Top Evangelistic Churches–Things to Copy

Just 3% of the churches in the Georgia Baptist Convention accounted for more than 26% of  all the baptisms in the state association in 2008. These churches reached and baptized nearly 10 times as many people as the typical Georgia Baptist church of the same size.

These churches were studied and the Georgia Baptist Convention published a booklet revealing the statistics and lessons learned from these churches. I missed this booklet when it was first published, but it is free and a worthy read for anyone seriously thinking through what it will take to shift their church evangelistically.

Georgia’s Top Evangelistic Churches: Ten Lessons PDF 2.52MB

Here is my summary of the top ten observations underscored in this booklet.

1. Highly evangelistic churches prioritize evangelism. It seems too simple, but none of these churches were evangelistically passive. Each one had an intentional plan to reach out and this priority worked itself into all of the church body life.
2. The pastors of highly evangelistic churches lead the charge. These pastors all had an obvious passion for evangelism, they consistently preached the gospel and called people to repentance, and they stayed with their churches for longer than most pastors do.
3. Highly evangelistic churches call all of its members to evangelism. In each of these churches, there is a structure of involving and training all of the congregation in evangelism. The work is not set apart for just a few.
4. Highly evangelistic churches pray for the lost by name. These churches sought to identify who needs to hear and who needs to repent and prayed for these individuals and families regularly, by name.
5. All ministries in highly evangelistic churches are connected to evangelism. None of these churches had a unique ministry. All of their ministries were the same as ministries in other churches. The difference is that their ministries are connected to evangelism by design.
6. Highly evangelistic churches reported that a significant percentage of their baptisms came from revivals and vacation bible schools. These two ministries are still a staple of baptisms for many evangelistic churches. Incidentally, these two ministries usually involve the highest level of congregational participation of any ministry.
7. Sunday School and small group ministries are a hub for evangelism in highly evangelistic churches. 90% of the top evangelistic churches responded that they strategically and purposefully connect Sunday School to evangelism.
8. Visiting people in their homes is a key strategy for highly evangelistic churches. Evangelistic churches equip and encourage members intentionally to develop relationships with the unchurched and that extends to the home.
9. Highly evangelistic churches emphasize baptism for new believers. These churches call people from belief to action, from knowledge to obedience with baptism as the first step.
10. Evangelistic churches involve new believers in body life through small groups. These churches immediately put new believers into small groups, sunday school classes, and new-member classes.