Outreach Inspiration from Other Denominations
by Rebecca Barceló | 8 March 2024 |
For an Adventist, the idea of sharing our faith with others is deeply rooted in our religious DNA. Whether it be through the dissemination of Glow Tracts, Centinelas, Steps to Christ, Bible stories for kids, nutrition books for adults, or copies of The Great Controversy, giving away books has often been our favored approach. Through these books, Adventists have zealously spread our message to strangers, co-workers, and neighbors alike.
While these efforts have undoubtedly touched many lives, they have also, at times, led to confusion or displeasure among those not so keen on receiving unsolicited materials. In the spirit of broadening our horizons and perhaps finding new, harmonious ways to engage with our communities, I thought it might be interesting to explore some different approaches taken by other denominations.
The Care Package:
Knowing my Christian background, my agnostic co-worker approached me recently to mention that she had received an interesting package on her doorstep the other day from “some Christian group.” “It was actually kinda sweet!” she said. Intrigued, I asked her to send me a picture and she sent the picture below: complete with Oreos, hot chocolate, hypoallergenic lotion, seeds, playing cards, an invitation to a local camp for kids, and an affirmation postcard.
I raised an eyebrow. The logistics of doing something like this might be a little time-consuming, but not too difficult. And the items included are general enough that they might be useful to a wide variety of people. Overall, I was impressed by how thoughtful it was, even for my agnostic co-worker.
The Note of Encouragement:
The Hills church in Denver spread these notes throughout their neighborhood, empathizing with how difficult it is to live with the negativity in this world, and offering a bit of encouragement for folks going through hard times. They also gave a little nudge toward spreading the kindness to neighbors as well.
I found the tone starkly different from the usual warnings of judgment, calls to repentance, or descriptions of the world’s sinful condition that are so common in usual evangelistic communications. I didn’t expect that I would be so surprised to find a spiritual note that was so… positive.
The Handwritten Invitation / Development of Spiritual Skills: I was surprised to receive this Jehovah’s Witness package in my mailbox, with my name written on it, considering that I could think of no conceivable reason why the Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW’s) would have my name and address. That unsettling detail aside, the handwriting on the envelope caught my attention and I decided to open it up and see what the JW’s were peddling these days.
Despite the fact that the handwritten note could’ve most likely been copied, it did indeed look like a real person had taken the time to include her name, address, and phone number in case I had further questions about her invitation. Having coordinated outreach activities myself in church, I began to think about ways this might’ve been accomplished. “Everyone grab a letter to write after potluck and copy this script. Sign your name at the end with contact information if you’re open to non-church folks’ contacting you directly.” Or perhaps something different. “We’d like to announce that the Women’s Ministries team will be creating letters for our community after church today. If you’re interested in helping them avoid carpal tunnel, please stay by after the service to help.”
Whatever the method was, I tipped my hat to them. It felt like “Andrea” had me in mind when writing the letter… the hallmark of a good marketing piece.
I glanced at the accompanying brochure to see what they would be discussing at their convention, and found it interesting that their theme was “Exercising Patience.” They were focusing on the benefits of patience to help achieve personal goals, better relationships with friends and family, and to improve one’s prayer life with God. “Huh… spiritual and practical,” I thought. Did I still throw it away? Yes. But did it leave an impression? Also yes.
Taking the time to look at what other folks are doing to spread the message of God’s love teaches us several things:
- That our denominational siblings might actually have some good ideas that we could learn from in reaching out to the community.
- That maybe other denominations don’t have to be viewed as competition, but that if we’re all out here trying to do similar things, there might be more opportunities for partnership.
- That maybe our denomination could benefit from including more thoughtful, positive, and, dare I say, even fun (?) ways of communicating with our communities.
Could we be proud of our history of literature evangelism, while also acknowledging that the world is changing and maybe we’re not meeting the same needs? Could we spend more time listening to what our community actually appreciates, and find ways to share God’s love in their love languages? Maybe some of these outreach strategies could encourage us to be more creative and thoughtful with how we connect with others. After all, non-Adventists might have good ideas, too.
Rebecca Barceló covers news and special projects for Adventist Today.
