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I was recently asked if I would be interested in reading a book titled, “The Rabbit and the Elephant” as part of a virtual book tour. I am always interested in books about church growth and church planting, so I agreed to take part in the process and write a review that I would post on my blog.
I have chosen my Church Growth Consulting site because I feel that the book has some great insights into church growth and church planting issues. I started the book with a little skepticism, because I pastor what the book might call a “legacy church”. However, as I dug into the book, the author’s (Tony and Felicity Dale) painted a picture of what “simple church” looked like and I felt as though it opened up a lot of new avenues for me to ponder. I don’t personally see the “simple church” idea as a complete replacement for “legacy churches”, but I can see a lot of potential for them to work side by side in the harvest field.
Chapter 13 provides a great discussion on Luke 10 principles. When Luke 10 is looked at in light if the “simple church” process it seems to really fit well. I also enjoyed reading the chapter called “Stories From the Harvest”. The story about the “Church at Table Number Two” reminded me of some of my own missionary/church planting experiences. We had started churches that met in funny places and we gave them names to match. One of them was called “Light Bulb Church” because we started that church by stringing an electric cord with a light bulb in the center of it between two apartment buildings that were about fifteen feet apart. We had another church we started we called “Garage Church” because they met in a garage.
One of the biggest advantages I found in reading the book was the challenge to not get stuck in our definitions of what a church “is”. I have gotten used to starting small groups and home groups and affinity groups in my area with the idea of gradually assimilating the people gathered into our existing church. I am now thinking that the goal doesn’t need to include those people ever stepping foot in our church building. The goal is just to meet people where they are and get them o step into the Kingdom.
“The Rabbit and The Elephant” by Tony and Felicity Dale is a worthwhile addition to your reading list. It is a quick read and flows well. It also includes some interesting statistics from George Barna. One of the statistics that jumped out at me was that “the average Protestant church probably sees no converts in any given year”. That really shocked me! I hope you will read the book and I would be interested in having you comment about your thoughts as well. If you are interested in purchasing a copy of the book, you can use the link below.
Here on Church Growth Consulting we thought we should do a follow up article on the Free Lunch article we wrote earlier to tell you how things went. The Free Lunch was a great success. We got permission to use a bank parking lot on the highway near a busy intersection. We went over at about 8:30 AM and set up tables and chairs under a few canopys that we have. We set up two grills and brought some serving tables. We had 120 hamburger patties and buns and 80 big hot dogs and buns along with all the trimmings. We had 6 cases of water/soda and 5 cases of potato chips. We made four sets of big posters that said “Free Lunch” and “No Kidding”. We also had about 30 volunteers who showed up to help with the outreach. The last and most important detail was a small flyer that we taped inside of each of the to go boxes we served in. It said, “Wow, there really is such a thing as a free lunch…” ” I wonder what else might be true? John 3:16″.
At 10:45 we prayed and then we sent 8 people out with signs on the highway. The response was fast and immediate. In sixty minutes we had to pull the signs off the road and by Noon we had served two hundred people. We got some amazing feedback and we had people who came to church over the weekend becasue of the outreach. We also had the local radio station talking about what we were doing! This is a great outreach and I would recommend it to all of you. The cost for the outreach was about $300 (three hundred dollars) but it was well worth it. We are going to do it again soon, but we will double up on the food so that we can a little longer next time.
One of the things that we need to remember is that God loves His church. If we are not careful we can begin to think that we have it all figured out and become very critical and judgmental of other churches. When you are being blessed with church growth you need to remember to keep it all in perspective. Look for ways to bless the other churches in your area. At all of our meetings we take a moment to pray for all the churches in our area that are preaching the Word of God. We do that because we are also praying for a revival to sweep our area. When we receive the answer to that prayer, it will take a community of healthy churches to be able to handle what takes place.
This week we are joining with other local churches and doing a “Gospel Explosion” at an outdoor venue. About a dozen churches will be bringing their worship teams and doing a series of 30 minute concerts. This will be a good way to demonstrate a sense of unity among the churches and to encourage and bless one another. It should also be a good venue for some of the churches to be able to attract some new people to their churches. At our church we have decided to keep a very low profile and not try and promote our church. At our church, we try and practice what we preach on Church Growth Consulting and we are currently being very blessed in the “church growth” area, so we will purposely be promoting the other churches instead of our own. Most of the churches will have a booth where they can tell people about what thier church has to offer. We have decided not to have a booth so that we can encourage people to attend some of the other churches. Our hope is that this event will be a great way to bless the whole church.
Here is a Church Growth idea you might like to try at your church. Every year at this time we do our Valentine Outreach project. It is one of the most simple of the year and it is always very well received and it is very easy for the entire church to get involved. The project requires a lot of Hershey’s Kisses (I usually buy them in bulk at a GFS or Sam’s Club, etc. to get the cheapest price), some small plastic bags (a little bit bigger than a business card), a simple Act of Kindness card that says “Just our way of showing God’s love in a practical way” on one side of the card, and the name, location, and phone number of your church on the other.
Two weeks before valentines day get a handful of volunteers to come to the church and put together the valentines package. In the small plastic bag you place one act of kindness card and three or four Hershey’s Kisses.
Put all the packages in a big container and then have it by the exit on the weekend before Valentines Day. Tell the church you want them to take some of the giveaway packages on the way out so that they can give them to their friends and co-workers. I encourage people to take as many as they think they can give away. If there are any packages left I grab a couple of people and go to the local shopping area and we give them away there. They go quickly and are always well received and it is a good thing to give chocolate away on Valentines day. If you didn’t do anything this year, mark this one down and get it together for next year. After all, who doesn’t like Hershey’s Kisses?
