Welcome to the thirteenth article in a series designed to enhance the use of the Small Membership Church Guideline. Ideally, this Guideline will be shared among your church leaders, read, discussed together, and used to strengthen ministry.

Here are some added witness ministry suggestions to get the most out of this resource in your small-membership church.

What do we mean by "witness"? Usually this word reminds us of someone who testifies in a legal sense, such as a witness in a trial. For some, this word may remind them of a certain style of religious experience where a witness was someone who said "amen" in the service. We need a broader definition if "Witness Ministries" in the NOW(rm) model is to make sense.

Witness ministries are those activities, experiences, modeling lifestyles, and interactions that help others see, hear, and relate to Christ through us. Examples include:

Speaking/Word Witness Ministries

• A preschool program with Christian emphasis
• A newsletter mailed to all the people in the community
• A presentation of The Last Supper, Nativity, or Easter drama, open to the entire community
• Community youth groups that seek youth from the entire community
• A revival or church renewal day that offers contemporary ways to pray and experience God, planned by people from the church and community
• A Christian recreation program for children during the summer
• Settings for recovering addicts who want to live the Christian life
• Lay Speaking courses
• Family, youth, or children's rallies
• A new prayer list for "People who do not know Christ," even if you cannot pray for them by name
• Personal testimonies of what God is doing in people's lives. Provide settings for this type of sharing in worship and the necessary training.

Doing/Action Witness Ministries

• The individual Christian lifestyles of church members
• A church-sponsored county fair booth, offering free, cold water and a place to sit in the shade
• A playground for children (newly built or refurbished)
• A community prayer service at a time and place of local tragedy
• A backyard Vacation Bible school in host members' homes for children around them who are not a part of the church
• A refreshed appearance of the church (by painting inside or out, updating the church sign, landscaping, interior cleaning, repairs)

Reflections

1. Pretend for a moment that you are a member of the community not associated with the church (or even better, find someone not associated with the church) and answer the following questions:<

    

   1. What would you really know about the church simply by the appearance of the building?
      

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   2. its activities?
      

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   3. its reputation?
      

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   4. its current situation?
      

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2. Thinking now as a member of your church, rank these four indicators of ministry. Use a scale of 1-5 (1 being weakest/least effective and 5 being strongest/most effective) and give one specific reason for your ranking.

    

   1. The church's connection to the community
      1     2     3     4     5

      Reason: ________________________________________________________

   2. The congregation's comfort level for faith sharing
      1     2     3     4     5

      Reason: _________________________________________________________

   3. The church's best known witness ministry at present
      11     2     3     4     5

      Reason: _________________________________________________________

   4. The level of lay member involvement in community transformation
      1     2     3     4     5

      Reason: _________________________________________________________

Copyright © 2004 The General Board of Discipleship. Permission is granted for use in local church training or study groups. No portion of this article may be reprinted or republished in any form for any other reason without written consent.

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