Evangelism Meeting:
I AM ALSO SENDING THIS E-MAIL AS AN ATTACHMENT IN CASE ANYONE WANTS TO OPEN IT
UP IN MICROSOFT WORD TO READ!!!
The purpose of the Evangelism group is to help our church become a church that
focuses on evangelization and bringing people into the church.
We first started off our meeting with a scenario. We talked about what it
would be like if a stranger stopped in to our church on a Sunday morning for
the Divine Liturgy and many things were out of place or missing in the church
itself. Some of these things include trash on the floor, dirty restrooms,
nobody to guide them to their seats, etc.
What should we do to improve this scenario?
1) Divine Liturgy books need to be available in the church.
2) The screen with the correct page numbers must be working and able to be
seen by the congregation, in order to help visitors follow in the Liturgy.
3) We need a person, possibly a deacon, which is responsible for keeping
up with this screen (such as batteries).
4) We need to have people standing at the door of the church, greeting
visitors, and seating them (at least one man and one woman).
5) The church itself needs to be clean both inside and outside.
6) We might need a lecture with the parents of the church, in order to tell
them how to teach their kids to respect the church and keep it clean.
7) Sunday school teachers should be in charge of teaching their children
how to clean the classes before leaving the room.
8) Restrooms need to be cleaned and have the appropriate supplies
stocked at all times.
9) We need to teach those using the microphones how to be sensitive, so
that the volume is not too loud or too low during the services.
10) A portfolio about the church and specific rules of the church must be
given to the visitor on his/her first visit. Such things as information
about communion, the types of prayers, the different Liturgies, the uniqueness
of the church must be included (This will be discussed in much more detail
later on).
11) As a side note, we mentioned having a Friday night meeting guided
towards visitors, followed by an all-English Liturgy that Sunday (will also be
discussed more in detail in the future).
12) Announcements after church should be said in English.
13) The sermon after church must be translated into English. There
should be a group of people responsible for translating the sermons in a quiet
room.
14) A card should be given to the visitor requesting contact information,
such as phone numbers, e-mail, and other things.
15) The bulletin board in the church must be updated often, so that we can
become more organized.
16) We need to think about having a bulletin outside of the church that
posts a welcome message and service times. By doing so, people driving by
will notice the church and can be aware of the service and activities.
17) In order to quiet children in church, the kids can possible sit with
their Sunday school teachers during the Liturgy.
We concluded the Evangelism meeting with setting some goals for this
week. Each person should work on some ideas or the welcoming portfolio,
including what should be written and included in it. Also, we will invite
Abouna Moussa to our next Meeting, which will be this
One more announcement:
Ashley has offered to create a screen name on her AOL account strictly for this
Evangelism group…we will all have access to it and will be able to send out
e-mails from this one address if needed. We will hand out the new e-mail
address and the password this Friday at the meeting!
PLEASE do not be late, and encourage others that are interested in Evangelism
to attend this Friday!! Thanks
In Christ,
Jasmine
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Here is a respond to the above e-mail:
Jasmine,
This is a wonderful job. Thank you.
Everyone, please let us continue in these efforts until we see evangelism as a reality in our church. Until we meet on Friday, please do three things:
1- Pray for our group
2- Invite others to join us. We welcome everyone.
3- Prepare yourself to be an evangelism servant. It looks like a big job to do and needs directions, but for now do what do you think is needed.
Remember, we do this for our dear beloved Lord, for our dear church, for those who badly in need to our Lord's love and salvation, and also for our spiritual growth.
May the Lord bless us all. Thank you/
In Christ,
Victor Beshir