Reaching the Lost: Strategies for Success: Church Bulletins

Reaching the Lost Templates

“We passed out our bookmarks and began collecting contacts so we can prospect for Bible studies. We added ______ names to our congregational list. Our congregation is meeting each evening to write and send cards. Last week we sent ____ cards. Right now, we are working on ______ contacts. We will be making ____ visits this week. We have _______ Bible studies in progress. Our new convert class has ______ students.”

Church Bulletins

Let us say you showed up for Sunday worship, and as you entered the building, there was no church bulletin. You ask your preacher, “Where is our weekly bulletin?” He replies, “I just did not do one this week.” What would happen to the preacher? I can tell you from over 20 years of full-time preaching experience that an elders/preacher meeting would take place in short order!

Let us say you showed up for Sunday worship, and as you entered the building, you saw the church bulletins neatly folded and stacked on the entry table. The preacher teaches his Bible class and preaches two well-prepared sermons for the day. In addition, he makes a few visits for the week and stops by the funeral home, but he never does a personal Bible study. I can tell you from over 20 years of full-time preaching experience that he will keep his job and may even get a raise from time-to-time.

The story of the church bulletin is not necessarily an indictment of preachers, but it may well be a stinging indictment of local congregations and their lack of focus on the mission. There are times when the expectations for the preacher are so rigorous, he literally does not have time to reach out to sinners because of the saints.

Our weekly bulletin is called, “Reaching the Lost: Success Stories,” and it is an important part of HTHSOE. Posted every Wednesday, it provides accountability to elders, preachers, and entire congregations. It demands that we stay focused on the mission. It also keeps our work transparent, current, and authentic. We do little editing to the reports as we want your words to reach the tens of thousands of subscribers.

We know it is hard to choose what to report. In the above caption you will find an example of what a mature congregation (a congregation who has set up the major components of the HTHSOE model) might report each week.

I hope this helps. Congregations and preachers should never lose sight of their purpose. It should always be Christ-like. His mission was simple, straightforward, and strategic. Read it carefully: “The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).