New Doors for the Church

    Churches in general know how to go about inviting people to come visit their church. Most know to be warm and inviting once they are there to try to keep them coming and maybe become a member.  However, no church knows every way.  Many church are blind to ways to attract people or unwilling to try new things.  It needs to be handled with discernment, but we need to adapt to our times.

    One door of opportunity not utilized well, if at all, is the digital world.  It is far more than just putting the songs on the screen or the sermon highlights.  Websites need to be active, easy to use, and not boring.  It is about getting on t/v, pod cast, making church online.  We want people in church, but it is far more important to get people listening to God's message.  

    Using social media and the digital world are only tools.  It still depends on the people to attract and keep people in the church.  We are in a super independent world where people don't feel the need to go to church to connect with God.  We have to show them more than tell them how that just is not true.

    Like it or not each denomination has a brand in Christianity.  It should not be that way.  We should be united, but it is how the world sees Christianity and church.  Each church has a brand.  Most focus on the family unit.  It is a huge door that would draw in hundreds of people if churches would also find a way to focus on singles of all ages, seniors, and events outside of the church.  

    Church is about living life together.  If you exclude half the population, then how can you reach them?  If you understand you hold a brand, then learn how to market to the world that brand.  You should want your brand to be all welcome, but under the standards of the Bible.  That means all welcome, but we do uphold church discipline.

    In the world today, if you can't find a place on google, then it does not exist.  If your church is not in the cyberworld, then it does not exist to the world.  The attitude that I have always been here is the death door.  People see the building, but do they see you?  A building is rarely inviting without the human element.  Don't let your church die a slow death due to blind spots or not wanting to change.  The Bible challenges us all to not get too comfortable with our salvation, but to always try to bring more people to Jesus.

Isaiah 60:10-12, Luke 15:20-32, 1 Corinthians 16:5-11, & Revelations 3:7-13