Receptivity

The Four Turnings: How people respond to the faith.  

By Steven Neill

1. The turning to Christ as Savior and friend.
2. The turning to the ethical standard that the church teaches.  
3. The turning to the world in which Christ works.  
4. The turning to the fellowship of believers among whom one receives support.  

Mega-Strategy

Churches grow as they minister to the felt needs of undiscipled people, usually by developing new ministries.  

A need= an identified discrepancy existing between a present condition and a desired state

• May be expressed by an ‘owner’ (motivational)
• or an authority (prescriptive)

Relationship Between Evangelism and Social Action

1. In most societies, the church’s service and compassionate ministries provide credibility for the gospel.  
2. Some facets of the gospel’s message are better communicated through the church’s service (diakonia) or fellowship (koinonia) than merely through proclamation (kerygma).  
3. Involving new disciples in caring ministries in a necessary phase of their conversion, enablig the gospel to be incarnated in their personalities and life-styles.  True discipleship is behavioral.  
4. In regard to cross-cultural service, the church has two opinions: (a) raise up enough indigenous converts for them to minister to their own people, or (b) keep sending cross-cultural servants and thereby keep the recipient population dependent on the sending population.  

Target group in the City: A Seminary Strategy

Groups who ministered to

• Unwed mothers in Rockland County
• United Nations representatives and families
• Families of abused children
• After school tutoring programs for the poor

The point was that there are many groups of people who were not being ministered to that could be reached in the city through service.  

Early Beginnings of the C&MA

• Ministry to immigrants on the waterfront of New York.  
• Soup kitchens
• Berachah House of unwed mothers

Bear Valley Community Church: A Case Study

• Singles
• Those involved in cults
• those needing to free or low-cost medical care
• Runaway kids
• Mothers of Pre-schoolers
• Alcohol and drug rehabilitation groups
• Coffee houses for street people
• Sports teams
• Hospital visitation
• Jail ministries
• Counseling teams
• Foreign students
• Rest Home Ministries
• Missionary assistance
• Ministry to Fathers
• Jewish outreach ministries
• Abuse victims
• Youth ministries
• Social service ministries

The church grows be meeting the needs of the people in its community.

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~ by caitlinshirley on March 25, 2009.