New Passion. New Places. New People.

Study GuideAll speakers

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About this resource

Nearly 500 United Methodists from the Dakotas and Minnesota gathered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota for the first-ever REACH! event on Oct. 5-6, 2018. The gathering featured a variety of speakers and breakout sessions designed to equip and inspire attendees to reach the next person for Jesus in their communities and contexts. Recognizing that not everyone was able to be present at the event, we have made available video recordings of the event’s five keynote presentations—and an accompanying study guide that offers five discussion questions and two exercises related to each one. The videos and study guide can be used by anyone in your congregation, but we particularly recommend them for leadership teams and small groups.

The five speakers whose presentations were captured on video—along with the topic each one addressed—are:

• Bishop Bruce R. Ough, resident bishop, Dakotas-Minnesota Area of The United Methodist Church: Reach Courageously

• Debi Nixon, multi-campus United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, Kansas: Reach Relentlessly

• Rev. Roz Picardo, multi-campus Ginghamsburg Church, Ohio: Reach Personally

• Rev. Jacob Armstrong, Providence Church, Mount Juliet, Tennessee: Reach Adaptively

• Rev. Adam Weber, multi-campus Embrace Church, South Dakota and Minnesota: Reach Authentically

We hope these videos and the accompanying study guide will serve as tools that provide new ideas and new momentum as you seek to reach new people for Christ.

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Bishop Bruce R. Ough: Reach Courageously

Watch video: https://tinyurl.com/video-ough

Discussion questions:

1. Bishop Ough defines a “soul stand” as “choosing the things that matter in order to save your soul” or “courage that maintains integrity to one’s true self and to the gospel of Jesus Christ and is able to transcend personal gain and personal preferences for the sake of others.” Who or what matters most to you in your life? Why do they matter? For what or for whom would you take a soul stand?

2. Who are “the 13” in your community?

3. Similar to the “13 Woman,” can you list the children/young people that you see on daily or weekly basis? Make a commitment to pray for them each day. What’s a next step you can take to bless them beyond daily prayer?

4. Every congregation has a cultural narrative that governs its life together, and that narrative either supports or supplants a kingdom mentality. What is your congregation’s cultural narrative? (Hint: You can discover it by listening to the stories that are told, the activities people give time and energy to, and how the congregation makes decisions.) How might you change or advance that narrative?

5. Bishop Ough said that every congregation that has taken a soul stand to courageously and effectively reach new people demonstrates three overarching dynamics: • They are praying that God will work through them to accomplish God’s kingdom purposes. • Their worship is passionately focused on God—praising God and expecting that God in Christ will transform them. • The congregants are eager and equipped to share their God stories. Assess your church in these three areas. How can you strengthen your efforts to focus on these three dynamics and create more space to do so?

Related exercises:

1. Read through one of Paul’s letters as a guide (Colossians 1 or Philippians 1). Take on the role of apostle Paul, seeking to encourage and equip the church, calling its people back to a kingdom mentality. Use Paul’s formula, and fill in the blanks: I give thanks and praise for you because ___________________. God in Jesus Christ has _______________. And now you are ______________ because of what God has done. Therefore, live like Christ by ________________.

2. Watch the “Religion in America” video that was shown as part of Bishop Ough’s keynote presentation (https://tinyurl.com/video-america). What from it surprised you? How can this information inform your efforts to reach new people? What is the takeaway for your congregation?

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Debi Nixon: Reach Relentlessly

Watch video: https://tinyurl.com/video-nixon

Discussion questions:

1. What is keeping you busy these days? Is what is keeping you busy life-giving, important, and purposeful or is it distracting you from what you really want to be doing? Is it drawing you closer to God or distancing you from God?

2. Is there a change that God is calling you to make either personally or as a congregation that you have been reluctant to embrace? What is your “deeper water”?

3. Think about your congregation’s ministries and activities. Where are you asking people to put their time and energy? How much of it is focused on maintenance, such as fundraisers and meetings, and how much is invested in growth, such as spiritual practices and building relationships with new people? What does this tell you about the congregation’s outward focus, and what changes would help you be more outwardly focused?

4. How has your church tried to reach new people in the past? How successful were these efforts? For efforts that weren’t successful, why was that? What did you learn from them?

5. Debi gave several ideas for ways to be more outwardly focused in your community—hang out in coffee shops or gas stations and meet people, hand out coffee (along with a card inviting people to church) in public places, serve a meal at a local trailer park, and host community events at your church. Brainstorm ways your church can be more outwardly focused.

Related exercises:

1. Write your elevator speech (2-3 minutes) about your church: why you attend, what it is about, what you would want someone else to know. Can you tell it in such a way that it sparks someone’s curiosity and makes them want to know more?

2. Who are your neighbors? Walk the neighborhood around your church or your home. Notice people. Pray for each person you see, that they might be blessed this day.

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Rev. Roz Picardo: Reach Personally

Watch video: https://tinyurl.com/video-picardo

Discussion questions:

1. Roz maintains that instead of sharing our God stories, we sit on them—out of fear, because we don’t know what to say, because we don’t have it all together, or because we think they are too ordinary. Do you find yourself sitting on your story? If so, why?

2. Think about a time someone shared their God story with you and it made an impact on you. What was it about their story and/or how they told it that struck you or stuck with you?

3. When was the last time you told someone about your faith or your relationship with God? What was the occasion? What prompted the sharing? What resulted from you sharing your story?

4. Roz said that when we share our God stories, it must be done with love. What does it look like to share our stories with love?

5. How does your church create space for people to practice telling their God stories and equip them to share their stories with others? How can your congregation be more intentional about this?

Related exercises:

1. Create a brief version of your Jesus story. Allow yourself to be led by the Holy Spirit. Even if you are a lifelong Christian, each of us has multiple experiences with God that help us find our way, give us new meaning, and continue to transform our lives. Think about of one of those, and use this framework to articulate your story in three powerful sentences: I used to be _______________. My turning point was ______________. Now I’m ______________.

2. Roz suggests sharing our stories in the context of relationship and conversation—not by preaching to someone. With that in mind, whom could you share your story with? Who could be helped, healed, or forgiven because of your story? Make a list of people you regularly encounter who you could share your story with, and commit to sharing with one of them within the next two weeks.

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Rev. Jacob Armstrong: Reach AdaptivelyWatch video: https://tinyurl.com/video-armstrong

Discussion questions:

1. How are you currently listening to your community—especially the unchurched? What are the expressed hopes, dreams, and struggles in your community? How does what you’re hearing inform what you’re doing on the inside?

2. What is something unique your church has to offer your community?

3. Jacob talked about a “closed loop” that people from outside of the church often feel when attending worship for the first time. What is one thing your church can do to open the closed loop? What are some ways you can change the language used in worship to make the experience less insider-driven and more guest-friendly?

4. In the past, how have changes within your church been received? How have church leaders been supported through the criticism?

5. Who is your team? How is your church building a team that focuses on vision and connecting with those who don’t yet know Jesus rather than carrying out the day-to-day work?

Related exercises:

1. Go to a Sunday morning worship service, presuming you know nothing about Christianity or your church. Start by looking at your church website before you arrive, evaluating the signage upon your arrival, and paying close attention to how people are welcomed and what the worship experience is like. Which language, practices, or rituals would you find confusing? How might a new person feel confused or unwelcome? What needs to be adapted or changed to create a more hospitable environment? Gather a team to explore these discoveries and commit to make changes that provide a more positive experience for new people.

2. Engage in listening to your community like a missionary would:

• Pray for your community and for God to show you what is breaking God’s heart for the community.

• Hang out where people gather, and listen, listen, listen. What are the conversations they are having, and what do they care about?

• Conduct community interviews with people of peace, such as the mayor, school principals, and other non-profit leaders. Ask them what they see and know about the community and the needs they are trying to address. Ask how your church can partner.

• Look at the changing demographics of your community by doing demographic research (MissionInsite is a great tool that’s available to your congregation at no cost—contact the conference office for a custom report), then drive and walk your community.

• Bring a team together after completing the steps above and discuss: What are the hopes and dreams of the community? What is breaking the hearts of people who live here? What is breaking God’s heart? What is unique about what we have to offer our community?

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Rev. Adam Weber: Reach Authentically

Watch video: https://tinyurl.com/video-weber

Discussion questions:

1. What is your church’s motivation for wanting to reach new people? Is it to keep the doors open? To boost vitality? To offer the gospel? (Be honest!) How is your motivation helping or hindering your ability to connect people to Jesus?

2. Adam told the story of going to an MMA fight—which took him far outside of his comfort zone but ultimately facilitated connections with people in his community who he might not have otherwise encountered. Where is God calling you and your church to go meet new people? How are you going outside of your comfort zone for the sake of meeting people where they’re at?

3. Adam talks about being the “real” you—Jesus wants to be seen through you. Who in your life helped you see Jesus? What was it about their words or actions that helped you see Jesus?

4. Can people be fully themselves at your church? When people express struggles and doubts, how are they treated? How are you connecting the challenges and struggles people are facing (marriage, addiction, sex, purpose, parenting, regret, shame, jealousy, etc.) to Jesus?

5. What in your worship service do you assume people know? What are some easy changes you could make to address those assumptions and be more welcoming?

Related exercises:

1. Get out a blank piece of paper. On one side, record the “public” version of yourself—the résumé or sales-pitch version that you present to the world. On the other side, record the whole, messy, perfectly imperfect version of yourself—the one that contains your blemishes, your struggles, and other parts of your story that you don’t share as readily. How might you embrace and love this holy and whole version of yourself just as God does? What would it look like to share the whole, imperfect version of yourself with others? Who might you help by being your authentic and vulnerable self?

2. Referencing the biblical story of the woman at the well, Adam said telling people about Jesus starts with remembering when God met us at the well. Just as the woman told her whole village about the man she met who knew everything about her, we have an opportunity to tell those in our lives about our God who knows everything about us and still loves us. Reflect on a time when God met you at the well by showing up in your darkness or your brokenness and extending love.