February 5, 2001
Small churches must buy in to evangelism task
___By Ferrell Foster
___Texas Baptist Communications
___SAN ANTONIO--Ownership and variety are keys to evangelism in small churches, Bob Ray said in an evangelism seminar geared for bivocational and smaller churches.
___Ray, pastor of Fairy Baptist Church in Hico and manager of customer service for FM Industries in Fort Worth, said he learned from 35 years in sales that something "has to be mine" if he is going to sell it to someone else. "We've got to have ownership of it, or we'renot going to sell it."
BOB RAY
___The same, he said, is true in evangelism.
___A small church acts as a "committee of the whole," Ray said. Ownership in what the church does comes from participating in planning. "Get as many people involved as you can," he stressed. "When you're involved, you work at it a lot harder."
___It's also important to grant trust and permission, Ray said. Let members try things. "Often we're too afraid to fail. ... I tell my people if it doesn't work, we'll try something else," but "don't call it failure."
___Ownership and flexibility present "definite advantages in the smaller church," he said. "You can make a lot of decisions when you're small."
___Ray focused on the importance of variety in evangelism. He used a kitchen spice rack to illustrate the importance of using different methods to reach out. A cook does not use every spice in the things he cooks. He uses selected ones and various combinations.
___"We need to have a lot of variety of ways to reach people," he said.
___Visitation, revivals, Vacation Bible School, Sunday School, youth camps, ski trips, special events and a wide assortment of ministries can be used in evangelism.
___Not everyone is comfortable going door-to-door, Ray said. But they can share Christ in other ways.
___"We want them to learn the excitement of ministry."
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