Seasonal outreaches yield results

By Elizabeth Young

A number of churches partnered with the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention and Outreach Inc. in an effort to reach more people at Easter.

At Engage 24, the North American Mission Board evangelism event held in Phoenix last February, about 10 churches won free promotional materials worth $1,500-$2,000, said Eddy Pearson, AZSBC church life team facilitator. At the meeting, churches also received information about an Easter postcard mailing through Outreach that included free social media advertising.

Aletheia Church, Sedona, received an evangelism grant from Arizona Southern Baptists to assist in its Easter promotional efforts through Outreach, which included mailing 6,900 postcards to homes in Sedona and the Village of Oak Creek.

The church had a 300% increase in website traffic, and 240 people attended a Good Friday service or one of two services on Easter. Also on Easter, 16 new families visited the church, and five people accepted Christ as their Savior.

Wellspring Church, Goodyear, also received an AZSBC evangelism grant. The church worked with Outreach on new signs, a mailer, Facebook advertising, invite cards and doorhangers. On Easter, 140 more people attended than on a typical Sunday, and 12 indicated they made spiritual decisions.

Pearson is encouraging churches to create a culture of evangelism by thinking seasonally, focusing spring outreach efforts on Easter, summer on a specific summer community outreach ministry, fall on a “Big Invite Sunday” and winter on advent, Christmas Eve and Christmas.

“Engaging your community seasonally helps develop your church’s evangelism DNA and allows your people to keep a ‘grace pace’ in ministry,” he said. “The key is that your church walks in a rhythm that seeds the gospel in her tough field of ministry seasonally, where your people live, work and play.

Churches can look to Outreach for promotional resources, and financial assistance may be available through the AZSBC’s normal grant request process. The request form can be downloaded under the Resources tab at azsbc.org. For more information, contact Pearson at eddy@azsbc.org.