Evangelism Initiative

Church Toolbox

 "So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily."

Acts 16:5

6-4-2 Evangelism Cycles

Create an Evangelism Culture in Your Church

These cycles are designed to help create an evangelism culture in a church. They will also reveal cultural "holes" (and even push-back). 


It is recommended that the church calendar 3 or 4 major Sundays (i.e. Easter, VBS, Fall & Christmas) as attractive days, "Big Days." These are Sundays when your people will know that it is "safe" to invite a friend and that there will be a clear gospel presentation. Ideally you would want at least half of your church people (adults, teens, and kids) to be involved and actively working to invite the unchurched to come see the church at her "best."  Ideally, this is not a Sunday for a guest speaker or band, but this is a "taste test" of your real church.


The evangelism Sunday should fit well with the community calendar and be something easily promoted -- i.e. Easter, special Christmas service (before everyone leaves town), Friend Day. A catchy name/theme and an invitational "hook" (like giving away a ____) may also be helpful.  See E-Sunday for examples.



Resource Book:  Ignite by Nelson Searcy


These cycles can also be an asset for:

  • Recruiting and testing leaders/workers for a season
  • Helping people to start looking for ways to connect with the lost
  • Being intentional in the worship service with language, songs, and behaviors that unsaved guest can understand
  • Improving the children's ministry and nursery
  • Preparing a plan for new believers and connection points
  • PR to the community
  • Improving facilities and online presence
  • Expressing "vision" that people can rally around and give finances toward.

Planning Worksheet

Community Connection Points

Every community has areas of need, but not every "good" thing is a "God" thing for your church and this season.  

Where are the best connection potential points for evangelistic opportunity in your community?

Your church can't do everything at once, so it is better to pick the 1 thing you can do with excellence.

  • Demographic Research

    Learn and Love Your Mission Field

    Explore your target area and discover who they are.

    Check and see if your church network/denomination has access to specialized demographic/ministry research services.  Recruit team members to search various sites and then make a report to the team.

    Church/Community Specific Sites:

    • https://www.thearda.com/demographicmap/     (free)
    • https://churchanswers.com/solutions/tools/kyc/know-your-community/
    • https://missioninsite.com/

    General Demographics:

    • https://www.city-data.com/
    • https://www.census.gov/data.html
    • Check local school district and city statistics
    General Christian Demographic Trends:
    • https://www.barna.com/

  • Adopt a Spot in Your Community

    Go, Serve, and Build Relationships

    What is already happening in your community that you could invest in?

    Interdenominational Opportunities:

    • Partnering with other churches can be a powerful witness to the community. (Do not begin a ministry outreach that another church is already doing.)
    • By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13:35

    Community Opportunities:

    • School - staff, students, teams, parent pick-up lines
    • Sports specialty groups
    • First Responders - police, fire
    • City Hall, County Courthouse
    • Seniors Center
    • Hospitals, Assisted Living
    • Neighborhood, Apartments, Trailer park, Park, Dog Park, etc.


  • Hosting a Community Group

    Connect by Meeting a Community Need

    Churches can individually host or partner with other churches to sponsor a community outreach group. These can be held at any facility that will make the community feel welcome.

    Community Groups and resource links:


Church Assessment

Church Health Snapshot

Our team developed this tool to quickly check a church's health. It uses subjective and objective information based on an evangelical model, congregational information, and community statistics. 

This tool follows the triage concept in that green indicates a church is healthy enough to recover any losses and/or continue on a healthy course. Yellow indicates that a church most likely needs some outside investment at some level because it is at risk of decline. Red indicates the church's health requires extensive outside help, or it is at risk of closure or an inability to recover.

Take a snapshot of your church's health here.