Tag Archive for: discipleship

C19: Sharing the meaning of Christmas with others

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According to current research, Christmas is the most appealing time for the unchurched and dechurched to attend a worship service. That makes C19, this year’s synodwide outreach campaign for Christmas, a critical opportunity.

Available from WELS Congregational Services, C19 equips congregations and individuals to share the good news of Jesus’ birth with others in their community and to invite them to Christmas worship services. This year’s theme is “God so loved the world.”

“Many people look at the pain and suffering in our world and conclude that either there is no God or that, if there is a God, he doesn’t love the world,” explains Rev. Eric Roecker, director of WELS Commission on Evangelism. “Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem proves that God does indeed love the world, a world that includes every single soul.”

Here are some of the resources that are available:

  • Worship materials for Christmas. C19 provides ready-to-use worship folder templates with liturgy and music that edify heart, soul, and mind.
  • Evangelism materials for Christmas Eve. Low-cost outreach postcards as well as free Facebook video advertisement and digital files to post on church websites are available to share the message of the theme.
  • School resources. C19 provides guidance for using schools as outreach arms during the Christmas season. The program resources help encourage even the youngest WELS members to invite others to worship on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
  • Special needs ministry. C19 includes materials to help congregations reach out to families who have children with special needs.

About 70 percent of WELS congregations utilized some or all of the resources provided through 2018’s synodwide outreach campaign, C18. Its goal was to reach one million souls, and Roecker has high hopes again this year with C19: “With the Lord’s blessing, we would like to see more than one million people invited,” he says.

Many C19 materials will be offered as free downloads at welscongregationalservices.net/c19. Some materials are available now; others will be provided in the coming weeks. Pastors and interested laypeople should sign up now to receive updates, which will include notices when new materials are posted online as well as planning tips and timelines to carry out the program successfully.

 

 

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10 for 10 encourages thoughtful Christian giving

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A new congregational stewardship program called 10 for 10 is now available from WELS Congregational Services.

10 for 10 is based on three weeks of preaching and teaching on the topic of giving. Then congregation members are asked to contemplate if they are able to give one-tenth of their income to the Lord for ten straight weeks—hence the name 10 for 10. This is based on the Old Testament practice of tithing.

Rev. Donn Dobberstein, director of WELS Discipleship, explains that the goal of 10 for 10 is much greater than amassing gifts. “10 for 10 is not a church fundraising program,” he says. “It is a gospel-centered stewardship emphasis that asks people to consider how to respond to all of the many graces that God has shown to them.”

Some WELS congregations have already implemented initiatives similar to 10 for 10. Members of these churches have expressed an appreciation for the scriptural roots of these stewardship programs. Notably, 10 for 10 opens the conversation on the often difficult topic of money in a Christlike manner.

“Jesus talked often about money because he knew the vicelike grip it can have on our hearts as it seeks to replace him as our greatest treasure,” Dobberstein says. “When it came to money, Jesus was blunt. He was bold. 10 for 10 strives to mirror Jesus’ biblical boldness.”

While it is not the focus, congregational stewardship programs like that of 10 for 10 have successfully increased weekly offerings significantly during their periods of enhanced giving, explains Dobberstein. Afterward, numbers will often decrease again slightly, but rarely do they fall as low as previous levels.

While 10 for 10 can be held at any time, WELS Congregational Services encourages congregations to begin planning this summer and to implement the program this fall.

Materials to help congregations with their planning, including a step-by-step timeline, are available on welscongregationalservices.net/10-for-10. Other introductory and promotional tools plus worship materials, midweek devotions, Sunday sermons, PowerPoint slides, videos, letters, and more can be downloaded for free to help congregations promote 10 for 10 before and after the period of advanced giving.

Visit welscongregationalservices.net/10-for-10 to begin your congregation’s planning today.

 

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