1,000 New Souls for Christ
‘Speak Lord, your servant is listening and ready to respond.’
This became the prayer as church leaders from three states gathered for an UNLEASH Workshop on Saturday, March 17, hosted by New Life Church of Evansville, Indiana.
Taken from a scene where the young prophet Samuel begins to hear the voice of God, this prayer is about learning to listen to his voice, guidance, and direction. (1 Samuel 3:1-10)
Over the course of the day, these eight churches leaned into the voice of the Holy Spirit as we sought wisdom and dreamed about the next five years. The results were inspiring!
Each church gained clarity in several key areas:
- How and where the Great Commission is positioned in their church
- What’s working right now in their local context (and what’s not)
- A way to help newcomers take baby steps that lead to deeper engagement
- Intentionality towards the lost ‘one’ that is visiting their congregation
- Action centered around a singular emerging priority to hit the ground running and make substantial Kingdom Impact in the next 4-6 months
Mt. Pleasant Church decided to work on creating a ‘super charged evangelism team’ that will teach people to bring their friends into the fold in order to meet Jesus. Another church, Center Point, arrived at clarity to work on stabilizing families through a new emphasis on children’s ministry. Mt. Olive is spending the next six months strategically preparing for the one. Other churches are focusing on kids and students, the weekend worship experience, a facility overhaul and creating a more formalized group structure.
Collectively the churches dreamed of reaching 1,000 new souls for Christ over the next 5 years! As we started our day asking the Lord to speak to us, we now believe these church leaders are ready to respond.
IC Coach Kent Odor worked with the churches individually throughout the day, while IC Staff Tyler Feller led the teaching and facilitation through our UNLEASH workshop.
