Evangelize! Who - Me?
By Christina Dillabough, Communications Designer/Editor
Unchurched: Who is that? Would an actively-involved church leader who has taken a break from attending worship for 6 months qualify as "unchurched?" Of course a person that does not attend church and has no relationship or knowledge of Jesus would be "unchurched." What about all of the individuals that know God, and read the Bible but haven't found a relevant church to join? Would teens that pray before dinner but keep busy with school, volunteering, participating in sporting, family events, and helping their neighbors be labeled as "unchurched?" What about the families that feel blessed when between carpools, PTA, and Band Booster commitments, they were able to make it to worship on Christmas and Easter? Would they be classified as "unchurched?" Furthermore, are these "unchurched" bad people? Why should United Methodists evangelize to them?
Not everyone is comfortable speaking to a stranger or a friend about their religion. Most people won't go walking door to door or car to car delivering religious literature. Scripture memorization is often difficult and boring. Sermons that don't relate to current issues are difficult to bring up in social settings. Bible studies often focus only on the history of the stories instead of the relevance to today's lifestyles. How can the average church member be a good witness and evangelize to the "unchurched?"
By serving others, The United Methodist Church has been a true leader in evangelism. In a historic event, The United Methodist Church was the first religious organization to partner with the United Nations Foundation at the Global Health Summit in 2006 and the Gates Foundation in the fight against malaria. Local United Methodist churches are continuously engaged in the community by supporting programs that help the homeless, single mothers, abused children, the unemployed, and all the while reaching out to the "unchurched" through these ministries. Please note, the "unchurched" are not necessarily the people that are in need. Often the "unchurched" are the majority of those volunteering in these ministries developed by the Church along with people of other faiths. All working side by side with United Methodist pastors, lay leaders, and other church members.
ReThinkChurch.org campaigns and Impact Community events are popping up all over the country, although the purpose of Impact events is not towards gaining new members for the church. "Unchurched" or not, new members are welcome at any United Methodist church. The purpose of the Impact events is to build community while making a change in the world. Some of the community events have focused on hunger relief, park/community clean-up/beautification, poverty awareness, community issues, and global health issues. Impact Community events have organized 20,000+ volunteers and impacted 1,000,000 lives in one year alone. United Methodists might not go knocking door to door handing out religious literature but they will gather together from over 10,000 doors across the country to help mankind. Church members and "unchurched" people combined can make a difference in their communities and beyond. That is an amazing act of evangelism in action.
Many of the once "unchurched" people who participated in these events have become members of a United Methodist church. The United Methodist Church provides ministry and mission opportunities that provide church members a relative reason to talk about their church to their friends and neighbors. After participating in a mission or outreach event that people are passionate about and seeing how the fruits of their labor will impact communities, people can't wait to give a witness to what they have accomplished through The United Methodist Church. T-shirts from ReThinkChurch.org have also become a walking billboard offering multiple opportunities to talk about The United Methodist Church. Especially because of what the ReThink Church brand stands for and all of the "Get Involved" options available on their simple, and modern looking website, ReThinkChurch.org is a cool thing to be part of.
Within the Desert Southwest Conference, billboards, TV, and Radio commercials about Impact events in Arizona will be another means to talk about The United Methodist Church.
Evangelizing isn't easy but it is what Jesus instructed his followers to do. The United Methodist Church organization is proving to be strong and vital. However, the local church needs its congregants to evangelize in order to grow. Go online and check out ReThinkChurch.org. Sign up your church, your group of friends, or just yourself, but get involved. Be a part of changing the world and then go out and talk about it. Share your experience with others. Join a church if you don't have one. Churched or "unchurched," everyone needs Jesus and everyone can learn and grow from community.
- Photos of Rethink Church events courtesy of UMNS
