Witnessing involves all that we are and therefore do; it goes far beyond what we say at certain inspired moments. So the question is not will we witness, but how will we witness?
Paul Little
Let’s face it: small-town evangelism is especially tough. Most of the people in small towns are well established as either saints or sinners. And trying to change individuals even in the second category may be seen as a disruption of the comfortable status quo.
As Kenneth Vetters, pastor of East Columbus United Methodist Church in Columbus, Indiana, knows from firsthand experience, there are indeed difficult obstacles. But as you read this chapter, you can learn from someone who’s already been there, who identifies the hazards and points the way around them.
Small-town evangelism sounds like an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms. With no municipal arenas to rent for crusades and precious few new residents to call on, how does a church pursue evangelism? Don’t “revivals” attract only the solidly saved? A few wayward teenagers might be threatened into attending one or two nights, but they usually slip out at half time to smoke in the parking lot.
Most people in the five small Midwestern towns where I’ve pastored have appeared to be either clean-living church members or well-certified nonbelievers. The lines are clearly drawn and memorized, raising a valid question: What does evangelism mean in a place with fewer than three stoplights?
The Needy Are with Us Always
The starting point is to remember that every community has people with needs; some just hide theirs better than others. No village or rural area is without the following three types:
1. Active church members who are not in a right relationship with God. Unless these are evangelized, outreach efforts in a small town will fail, since Christians’ lives are always being scrutinized.
2. Nominal church members. The children of devout parents, the spouse of the church pillar, the friend from work who occasionally attends church events…all these and others have a commitment to the church that is cultural rather than personal.
3. The unchurched. Even in the one-gas-station town, where church membership appears all sewn up, some people hide in the crevices. Maybe they moved into the area years ago but kept their membership in a church a hundred miles away. Maybe they quietly dropped out of church over some problem. They may not be hostile to Christianity, but they’ve never known the difference a joyful, consistent Christian life can make.
I’ve broadened my definition of evangelism to include reaching very nice, conservative people in small towns; they need to make the same life-changing decision as the most colorful jet setter or drug addict. I’ve also tried to emphasize not only dramatic, first-time conversions, but also a call to renewal for people at whatever stage of the Christian journey. The result is typically as many people seeking forgiveness and restoration as making first-time decisions to follow Christ.
Overcoming the Obstacles
Small towns have their own psyche. People are very concerned about what their neighbors think, since they know them by first name and may even be shirt-tail relatives. The idea of radical change is suspicious from the start — and that obviously includes the life-altering change of spiritual repentance.
Thus, a number of problems make evangelism challenging:
• People seem to be pigeonholed. A young person doesn’t move forward at a certain point of Christian growth and is sidelined ever after. People are frozen out when the church doesn’t care about them as much as it does about others. Someone more popular or more outgoing gets asked to sing or teach or organize.
My wife remembers one practice session for the annual Christmas cantata when the pianist, a high school girl, was absent. Only then did someone remember that another high school girl in the alto section could also play the piano. She sat down and played the difficult music perfectly. Why had she never been asked before for any kind of program? No one could answer.
This kind of unintended neglect can discourage a church member to the point of dropping out, and no small amount of fervent preaching or witnessing will win them back. Small-town congregations have to pay conscious attention to the gifts and potential of all their members.
• New people are not always welcome. One church member, a teacher, frequently complained to me privately that we didn’t really need altar calls in the church. He felt they were nothing but emotionalism. Yet he was a staunch supporter of the church and always the first to praise its loving spirit. He couldn’t see the connection between the two.
People are attracted to a church’s love and care but often don’t understand how it got that way. Though they may have come to the church through a series of special meetings, they subsequently question whether the church ought to sponsor such events.
Another area for this tension is the sharing of power. Older members may be eager to place new people as Sunday school teachers or youth leaders but balk at including them on the board of trustees or the finance committee. I frequently remind our nominating committee that everyone needs a position of responsibility. Most leadership positions are on a rotating basis in our church, and I think that has something to do with our growth, even though we’re in a rural area. If new members are not absorbed into the life of the church, the fruits of our evangelism program will quickly shrink.
I remember in a former congregation how a young family became deeply interested in the Christian life. The wife especially got involved in working with children through a weekday club. Mostly unchurched youngsters came for music, crafts, Bible stories, games, and refreshments. This dedicated woman and her helpers were having an effective outreach.
Were the lay leaders overjoyed? Hardly. They complained about “the little street urchins” messing up the bathrooms and wondered if church property was being stolen. Because of the negative attitude, the new family was driven away to another church, which welcomed their dedication and talents.
• Social class counts. Years ago, one of my congregations had just finished a quarterly study on poverty in America and the church’s need to reach out with physical and spiritual aid. The course was now ending with the traditional pitch-in meal and program.
Just as the serving began, there was a knock at the church’s back door. A ragged-looking family stood beside a beat-up station wagon. The father wanted to know if the church had a fund to help transients; the children were hungry.
Many were distraught that this unkempt family would interrupt a church meeting. Others, fortunately, invited them inside and heaped their plates high with food from the ample potluck table. They also invited the family to stay for the program afterward.
I could hardly contain my smile as I opened the program by telling the group that they had already been given a test on the past three months’ study material. I then asked the guests to introduce themselves — a church family from a nearby town who had agreed to play the part of tramps for the evening. It was a memorable moment.
As a small-town pastor, I must continually encourage church members to stretch, to accept all people, even if from a different socioeconomic class or from a family not highly regarded in the community.
• In generally conservative areas, evangelism often sounds like fanaticism. In one church, a teenage daughter of long-time church members made a solid decision for Christ. She began studying her Bible and attending the youth meetings. Her parents became upset. Concerned that she had gone off the deep end, they forbade her to attend all but Sunday morning worship.
She became the only girl in town who had to sneak out of the house for a prayer meeting.
Fear of radical Christian living expresses itself as resistance to any kind of emotional response. Perhaps people have been burned by high-pressure tactics in the past or have seen too many shallow conversions fade. Whatever the reason, we must hold to the goal while maintaining a patient, caring attitude. Confrontation and argument don’t help. Only Christ’s love can free these people from their fears.
• Lack of Christian maturity always hurts. The tiny, rural church I served as a student pastor had three gentlemen who would argue over who was the worst sinner. One fellow grew tobacco but didn’t smoke it. Another didn’t grow it or smoke it but sold it in his store. The third neither grew it nor sold it but did smoke it.
They were joking, but the level of debate says something. In small towns, where everyone knows exactly how everyone else lives, many become enslaved to legalism. They find it easier to follow the prevailing moral codes than to think for themselves how God would have them live. The checklist of do’s and don’ts pre-empts opening up to God’s leading.
One antidote to this, I have found, is to involve people in witnessing. And in a small town, it doesn’t have to be flamboyant. Subtlety goes a long way.
For example, one young father decided to quit playing cards during his lunch break at the local factory and read his Bible instead. The other men, who had known him for years, ridiculed him at first but were intrigued by his discipline. Some were eventually drawn to his church through his unassuming, natural style. Needless to say, his own Christian faith was deepened as he shared his new life with his friends.
Special Meetings: A Modest Defense
A lot of negative things have been written and said about “revivals,” crusades, missions. But in small towns and rural areas, an evangelistic series of meetings can work well. They are still an accepted way for people to be challenged to receive Christ. They are part of a tradition, and tradition is very important in a small community.
In my ministry, special meetings have been a significant element of evangelism. They take work, of course. You can’t just set a date and hope people show up. A lot of planning, prayer, and effort by many church members is required.
Several weeks ahead, I usually preach sermons that create anticipation and heighten a feeling of need. My subjects have included how Jesus can make a difference in daily life, and what salvation is and how it’s obtained. As the people start to desire spiritual awakening, they become open to the impending meeting.
The precise format varies from denomination to denomination, I know. Preaching, music, and morning study sessions each play a part. But the results can be appreciated by all:
bull;The services allow people to lay down their burdens (jealousy, hatred, selfishness, a drug dependency, whatever) at a specific time and place, which helps them remember their decision.
• They give people a chance to reconcile long-standing problems with one another.
• They can unite the family generations at the altar.
• They serve as a focus for the entire church.
New Life in the Byways
It takes a lot of courage for a person in a small community to decide for Christ with all his or her friends, relatives, neighbors, and coworkers watching intently. Yet the joyful, consistent Christian life that results can touch many, creating ripples in the placidness of rural living.
Evangelism in a small town may never generate the impressive numbers of big-city crusades and programs, but it is both possible and necessary.
It is also downright thrilling as people’s lives are transformed by God’s love.
Copyright ©1988 Christianity Today
