Son of God Movie Outreach - Why is this type of outreach "essential" today?

[James Nored]

There are a number of things involved and steps on the journey of a person going from being an unchurched person, non-Christian, or seeker, and become a baptized follower of Christ. Outlining all of the typical steps or aspects of an outreach strategy would be the subject of another post. 

However, one essential part of this outreach is having low key, socially acceptable events or gatherings that Christians can invite that their unchurched to. These type of events should be:

• Socially acceptable - This means things that are typically found already in culture that nonchurched people already go to or do. This can include things such as 4th of July parties, Christmas parties, downtown events, movie events, music events, football game parties, etc. 
• Social events or gatherings - To really connect with people, there needs to be a personal aspect of the event. That is, it is something that people can invite unchurched people THAT THEY KNOW, and hopefully, an event in which they can have some active engagement with other Christians. To have their Christian friends introduce them to other Christians, and where they can experience the love and warmth of the Christian family. Too many outreach events are so impersonal that there is little opportunity for interaction, which makes these events more limited in their effectiveness.

These have to be a regular part of the church's life and outreach strategy, with multiple opportunities throughout the year. Members can and should be encouraged to build relationships in their daily lives with seekers--out of genuine love for them--and they should be encouraged to invite them to worship, which is also an important part of experiencing Christianity and a person coming to faith.

But without these types of "socially acceptable" social events or gatherings, a church is very much hampered in reaching people for Christ. Many seekers need an intermediate step between getting to know a great individual Christian, and coming to worship. From these types of social gatherings, seekers may feel "safe" enough to continue their spiritual journey and take a next step of going to additional social gatherings, worship, or a seeker small group.

On the afternoon of Sunday, March 2, at 4:10 PM our church (Fairfax Church of Christ) is renting out a theater to see the "Son of God" movie, which is produced by the same people who produced "The Bible" miniseries, which was the top miniseries of all time.  We are asking members to invite their unchurched/seeker family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers, as well as people who we have been in contact with through our ministries, such as our ESL/FriendSpeak workers, teen friends, etc. To help people in inviting, we letting people buy guest tickets for their friends at half price.

Though we have had a short time to promote this event, we have had a great response so far, with about 60 percent members and 40 percent guests in pre-reservations. That translates into about 80-100 guests! I will have just a couple of minutes prior to the film to introduce myself and the church, and about 5 minutes after the film to gently reflect on the film and give some light next steps for those who are interested. This next step (and perhaps the best next step) could be as simple as Christians going out to dinner with their seeker/unchurched friends and having a light Spiritual discussion about the film (added, per my friend Nick Gill). If people are further along, then again, a next step might be an invitation to worship, a seeker small group, or other social gatherings.

This is an example of taking something that has often been done internally--renting out a theater for just members to go to--and making it an outreach. This is something that needs to be done and thought through for all of the church's ministries, gatherings, and events. When we do this, we open up many more opportunities to reach people for Christ, helping to put this on our people's hearts to invite their unchurched/seeker friends.

What ideas do you have about social events or gatherings? What have you seen that works? How can we use movies, music, sports, holiday parties to reach people for Christ?