Church Strategy (2) Attractional Model

Modern church strategies are effective within the Christian Memory group.

The church has developed good techniques for drawing people from within a narrow sphere of influence. Most efforts are focused on getting people with a Christian Memory to become Serious Christians.

• Church growth strategies are based on the study of this group.

• The first Billy Graham crusades in 1958 had a huge impact on this group.

• The Charismatic renewal really touched this group.

• Seeker-friendly services are still effective with them.

• Because people in the Church Memory group have become used to more sophisticated communications, church service production has to be slick to keep them amused/interested.

• The main form of service/minsitry for many Christians is ensuring that the Sunday meeting goes off well. In this model, the worship leader is perceived to be the ultimate calling.

• The task of Christians is to get their friends and work contacts to go to church with them.

• They don't have to know how to share the gospel or answer questions about it. They just have to tell people about how good their church is.

• These strategies are all centred on church meetings. If we can get a person with a Christian Memory to come to a meeting, the professionals can swing them into the Serious Christian group.

This is an attractional model. Our task it to get people from the Christian Memory into church meetings of some kind.

• Attractional strategies have been effective with people within this narrow sphere of influence.

• Home/life groups may just be the last legs of the attactional strategy. Attracting people to a church is getting really difficult. Attracting people who are losing their Christian Memory into a home is easier than attracting them to a church building. They might be more comfortable sitting in a lounge of a friend’s home sipping coffee in front of a warm fire.

• When a person from the Modern World is reached by the gospel, they have to be socialised into life within our cultural orbit. The new believer is expected to change to be like us. A new language has to be learnt. They have to learn to be comfortable in our church meetings. They have to learn a new way of thinking.

• Home/life groups can make this social, cultural and philosophical transformation easier.

• The House Church model still focuses on getting people to attend meetings. Hopefully they are better meetings, where the Holy Spirit is freer to move.

Unfortunately, as the Christian Memory group is shrinking fast, attractional methods become less effective.