Reaching the Lost: Ten Percent

by | Jul 23, 2022 | Reaching the Lost | 0 comments

Elders and preachers should make the local congregation aware of their goals. They should be achievable, measurable, and impactful. Display them on a board, speak about them often, and show the congregation how to reach them. Do not be satisfied with just keeping house; set a goal and work to achieve it.
We are about halfway through the year, and several of HTHSOE enrolled congregations have already achieved this metric. In fact, some have reached fifteen and twenty percent with six months to go.
What is your current membership number? If you are a congregation of 100 members, then your goal is to baptize ten percent, which equals ten new Christians the first year and 11 new Christians the next year. If this is accomplished for five straight years, you would go from 100 members to 150 members. If your congregation has 50 members, achieving your ten percent growth would yield a congregation of 75 in five years. Ten percent is not about roster growth but kingdom growth. We are not looking for moving members or disgruntled disciples. We want sinners to be saved in Christ.

This ten percent goal is not about Christians moving into the area or restorations of those who have left the faith. The ten percent goal is based on a simple and measurable statistic: baptisms! People respond well to goals. If churches have no goals, they will never get beyond the status quo. Ten percent is an achievable goal and one that will result in growth.

Metrics measure progress during almost every stage and place of life. Parents mark on walls as their children grow, schools set credit hours to measure completion, and businesses establish hourly quotas to reach goals. Although most congregations have an attendance board, little attention is paid to the year-to-year averages. Over the past decade U.S. congregations have experienced about a five percent decline annually. This kind of loss is not sustainable for our future existence. HTHSOE would like to propose the ten percent goal.
SPECIAL REQUEST FOR HELP
Keno Shrum (elder/preacher) Coweta church of Christ, Oklahoma
“We had a water leak from our baptistry several weeks ago that resulted in a severe mold issue and extensive damage to the church building. The total damages were $62,950. We were blessed to have insurance that covered most of the damage; however, there was a shortage due to depreciation because of the age of the building. The insurance company graciously waived our deductible, and we were able to raise $1740 from members of our congregation and other congregations through a GoFundMe we set up. At present, we are $6640 short of having enough to make all the repairs. We know the difficulties members are having throughout the nation right now with the inflation we have been experiencing. However, we would like to ask you to share our information with our brothers and sisters through RTL, and if any are in a position to help us with a donation of any size, we would be extremely appreciative. We know without a doubt the Lord will take care of us, and we appreciate you all so much and pray for you continually. Below would be the best avenues if anyone would like to assist.”

https://gofund.me/e75338b4
or
Coweta church of Christ
PO Box 185
Coweta, Ok 74429

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