Success Stories

The Key to Outreach is a Focused Plan

Messiah Lutheran in Memphis, Tenn., was like most churches that wanted to reach out to the community - they had good ideas and good intentions, but there wasn’t a plan. Messiah Lutheran had conducted several outreach activities, but had seen little success. After discussing this challenge with their TCN Coach, Messiah Lutheran put together a focused plan that outlined how to build on each event to make an even greater impact in the community.

The church determined that the local fire station would be a natural fit for their outreach efforts, which met their desire to work with underserved groups. The church planned a Valentine’s Day dinner for the firemen and EMT’s at the station. At the dinner, they donated 33 much-needed air pumps, which only cost a few dollars a piece, to the station. Twelve people from the station attended the event. One of the firefighters now attends church at Messiah Lutheran regularly, and often brings trainees with him. Now, two of those trainees are in the adult confirmation class.

Pastor Evandro Kopper "plays Santa" as part of Messiah Lutheran's Christmas Tree Project. The church invited local fire victims to come to a Christmas dinner. Each fire victim received gifts from the church and also had the opportunity to take pictures with Santa.

Pastor Evandro Kopper "plays Santa" as part of Messiah Lutheran's Christmas Tree Project. The church invited local fire victims to come to a Christmas dinner. Each fire victim received gifts from the church and also had the opportunity to take pictures with Santa.

Later in the year, the church worked with the same fire station to offer Thanksgiving dinner to fire victims. Ten families were identified by the fire station and Red Cross, and each family received a basket of food from the church. The families were really touched by this act of kindness and began to think of Messiah Lutheran as their church home, even though they had never attended before.

The church also gathered Christmas lists for all of the fire victims. Named the Christmas Tree Project, the church purchased gifts and placed them under a special tree in the narthex of the church. The Sunday before Christmas the families were invited to a special dinner where they received the gifts and were able to take pictures with Santa. Thirty five of the fire victims were in attendance at this event.

The families were also invited to the Christmas Eve service. Twelve people came back for that service. In fact, 50 of the 150 people in worship on Christmas Eve were first-time guests, including 16 children who were invited to play in the hand-bell choir.

One year later, Messiah Lutheran’s Valentine’s Day dinner served more than just 12 firefighters. This time, the invitation list grew to 219 prospects, which included Red Cross volunteers, fire victims and guests from the Christmas Eve service, and there were 90 people in attendance.

Messiah Lutheran is seeing positive growth in all areas as aresult of their outreach efforts. Pastor Schmidt’s new member class now has nine participants and the optimism and enthusiasm within the congregation has gone off the charts.

Isn’t it amazing what God can do when his people get focused and plan to reach their community with the Gospel?

Christmas dinner.

Local fire victims were invted to Messiah Lutheran's Christmas Dinner. There were 35 fire victims in attendance, many of whom had participated in previous events hosted by the church. Several participants even attended the church's Christmas Eve service.

Written By: ntieman
Date Posted: 5/21/2009
Number of Views: 151

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