  Battered women’s shelters  School principals  Mayor  Chief of Police/Fire  Hospice  Senior Center  Housing project managers  Etc.

 Determine the agencies/individuals to be surveyed  Set a date for the survey  Recruit volunteers  Set appointments  Send letters 1 week prior to appointments.  Do the survey  Compile results  Distribute and study Steps to a Community Needs Survey

Schedule for Assessment Day  8:30 am Breakfast  8:50 am Pair up teams and give assignments  9:00 am Orientation  9:30 am Depart for appointments  10:00 am First appointment  11:00 am Second appointment  Noon Lunch, complete reports, debriefing

Follow-Up  Compile the list of possibilities  Appoint a task force to determine which ministry or ministries your church should undertake  Make plans for starting the new ministry/ministries

Multi-Family Housing Needs Assessment Interview Form

Survey of Church Members

Interview People Who Live in the Community Be safety conscious:  Remain on the porch unless you know the people  Go during daylight hours  Go during good weather  Be aware of your surroundings  Respect signs that indicate the person does not want a visitor  Stay in tune with the Holy Spirit

Interview People Who Live in the Community  Explain you are surveying to discover needs a church might help with  Identify your church by name  Ask the following questions:  What problems and needs are there in this community?  What could a church or group of churches do to help?  If you could speak to a church group, what would you say?  Offer to pray with them

Using Demographic Data

Determine Giftedness  Study spiritual gifts  Utilize a spiritual gifts inventory  Involve members in a ministry and see who is exercising what gift  Consult with other believers  Conduct a volunteer interest survey

STEP FOUR: Determining the Right Ministry for You  Look at areas where no ministry is being done  Look for areas where ministry is being done, but Christ is not being shared  Look at the giftedness of your congregation  Look at the resources you have for doing ministry  Does anyone have a passion for a certain ministry?

STEP FIVE: Equip Members to Verbally and Intentionally Share The Gospel  Preach personal evangelism  Profile personal evangelism with testimonies  Plan personal evangelism by putting training and visitation on the calendar  Provide personal evangelism tools such as tracts, scripture portions, Bibles

STEP SIX: Implementing a Ministry  Prayerfully select a ministry project  Define the purpose of the ministry  Write objectives for the ministry  Develop an action plan for each objective  Secure resources for the ministry  Assign responsibilities for implementation  Receive progress reports and evaluate results  Celebrate God’s activity

STEP SEVEN: Organize Volunteer Ministries  Establish objectives for existing and new ministries that clearly call for evangelistic and discipleship outcomes  Recruit and train ministry coordinators who will coordinate and coach other volunteers and will keep the church informed on needs and results  Strengthen and resource those ministries that intentionally focus on lost and unchurched persons

STEP EIGHT: Prioritize Outreach and Missions  Seek to direct a minimum of 60 percent of the church’s resources and ministry toward evangelistic outreach ministries and church planting.  Create a visionary congregational culture that values every member serving as a called, gifted, on-mission Christian.

His Heart, Our Hands: A Ministry Evangelism Tool Kit

Part I Introduction Part II Illustrative stories Part III Group discussion with Pastors and church leaders involved in ministry evangelism

Charitable Choice 501(c)3 Organizations Spiritual Inventory Key Q&A

Simple acts of kindness and intentional personal evangelism. Sharing Christ by modeling biblical servanthood

Two inspirational Messages Power Point Presentations Clip Art Instructional Program on Servanthood Evangelism

His Heart, our Hands ( ) $12.99 and Servanthood Evangelism ( ) $3.95 may be ordered separately if needed.

His Heart, Our Hands: A Ministry Evangelism Tool Kit