EVANGELISM IS THE ANSWER

= &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = By Dr. Hoyt W. All= en, Jr.=

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; There is a great deal of work to be done in our world and I am not speaking about= our nation’s capitol. In th= e U.S.A. = we have many deaths which take place. A recent Stat looks like this:

= &nb= sp; 5.7 Every Minute=

= &nb= sp; 342 Every Hour

= &nb= sp; 8,208 Every Day

= &nb= sp; 2,995,920 Every = Year

= The church is in the people business, whether they are coming into the world or departing. It should be the church’s primary task to see that people are taught about Jesus before they depart this life. All ot= her aspects of the church are secondary. The church is to take the gospel of Christ to our neighborhoods, our cities, counties, state, nation and really to everyone on the entire globe. America has 3,000 to 4,000 ch= urches closing their doors on a yearly basis.

= The George Barna Research Group and The Fuller Institute Of Church Growth condu= ct extensive surveys and many of the Stats in this article are a result of the= ir surveys. Attendance at religi= ous activities is continuing to decline from 49% in ‘91 to 35% today.

= The church is “cooling off” somewhat, as was made known in an area Men’s Meeting (‘9= 6) when it was announced that their county had 17 congregations of the Restora= tion Movement. All 17 had a Sunday School, but they were all poorly attended.= Only five of the 17 had an Evening Service, and only three of the 17= had a Mid-Week Service. If people= would tithe their time to the Lord - they would be in a Service or involved in so= me aspect of ministry for 16.8 hours per week. This means that one who attends all scheduled Services (Sunday School, morning= & evening Worship, and Mid-Week Prayer and Bible Study) would st= ill need to become involved in ten plus hours per week to reach the tithe of time. Any way one looks at He= brews 10:25 - it still reads to not miss scheduled Services. Many today do not seemingly unders= tand that it is sin to purposely miss Services.= This is definitely a sign that the church is “cooling off”.

= The Mormons have gone from 1.5 million to 9 million and are growing 200,000 per year. How are they doing it?<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> The answer is evangelism! The two young men one sees walking= the streets of America and carrying two black books are proving that evangelism and home teaching still works.

(Con= tinued)

(Continued)

When I graduated= from Kentucky Christian College in ‘72 the Directory Of The Ministry, whic= h I had on hand listed the following Stats in the U.S.A. as compared to the pre= sent Stats in ‘02 Directory:

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; 1971 = &nb= sp; 2002 = GROWTH

Church Members = ; 1,024,734 &= nbsp; &nbs= p; 1,189,787 165,053

Foreign Missionaries = 658 &= nbsp; &nbs= p; 961 &nb= sp; 303<= o:p>

Congregations & Agencies 5,= 299 &= nbsp; &nbs= p; 6,595 &= nbsp; 1,296

Pulpit Ministers &= nbsp; 4,148= &= nbsp; &nbs= p; 5,449 &= nbsp; 1,801

Associate Ministers = 465 &nb= sp; = 3,152 &= nbsp; 2,787

Our growth record for these 30 years per congregation is only .83 ch= urch members per year. This means = that the average congregation in the U.S.A. does not have even one addition yearly.

Why has it been = that our Christian Colleges which once was our source of training Pulpit Ministe= rs, and now has better facilities, more money with which to work, and more teac= hers with doctorates on the campuses are producing many graduates - but seemi= ngly we are not getting the job done that Jesus asked us to do. That, of course, was to evan= gelize the lost world. We have more Associate Ministers and yet fewer converts than when the one Pulpit Minister was his own Youth Minister, Secretary, and even did some of the custodian w= ork at times.<= /b>

=

     Also in a recent= report it was stated that the reason for the lack of growth within the church was: 1) 80% of ministers were discouraged 2) 84% of ministers’ wives were depressed 3) 33% of ministers consider the ministry to have been an outright hazard to their families 4) 40% of ministers were suffering from burnout, frantic schedules and unrealistic expectations 5) 4= 7% of ministers’ wives- suffering from burnout, frantic schedules and unrealistic expectations.<= /b>

=

Be= sides the above:

1) Financial burdens are very common 2) Most ministers are heavily in debt due to past college/seminary expenses 3) It is estimated t= hat 1,500 ministers leave their pulpits each month, due to moral failure, spiri= tual burnout or contention within their local congregations.

=

        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p; Someone said, “The reason for church attendance declining and minister dropout rate increasing is ‘A Lack Of Support = From The Pew’”.   = Could we as church members do the following to change the situation:

1) Pr= ay daily for our stagnate situation 2) Strive to begin training to be a “soul-winner” 3) Fill our life with love so that= it will draw people to Jesus just as flies are drawn to honey more than drawn to vinegar   4) Make the Church Service Schedule #1 on our priority list 5) Endeavor to be supportive of our minister(s) by; a) Praying for him daily   b) Inviting him and his fami= ly to your family gatherings c) Recreating him (take him along) d) Being a personal friend to him e) Seeing to it that people do not gossip about him f) Making certain that he is compe= nsated fairly for his labors<= /b>

=

KY= OWVA Evangelis= tic Association

        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;           1541 S. 7th Street * Ironton, OH 45638= -2175

        =         Web Page: kyowva.com * Free Bible Courses Upon Request

=

EVANG= ELISM IS THE ANSWER 05-11-06.wps