Defining a “Successful” Gospel Meeting
For me, this is Gospel Meeting season. As this article is being released, I am finishing up a meeting in Vinton, Virginia, and then Central will host our Gospel Meeting in a couple of weeks. (With Hiram Kemp speaking…and you’re invited!)
For many years now, I have heard members, preachers, and elders talk about Gospel Meetings. Should we still have them? How do we get more people to come? Are they worth it?
This article won’t give a full answer to all of those questions, but maybe it will give some clarity of thought to them. From the outset, though, let me state my bias. I am still one who believes in the Gospel Meeting, and not just because I have preached in some. It is because I have tried to clarify some things in my thinking about how much they have helped me and my family, as well as congregations where I have worked.
Knowing that, here are some things to keep in mind to help think through this.
First, define “success” for your meeting. Is success only measured in huge numbers (“a packed house”), or are there other things that could define a successful meeting? It would be amazing to have a full auditorium, but it might just as successful to have a small crowd who is more enthused about their faith at the end of the week.
Second, encourage those who are there. It is so tempting, if the numbers aren’t great, to talk about those who are not present and ignore those who are. Don’t do that! Thank those who came. Honor their effort and their desire to hear the Truth. It’s fine to encourage them to invite a friend throughout the week, but make sure you thank those who have come.
Third, if you wait to talk about a meeting until the week before, you are WEEKS too late. Folks just do not have it “top of mind” to think about a Gospel Meeting anymore. But if you talk and talk and talk and talk about it, for at least a month, through every possible means of communication, they will start to get it. Have flyers (yes), but do not expect to lay those in the lobby and that be the extent of your reminders. Use spoken announcements, email reminders, the church bulletin, social media, and any other means your congregation uses–and use them all several times for several weeks.
Finally, rethink the meeting. It can still be effective to have a preacher preach his “greatest hits” sermons for a few days. But it might also be effective for your congregation to have an entire series on the home, or on leadership, or on any number of other subjects that are needed.
Oh, if I may add one more “finally”…attend! What an opportunity to hear preaching and to be around Christians for several days! Where else would you want to be anyway?
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AUTHOR: Adam Faughn
