Things will be a bit different in Dave Crofford's church Sunday, Oct. 13. The morning will begin with a full breakfast, but the real feast will come in Sunday school, according to Crofford, pastor of Faith Wesleyan Church in Greensboro, N.C.
"We want our Sunday school classes to feed people off the Word like they've never done before," he said. "The full gospel will be presented, and everyone will be challenged to make a decision for Christ."
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The Wesleyan Church There are 1,700 Wesleyan congregations in the United States and Canada. An average of 450 conversions are reported each Sunday. During the denomination's annual Heaven Week celebration, which emphasizes Sunday school and evangelism, the number of conversions quadruples. |
Wesleyan churches across the country average 450 conversions on Sundays, said Ray Barnwell, the denomination's general director of Sunday school and discipleship ministries. Four times as many people find Christ during Heaven Week, Barnwell said. Last year the denomination reported nearly 1,700 conversions during the celebration.
"This one day would represent what some districts would do in 13 to 15 weeks," Barnwell said.
An invitation to worship
Originally called Salvation Sunday, Heaven Week is now in its fifth year. It's Barnwell's goal to take the movement beyond the Wesleyan Church.
"Many will call Sunday school outdated, say it's just a place to build friendships," Barnwell said. "I'm convinced it's actually the place where people are most likely to develop a personal relationship with Jesus. Sunday morning sermons from the pulpit can't even begin to touch the power of Sunday school when it's done correctly."
That means turning Sunday school classes into evangelism outreach centers, Barnwell said.
"It's a mindset. We have to be willing to invite people to church, and Sunday school is the place most appropriate to get that message out," he said.
Church health expert Thom Rainer, president of Church Central Associates, said his research on the unchurched indicates a majority of them would attend worship services if they were invited.
"As church leaders, we keep looking for the secret to pull people into church," Rainer said. "It's as simple as an invitation. We have been ignoring the one thing that could turn our churches around because we somehow have the notion that it takes a lot of work to invite people to church."
Crofford said his 150 regular attendees readily accepted the challenge to bring their friends and family to church.
"They were excited about it, as though it was a new idea," Crofford said. "Sometimes our churches need their leadership to point out the obvious."
A matter of prayer
Barnwell's department has tried to make the process a bit easier for congregants, developing tools they can use to generate interest among the unchurched. The Evangecube, for instance, is a game of sorts that teaches the way to salvation. For teens, there are red and black plastic invitation cards that resemble credit cards but carry scripture and an invitation to church. Videos and other teaching resources were developed for Sunday school leaders, Barnwell said.
The denomination's best efforts wouldn't pay off without prayer, Barnwell said. Denominational leaders and pastors spend months in prayer and fasting prior to Heaven Week's launch each year.
"We realize that nothing good happens without God's blessing," Barnwell said. "We are intent on prayer first; everything else is secondary."
