Download MONTH 2: Developing Laity Involvement

How to double your church over the
next 2 years or 24 months....
by:
Dr. Owen Weston, Ph.D, D.Min.
MONTH 2: Developing Laity Involvement:
Your church grows by the ratio of laity
involvement
24 to Double Schedule of Monthly Training
1st Year: 1st Month
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What is the next big event on the calendar for which we can challenge our congregation
to bring friends?
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Plan the event (when, what, how, who)
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How to bring the crowds (from the congregation / marketing)
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Getting people involved (in production, in preparation)
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Getting the program ready (who is in charge and who is helping)
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Getting the people ready (love the visitors)
1st Year: Month 2:
Developing Laity Involvement:
Your church grows by the ratio of laity involvement
We will study this
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Why should we get laity involved? Don’t they have busy lives anyway?
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If you do not or cannot answer this then you cannot grow a church!
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The answer lies in our definition of discipleship –
According to the book of Ephesians, Paul suggests a disciple is: (Eph.2:8-10),
1) One who is Saved,
2) Living the Spirit filled life (Eph. 2:22),
3) Actively doing the works of ministry(4:12, 16)
4) In the local church (Eph.1:1)
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If we are “created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for
us to do,” (Eph.2:10), then what are these “good works” or works of service (4:12,16)?
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Romans 12:6ff, talking about works of the Body: “ We have different gifts according to
the grace given us. If it’s serving let him serve….”
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So what does God want the your Saints to do?
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Find out how they are gifted!
Dr. Weston and his Regent students studied everything written on this subject and
compared each author with the Bible and put this into one of the best selling books on
“Spiritual Gifts – Spiritual Gifts, your job description from God.”
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Each church in 24 to Double will need to purchase 40 of these books and sell them for
$5 more than they paid for them to help pay for the first months training.
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“Spiritual Gifts, Your Job Description from God,” by Dr. Owen Weston, order from
LifeSprings 1-800-541-1376
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Over the next two Sundays push very hard for every person to come to your Wednesday
(or Sunday) night service in two week where they can find out what God wants them to
do with their lives.
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On that advertised Wednesday night give everyone a copy of the Spiritual Gifts test on
page 119 or the 35-question version in your hand out.
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On that Wednesday night everyone takes the test together. The pastor reads each
question and asks the congregation to answer as honest as possible where marking “0”
means this question does not apply to them and “4” means yes this is them.
E.G. Question 1:
Question 2:
Question 3:
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When they have taken the test do not make the mistake of grading it then or allowing
them to take it home.
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They must put their names and phone # on it and hand them in to the pastor.
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He promises to grade them and give it back to the congregation next Wednesday when
they will discuss what this means
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And the next 4 Wednesday teach on the 7 Functioning gifts right out of Dr. Weston’s
book
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Remind them that discipleship means doing the work of ministry God has given them to
do and by knowing their gifts we know what God wants them to do in the body of Christ!
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The pastor should teach all the “Suggested Definition, Characteristics And Weaknesses”
of each of the 7 Functional gifts starting on page 45
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Explain that if they have the gift of ADMINISTRATION, the church really needs these
gifted persons to organize all our ministry teams.
We have 7 major ministry teams needed to grow the church: 1) Outreach, 2) Front-door, 3)
Shock and Awe, 4)Worship, 5) Follow-up, 6) Small Groups and youth, 7) Children and
nursery
In the next few months we will be training everyone in these teams how to reach their city
for Christ through what they are taught to do through these teams.
So do not get concerned now about what you will do but only that you have a gift God has
given you to use in one of these 7 teams of your choice and passion.
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If you have the PROPHETIC gift we need prayer warriors in each team helping us
following God’s direction for that team.
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If you are a TEACHER we need teachers and trainers in every team training us what to
do.
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If you have MERCY we need these to help reach out to others and involve them in
discipling.
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If ENCOURAGER we need these to show love and concern to body through their team
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If GIVING we need these to help us be better stewards of God’s money on each team
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If HELPS AND SERVICE, we need all of these we can find to help our teams perform for
Christ.
Pastor, make sure your sharp people are invite to this training for the 4 Wednesday night
training on Gifts. You need these key people to be discipled and help you run your teams.
Those who have not taken the test will need to be a part of the Pastor’s meal we will study
next month.
Remember the priority is to fill in the positions on each or the 7 teams:
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Team 1:
Front door
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Team 2:
Follow-up
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Team 3:
Music Tech
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Team 4:
Music Worship
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Team 5:
Outreach/Marketing
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Team 6:
Small groups and Youth
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Team 7:
Children and Nursery
Key points on Lay Involvement 2
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A disciple is one who is saved, living the Spirit lead life, doing the works of ministry in
the local church.
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The works of ministry are determined by our Gifts from God
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We discover these gifts by giving a gift inventory and training on Wednesday nights
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We advertise and encourage all our people to come to these Wednesday night ‘s
training so we can involve as many as Possible in this discipleship training.
NEXT MONTH 3
The Vehicle for Lay Involvement:
Start a Pastor’s class for new people and those whose gifts are not known.
The Pastor’s Breakfast / Lunch or once a month informational meeting.
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WHY: Pastor’s breakfast?
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A Pastor must have a vehicle through which a new person can be discipled- involved in
ministry within the local church.
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The best method is to offer a pastor’s breakfast during the Sunday School hour.