Reclaiming The Gospel
About this blog
Eric Hoey is the Director of Evangelism and Church Growth for the General Assembly Mission Council of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). He hopes to build a culture of faith sharing among individuals in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) who have a passion for church growth. This blog considers what the gospel asks of the church in the 21st century.
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- Evangelism (5)
- PC(USA) (5)
- Church Growth (3)
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December 9, 2008
December 5, 2008
August 22, 2008
June 5, 2008
April 22, 2008
Taking Ownership in Evangelism
I found a 1996 Presbyterian Panel Survey that made a summarizing comment:
Pastors and laity tend to have different perspectives on which group has major responsibility for membership growth and decline. Pastors are more likely to see laity in that role, while laity are more likely to see pastor’s in the role.
I wonder if the survey occurred today if the result would be any different? I would imagine not much has changed in 12 years. There seems to be a clear divide between who is responsible for the growth and decline of the church. We love to blame everyone else than to look at ourselves to see if we are the problem.
In our own constitution, it says, "The Church is called to present the claims of Jesus Christ. leading persons to repentance, acceptance of him as Savior and Lord, and new life as his disciples." (G-3.0300b) Evangelism with respect to church growth must be done first, and church growth will be the natural outcome of our Church's faithfulness to the evangelistic call. If we have done our evangelism, church growth would not be a problem. But it is a problem. We are declining rapidly. Membership growth through evangelism must be the call to the whole church both elders and pastors. Let's stop pointing fingers, and point more people to Christ Jesus.
Pastors and laity tend to have different perspectives on which group has major responsibility for membership growth and decline. Pastors are more likely to see laity in that role, while laity are more likely to see pastor’s in the role.
I wonder if the survey occurred today if the result would be any different? I would imagine not much has changed in 12 years. There seems to be a clear divide between who is responsible for the growth and decline of the church. We love to blame everyone else than to look at ourselves to see if we are the problem.In our own constitution, it says, "The Church is called to present the claims of Jesus Christ. leading persons to repentance, acceptance of him as Savior and Lord, and new life as his disciples." (G-3.0300b) Evangelism with respect to church growth must be done first, and church growth will be the natural outcome of our Church's faithfulness to the evangelistic call. If we have done our evangelism, church growth would not be a problem. But it is a problem. We are declining rapidly. Membership growth through evangelism must be the call to the whole church both elders and pastors. Let's stop pointing fingers, and point more people to Christ Jesus.
December 5, 2008
Presbyterian Presence: An Outdated form of Church Growth
The other day, I was driving by a university where my host told me about the campus and what religious entities were on the campus. He told me that the Catholics has a strong presence with the Newman Center and...- Posted at 5:32 p.m.
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August 22, 2008
Book Review: It by Craig Groeschel
IT. Some ministries have IT. Some don’t. Most churches want IT. Few have IT. When a church has IT, everyone can tell. And when a church doesn’t…everyone can tell. (It: How Church Leaders Can Get It and Keep It, Craig...- Posted at 5:33 p.m.
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June 5, 2008
Change: From Comfort to Wellness
At a recent hotel stay, I was given the keycard for my room in a folder that promoted the hotel’s BrainBodyFitness program. The purpose of the program was to offer its guests throughout the hotel opportunities to exercise their body...- Posted at 7:40 p.m.
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April 22, 2008
Evangelism resource tools-Great Blog!
In the commitment of the national offices to be resource providers, I highly recommend the website-- www.evangelismcoach.org Chris Walker has one of the best sites I have found on evangelism. There are more “nuggets” of information on that site than...- Posted at 9:09 p.m.
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