This is part of a series of interviews with pastors of churches whose attendance has grown 20% or more in 5 years. We hope this series will be a resource of ideas to help increase worship attendance at your church.

In June of 1996, after fourteen years of youth ministry, I was appointed to begin a new church in Dothan, Alabama – a town of about 65,000 people.  Today Harvest Church United Methodist is one of the one hundred largest churches in the denomination, averaging over 1,600 in weekly Sunday morning worship services.  Less than 20% of those who attend have previous experience in the United Methodist Church.  Many accept Christ after coming to Harvest, which indicates that real growth is taking place rather than just “taking” people from other churches.

Our primary keys to the growth of Harvest are the conviction that God called us to start the church and the determination to follow Him completely.  Our goal is to bring people to Christ and to equip them to be able to make disciples for the rest of their lives.

At Harvest, we put strong emphasis on personal conversion and growing in relationship with God.  We want people to know the freedom and purpose and wonder of really knowing God and living for Him.  We believe this is the deepest desire and need of every person, so we try to remove the barriers and present Him in a winsome, non-threatening way.

A main part of our vision is to reach the unchurched–anyone not actively involved in a church.  Even in this heavily churched part of the country, demographics show over 23,000 people within 10 miles of our building who are not practicing their faith in any way.  These people are our target!

In forming Harvest, we set out to address the barriers that keep people out of church, believing that almost everyone is interested in God. Here are the biggest barriers that keep people from church and what Harvest has done to overcome these barriers:

1) “Sermons are boring and don’t relate to my life.”

Technology and continual entertainment have shortened our attention span. Sermons must be engaging.  This is why I place a high priority on sermon preparation time.  Stories, illustrations, and humor are important to include, which takes a lot of time in research and application, and anointing from the Holy Spirit is essential!  We do not have to preach shallow sermons to speak to the unchurched.  In fact, most things we preach that are important for believers to know are also important for unbelievers, and it usually takes only a little effort to bring unbelievers on board.  Those topics that more exclusively relate to Christians may require more extensive “on ramps” to be built into the sermon for unbelievers to stay with you, and sometimes it is appropriate to say, “If you are new to church or still examining Christianity, this part doesn’t really apply to you, so don’t worry about it for now.”  However, since life in Jesus is what everyone was created for and what answers the deepest desires of the heart, we can always find ways to connect the unchurched to the message if we work on it and keep them in mind as we prepare.  At Harvest we consciously try to keep an environment of explanation. We always try to see our services through the eyes of someone who has not been in church, and we must be willing to explain what we mean by what we say and do.  If they don’t understand, they won’t keep coming.

2) “Church people are unfriendly.”

I think this perception is formed because church people tend to stay in their comfort zones (just like people anywhere else), and because they have friends they enjoy at church who they want to see and talk to when they come. The major question of the unchurched is, “Will I fit with these people?”  They need interaction to help answer this question, but the problem in most churches is that often someone new comes just as the service is starting, and then they leave as soon as the service is over.  This structure makes it hard to be able to connect with them.  That is why we decided to put a coffee break into our worship service – after the singing and announcements and before the sermon.  We have refreshment bars around our worship center with coffee, juice, and cookies. This gives guests a “destination” so they don’t have to just sit there feeling conspicuous waiting for someone to come talk to them.  People are more comfortable talking with a cup in their hand.  Currently our break is 12- minutes long in the middle of our 90-minute service.  As a side benefit, it is also great to have people well caffeinated before I begin to preach.  To provide refreshments for this many people each week takes a large volunteer team and some strong, committed leaders who make over 150 pots of coffee each week.  It is a lot of work, but making people feel welcomed and comfortable is worth it!  To further help people connect, we wear name tags. We keep reminding our people to meet someone new.  We encourage them not to forget what it is like to come into the church for the first time, and that being friendly may make the difference in someone’s eternity by making it easy for them to return and eventually come to Christ.  We feel we are succeeding because the most frequent comments in our membership classes are how friendly the church is and how much they feel God’s presence at Harvest.

3) “The church only wants my money.”

In response to this objection, we decided not to pass offering plates.  Instead, we have offering baskets placed around the worship center. This literally puts the money issue in the background.  During the announcements I usually say, “There are offering baskets around the room for worshiping God with our tithes and offerings. If you are a guest, you are not expected to give.”

Our goal has been to create a relaxed atmosphere for people to consider the claims of Christ.  We want them to know they are wanted, and we want people to be able to experience the presence of God.  God is using this plan to bring people to Himself. Other things we do to make it easier for the unchurched are:

• Casual dress. People are more likely to try out church if they find out they don’t have to dress up to come.  For this reason, it is acceptable for people to come to our service dressed in shorts or jeans or a dress or sportscoat.
• Contemporary worship.  People will also more likely enjoy the service if they can relate to the music we play.  Our music for worship is culturally relevant, led by a band. A major part of our vision is “authentic worship”, which means helping people participate in worshiping God, not just to attend and watch a musical performance.  For most churches targeting the unchurched the main function of music is to create a welcoming, exciting atmosphere.  Harvest is somewhat unique in encouraging strongly participatory worship and targeting the unchurched, and the Lord has given us a wonderful balance in our worship.
• Small groups. To further help our people grow spiritually and develop positive relationships and become true disciples, we encourage everyone at Harvest to connect to a small group and a ministry team.  There are many types of small groups, from Bible studies to accountability groups to common interest groups to care groups.  In addition, we developed our own discipleship curriculum which equips our people to learn what it means to be a disciple of Jesus and to learn to help others become disciples.

Absolutely everyone is welcome at Harvest, and most people feel that when they come.  However, before people become church members, we feel it is essential that they understand what it means to commit their life to Jesus and are ready to follow Him. The point is not only to get people into church, but to get them to Jesus!  We don’t push church membership, but we do use it as an important opportunity to explain the gospel in a smaller setting. We invite anyone interested in hearing more about the church, or in becoming a member, to a one-time three-hour class, which is required before joining the church.  In the class, I emphasize the vision of Harvest as well as the plan of salvation.  Membership is for those who have given their lives to Christ, have repented of sin, and confessed Jesus as Lord and Savior (see the United Methodist vows of Christian Discipleship).  For many people this has become the time of decision.  Are they prepared to give up their “freedom” to live with their partner, whether it is a live-in boyfriend or girlfriend or an active homosexual relationship?  Or are they ready to deal with an addiction or other strongholds in their life?  Are they ready to really follow Christ?  Some make that decision based on what they hear at the membership class, and we have the privilege of leading them to Christ that very night.  Others step back for a time of reflection.  Some decide they are not ready for that commitment.  Our main goal as a church is not gaining members, but to gain souls for the Kingdom of God.

At Harvest we are intentional about structuring what we do so that it makes sense to people who don’t know God.  Through Harvest, people find real relationship with Christ, become disciples, and the church continues to grow.  Few things in this life are more fulfilling than helping people come to know the goodness of God for themselves, sealing their eternal destiny, and watching them change and grow and begin to walk in joy and peace.

Pastor Ralph Sigler – rrsigler3@juno.com

Church website – http://www.harvestdothan.com/