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Are you interested in introducing others to the Lord Jesus Christ?
then click below for
CHOCOLATE EVANGELISM
Outreach in your Comfort Zone
and our BLOG at
http://www.chocolateevangelism.com/
Introducing others to Jesus is my passion. I’m Andrew Carter and the founder and driving force (besides God!) behind these concepts. You’ll see a picture of my ‘ugly mug’ above. Some call me ‘Santa’, I have no idea why. For a bit more formal information on me please see ‘Evangelist’.
This whole thing came out of frustration with my church. I’m part of the Anglican (Episcopal) Church here in Sydney, Australia. God has really blessed us here with good Jesus-centred bible teaching. We have well trained and passionate bible teachers. Our knowledge of God’s Word and how he wants us to live and relate to him are second to none.
Because of my Diocese’ great love for Jesus, making Him known is high on the agenda. Even our Archbishop personally introduced our Diocesan Mission to grow our churches by 10% over 10 years. There is no shortage of passionate people who want to tell others about their faith in Christ.
Despite this outreach our church is in decline. A lot of churches simply could not exist without being propped up financially by more wealthy parishes. This option, I believe, will be less viable as the years roll on. Some would argue we have had growth. I have a problem with the term ‘growth’. I agree we have grown a little, but while heartening, I don’t see it as growth. These are made up figures, but let me give an example. If my area grows by 10% over time and the church grows by 2%, I feel the actual growth is -8%, not 2%. Negative growth cannot go on forever. It will at worst lead to church closure or at the very best lead to minimal or no impact on the community it serves. I don’t like either option. This is the sad story of too many churches in my Diocese.
If we have talented, passionate for outreach, bible centred, Jesus loving God fearing leaders and congregations, why do we have this decline? The answer stares me in the face. Our evangelism methods, to be brutally honest, really suck. Worse still ineffectual methods are being taught and duplicated over and over again. I feel many of our ‘so called’ Evangelists are really just (very talented) bible teachers who give a great outreach message, but have no idea of the structures necessary to really engage our community in a meaningful way. This leads to church outreach activities where few (if any) non-Christians turn up to. It leads to non-retention of those few who do. It leads to Evangelists not being identified and encouraged. It leads to no effective outreach plans and strategies. It leads to evangelists not being trained properly. The whole thing leads to decline, despite passionate for outreach, bible centred, Jesus loving God fearing leaders and congregations.
I want to change all that, both here in my community and worldwide. Please, see what I have to say. Look at the ‘Resources’ page. Subscribe to my free e-zine and see if some things strike a cord in your heart. Tell me what you are doing in regard to outreach so I can rejoice with you as others are brought into the Kingdom.
Thank you so much for your time,
Captain Andrew D. Carter
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