When did you last invite someone to attend church? Research reveals that only 2 percent of members invite an unchurched person to church in a given year. That means 98 percent of churchgoers never invite a seeker to church.
If your church were to disappear, would the members of your community miss it? Seventy-five percent of the Seventh-day Adventist church members in North America who were asked this question responded, “They don’t even know we are here.”
That’s what happens with member view evangelism as something only pastors and professional evangelists do. Only when the members believe evangelism to be a way of life does the church begin to flourish. Dr. Kidder points out that
"growing Seventh-day Adventist churches that we studied in North America focus on discipleship. They recognized disciple-making as New Testament evangelism. Jesus described the core of discipleship in these words: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” (Matthew 22:37-39)
Moving Your Church was written to encourage and equip members and leaders to successfully carry out the vision and mission of Christ in their local community. Dr. Kidder offers us this encouragement: “Through the power of the Spirit, ordinary people like you and me can do extraordinary things for God.”
