12 MARKS

Outreach - more a mindset than a series of events

Many local churches invest a great deal of time and energy into their outreach programme. And why not? Sharing the Good News of Jesus lies at the heart of who we are, and what active and mission-minded church wouldn't seek to make that a priority? Through family-fun days, shared meals, drop-ins, special speakers and a whole host of community-focussed activities, we seek to make that vital connection with the people who live around us.

But what kind of church are we inviting people to? Is that same priority reflected in the way that we operate the more routine activities of church life? Have we become so busy organising outreach events that we have perhaps forgotten to cultivate an outreach mindset? Might we even go so far as to ask the difficult question of whether organising great events has become a substitute for cultivating an attitude of welcome and explaining with clarity and certainty the message of Jesus?

These are important questions to ask ourselves at any time, but particularly so as many local congregations just don't have the same resources and capacity that they used to have, and arranging events and activities can demand a lot of us. So perhaps we need to think differently about evangelism and outreach, and rather than asking, as is often the case, 'what should we do?' it might be more important to ask 'what are we doing already that we might do differently?'

The 12-marks programme encourages leaders to do just that - to look at the existing activities of the church and consider how they contribute to a disciple-forming culture. 'How, by doing this, are we helping people become and remain faithful followers of Jesus?' - 'Are there small changes we could make to help that be more the case?' These are things that leaders are likely to know already, but we sometimes just need that nudge to remind us of what our priorities are.

p<>No-one is saying that we shouldn't have an outreach programme, or wants to downplay the significant efforts of those creative and hard working people in our church communities who put such things together, but our outreach programme needs to be balanced with an outreach mindset, so that every aspect of our life as a local church creates welcome for those who have yet to identify as followers of Jesus, and speaks with clarity the message that Jesus has called us to proclaim.

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