Organic Outreach has helped Riccarton Community Church be intentional in evangelism
Organic Outreach, developed by Kevin Harney, provides a practical framework to equip churches to be intentional in evangelism. It makes sharing your faith do-able for all. It has been said that vision leaks and in churches, sadly evangelism leaks first. To stay passionate about outreach there needs to be a fresh infusion every month and Organic Outreach does that with inspiration, accountability, training and strategic planning to reach the lost.
Riccarton Community Church (RCC) has been following the Organic Outreach path for 4 years now with the staff leading the way. We have seen a positive culture shift throughout the church.
For many years RCC has had an extensive range of community-based outreach programmes. These have reached a lot of people and have had a significant impact. The challenge has been helping people connect from these activities into the church and other programmes that can be of benefit to them. Also, traditionally, church-based ministries have not given much thought to their outreach potential.
Some shifts we have experienced are:
1. Everyone plays a part. Jesus did not plan for spectators in his Kingdom. People are learning to be more intentional in friendships with those they meet at routine activities such as school pick-ups, kids’ sports, hobbies etc. Prayer, preparation and intentionality on our part help people move closer to Jesus. We need to be ready to share our story and His story when the Holy Spirit leads. We have been equipping people to do this.
2. Every ministry has been tweaked to have an outreach element in it. For example, our Sunday School gives kids an opportunity to share how they have been shining for Jesus in the past week. Leaders share too and model this to them. Our Young Adults ministry in the past has been mostly about believers but this has shifted, and we have a good number of their friends connected in now too.
3. We journey with people and create pathways for people to grow in their faith. For most people coming to faith, it is a journey and we believers need to travel with them through the process. For example, people come along to our mid-week community groups such as Playgroup, Craft, or Fruit & Vegetable Co-Operative. Our people befriend them and over time invite them to something else going on, perhaps a Women’s event where they hear a message or a one-off church service on a topic that connects with them. Then they are invited to Alpha. After this we plan next steps for those who come to faith – we start a new small group or help people integrate into current groups. We have seen an increase of people coming to faith who first felt welcomed into our mid-week community groups and then started coming on Sundays.
4. Sunday Services are more outreach focused. We are more welcoming to unbelievers as we explain why we do things, try to use plain English without jargon in our sermons and make sure the content includes application for church and community people. During the service people tell stories of how they shared their faith naturally as part of their everyday life.
Organic Outreach is not rocket science. It’s about equipping everyone to be intentionally outreach focussed in their relationships and leaving the results to God. I liken it to teaching children how to play a sport or musical instrument. You learn with regular teaching and practice and over time you get better until it becomes natural. God is using this tool to equip our church to be better ambassadors for His kingdom.
Nicki Aitken, Outreach Coordinator, Riccarton Community Church
NZ Organic Outreach contact is Steve Murray: steve@lifezone.church
You can check out more info and buy resources at www.organicoutreach.org