Irresistible Services

Irresistible services is 1 of 4 pillars of ministry that BBC we need to focus on in order to meet people's needs and move towards our vision.

irresistible services simply means that BBC conducts their services/programs/events/activities in a way that attracts both believers and seekers as it is an exciting place to be.

External References

• Seeker Sensitive Services
  Why do you emphasize seeker services?by Rick Warren
  When I was growing up, I frequently invited my friends to church. But there always seemed to be one problem: I never knew from week to week if the pastor would be preaching an evangelistic message or an edification message. Whenever I brought a lost friend, it seemed the message would be on tithing or some other growth issue. But on the weeks I didn't bring someone, the message would be about salvation! I never knew which week would be "safe" to bring an unbelievers with me - so I eventually gave up.
  Today, this problem is repeated over and over in churches around the world. This Sunday morning glance around the worship service and estimate how many visitors are there. If your church is average, there probably won't be more than a handful of lost people in attendance.
  Even when the sermon is evangelistic, we are most often speaking to the already convinced.
  So, when I started Saddleback Church, we decided to specialize our services, having one targeted for the purpose of growing Christians and planning another one specifically for reaching our non-believing friends. We call our evangelistic-targeted service a "seeker-sensitive service."
  A seeker service is an evangelistic service specifically designed for two purposes:
  First, so that people without any religious background will understand everything that takes place, and second, so that members are proud to bring their non-believing friends to it.
  Our members are constantly on mission to bring their friends and neighbors to these weekend seeker services.
  You might wonder if we've attracted all these visitors by watering down the Gospel, but we haven't! Being seeker sensitive does not mean compromising the message - it just means you communicate it in words that non-believers understand! Jesus drew enormous crowds (called "multitudes") without compromising the message. He was just clear, practical, and loving.
  Seeker-sensitive also doesn't mean shallow preaching. Whenever I hear someone say that the felt needs of unbelievers are shallow and superficial, it just tells me they haven't spent much time lately talking to unbelievers. If you really listen to lost people, you'll discover that their felt needs are quite deep. They have the need for meaning; the need for purpose; the need for forgiveness; the need for love. They want to know how to make right decisions, how to protect their family, how to handle suffering, and how to have hope in our world. These are deep issues!
  Another common criticism against evangelistic seeker services is that they cater to consumers. But the truth is that every style of worship service caters to someone: A traditional service caters to those who grew up in that tradition, a formal service caters to formal people, and an emotional service caters to emotional people.
  If you want to know what consumers your church is catering to just try changing your worship service next week, and you'll discover very quickly who they are! So then it really comes down to who you're targeting. We should not be surprised that most members never bring lost friends with them to church when everything we do in our services is geared to the long-time Christian who understands all the phrases and knows all the tunes. Even in churches that have evangelistic sermons, you often find every other part of the service is geared for members. When we send mixed messages, we get mixed results.
  I believe the most overlooked requirement for starting an evangelistic seeker sensitive service is spiritually mature members who are unselfish. You'll never be able to start an evangelistic seeker service until your members are willing to limit their own preferences and worship style in order to reach lost people for Christ.
  If you have an evangelistic seeker service, where do the needs of members get met? At Saddleback we offer in-depth Bible study through our small groups, and an extensive C.L.A.S.S. program geared for the deepening and training of our church members. My advice to traditional churches is not to throw out your existing service but instead just add a seeker service that members can bring their friends to. This will assist your members in being on mission.
  Until next week,
• See also the Critiques of Rick Warren/Seeker Sensitive/Purpose Driven etc

Internally

Just some thoughts to open the batting in terms of the BBC application:

1. Preaching

• We don't need to water down the message.
• We should preach in series. Each part of the Series should entice people to come back the following week. The series should be well marketed weeks before they begin.
• The preaching should be inspirational to the believer and challenging for the seeker.
• You should always preach for commitment
• We should have alternative ways for repsonding not just the alter calls
• Don't use language of Zion
• Be intentional
• If you talking about something in the Bible, assume that the people know nothing e.g. they might not even know who Moses was... So tell them.
• Start on common issues/hurts and fears facing the average Sandton resident
• We should minimise guest speakers unless they are properly briefed or have an exceptional message/ministry
• Sell other events instead of doing them in announcements

2. Music

• Music needs to be polished and sound appealing to unchurched ears
• We shouldn't make seekers sing for long periods of time. They don't necessarily understand or appreciate our music. Seekers will come mainly for the preaching.
• Let them sit and enjoy as much as possible
• Don't sing songs that Seekers would not understand. We should make use of items with our really talented musicians
• We should start with a Christian songs that people know from the radio (eg UC27, Tree 63, Josh Groban, Michael W Smith etc)
• The sound of the music should be similar to the popular music of the Sandton culture(Highveld, Jacaranda, Sounds that the ads use). I'm not saying we should sing the songs on the radio but the guitars and vocals etc should have a similar mix to what people are used to.
• Some tips from Rick Warren
• Singing and Worshop are not necessarily synonymous
• Fringe people come for the preaching
• Better to hear gifted people

3. Make use of Testimonies

• There's huge scope to share the gospel by letting people share their testimonies
• People getting baptised should share their tesimonies in the weeks leading up to the service.
• Testimony is the way God is working in my life (in the circumstances)
• Testimony on the power of prayer
• Steal 5 minutes from the music each week

4. Announcements

• Short and to the point
• "Preach the announcements" as suggested by Chip Ingram
• Eliminate Cultural/BBC jokes (eg Jonah, Brian vs Robbie, )
• Market/sell other events , services and study groups eg Bringing up boys, How to drug proof your child, Divorce counseling, How to manage your finances, Apologetics seminars, Outreach projects

5. Environment & Style

• Parking Management so that guests have parking reserved for them
• The environment should not be stereo-typical of a church but rather contemporary. Why can't it feel like it did at "Mind the Gap'?
• We should consider better ventilation, especially if we want to fill the place in summer.
• Make use of Multi-media. Could easily have an unrelated clip eg 1)How do we know the Bible is the word of God? (3 minute video clip) 2) showing a Prophecy that has been fulfilled 3) A clip form Focus on the Family - Giving a family tip
• Make sure the coffee & tea are good quality and served with a smile
• Teach locals to be friendly and avoid hanging out in their usual cliques
• We should not create any barriers to people feeling comfortable and relaxed
• Visitors should be asked not to put anything into the collection. 'We want you to receive today, not give anything"
• How to get your church members to invite their friends
• Sound in the tea area