I have personally seen lives changed as a result of contacts. I have seen people begin to attend Sunday School and church. I have watched some accept Jesus. Some have become leaders, teachers, and deacons. And it all started because someone cared enough to invite them. Someone cared enough to write a card or letter, make a phone call, or make a visit.
I remember having classes set goals for Easter high attendance Sunday. When I totaled them together, I was stunned. It was more than 200 above our average attendance. I really did not believe it was possible. But we had added lots of communication, prayer, and contacts into our preparation plans. In fact, on that Sunday more than 2,000 contacts above the usual number were reported. Andy Anderson had researched churches and discovered that 7-10 contacts above the usual number will result in one additional person attending. Our contacts that day resulted in nearly 300 more people being in Sunday School. Andy was right on! Contacts work!
Allow me to share an experience by Jeff Crabtee who serves as the Minister of Outreach & Education at Central Baptist Church in Corbin:
As we began our Sunday School year 2006, we realized we had a large number of people on our enrollment that should be coming to Sunday School. As we prayed, we felt that it was a stewardship issue. When we became more responsible for those on our rolls, God would bless us with new people. Simply put: we needed to take care of what we already had.
On October 29, our battle cray became Contacts Count! We began recording our weekly contacts on the back wall of our worship center for each class. For the next ten weeks, we logged 4,315 Sunday School contacts by call, cards, e-mail, and visits. I felt the excitement in many classes as they began to reach outside of their normal class attenders. We began seeking some on a more regular basis.
In those ten weeks, our Sunday School average attendance went up 34 per week over the same period of the previous year. We continued to record contacts and have had a total of 17,134 contacts for the year and have seen the average attendance for the year increase by 37. Now, the best part is that making weekly contacts for Sunday School are in our DNA!
Contacts do make a difference. We are accountable to care for the sheep God entrusts to us, and some of them are not in our churches yet. Pray. Make a call. Send a card, letter, or e-mail. Make a visit in a home or business. Let them know you care. Invite them to come. Share your Sunday School testimony. Be revolutionary!
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