Thirst (Kingdom Growth)

We kicked off our autumnal Thirst sessions with a look at how we can promote Kingdom Growth by combining traditional God-driven ideas, with 21st Century technology. The key focus of the session was to highlight some of the work that is going on behind the scenes at SVC, to work with God in growing His Kingdom. 

“Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭16‬:‭18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

With the Holy Spirit guiding us, we are engaging with Google and Facebook to reach a new generation of our local community through advertising; a community which is growing up without God in their lives. So what are we doing?

One of our advertising campaigns will be promoting a concept called Plan A Visit. To see this in action, have a look at the page that people will be directed to from the advert. Click here.

Alongside this, we’re looking to raise the profile of our church by using the God-knowledge we have been blessed with, to enlighten those looking for answers. The first such campaign is called The Power Of Prayer, and starts with a basic invitation for people to submit prayer requests. To have a look at this in action, click here.

During the session we made it clear that technology is merely one way for us to reach a new audience. It does not replace the need for one-to-one human interaction and personal evangelism. With that in mind, we also spent time looking how new visitors will be welcomed into church (and given a Welcome Pack!) and how to enter into a conversation with a church newcomer, keeping this thought forefront in our minds:

Here are 4 tips to consider when chatting to a new face in church:

  • Make an observation – this lets people know you’re interested in them.
  • Ask a question to start a conversation (unless you already know they’re a church goer, avoid talking about your beliefs at this point).
  • Pay them a compliment – everyone likes to be complimented.
  • Don’t overwhelmed them with your opinions and grumbles… don’t overshare – LISTEN to what they say… let them LEAD the conversation IF they want to talk.

We continue to pray that everything we are doing at SVC from the renovation work, to the revamped services, to our first foray into advertising is being guided by the Holy Spirit. But it will be a much more exciting journey if the whole church family is involved. So if you have any questions about the work we are doing, or you have a suggestion on how we could be doing things better, then please let us know. You can contact the leaders here, or come and speak to one of us on Sunday.