As a pastor, I have the responsibility of training and equipping our people with fresh ideas and utilizing technology that God has given to us. Our church isn’t unique – a rural church of about hundred on a Sunday morning who worships God and preaches the gospel to a very religious culture surrounding us. In an effort to serve the Lord, we continue to look for good outreach tools.
Community Education Classes
Community Baptist Church in Ankeny, Iowa, gave us the idea of using community education classes. Recently, we finished a ten-week series of classes in community education using the material, The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus, by John R. Cross, GoodSeed International. What a delight to bring the first religious class to community education! A group of nine attended faithfully and were impacted greatly–requesting that more of this kind of material be offered in community education.
Cable Broadcasting
We have used our local community cable TV station to get out the Word of God. If your community is like ours, a large group of people exists who would never come to an independent Baptist church. However, they are curious about the church’s people and teaching. Consequently, we tape our Sunday morning message, edit it by adding an introduction and a conclusion to our program, and invite people to respond to what they have heard. We are in nine communities and have between three and four hours per week to air our program for a cost of $50.00 a month. Of course, there is an investment in cameras, video mixers, and computers. However, it has turned out to be our most effective outreach tool. Check out our program on the web .
These are just a few of the tools we are working on to equip and train God’s people. What has been effective in your ministry? Our local, state, and national conferences are a great place to be fed the Word of God and to recharge those ministry batteries. We love to hear how God is using other ministries. Make sure to pack some of your ministry tools and ideas in your bag for the next conference you attend.
Ron Hemsworth Jr., Pastor
Faith Baptist Church
Sauk Centre, MN
