img
Jun 16
img

Church Grows in Confidence and Faith after Learning EE posted by Evangelism Explosion on Jun 16, 2021

After leading a missionary Baptist church for several years, Pastor Carl Coleman made a decision. In 1996, he felt God was calling the church to do something different: shift the focus away from denominational teaching and focus simply on reaching the lost. The church changed its name, dropping the denominational title, and became First True Love World Outreach Ministries.

At the time, church attendance averaged about 75 people. Over the next 20 years, the church began reaching out to their small, rural African American community in Louisiana. They passed out flyers and visited the local jail. The church grew to 300-400 people, but Pastor Coleman wanted to be more effective.

“Most individuals desire to share their faith with others, but they lack the training tools,” said Pastor Coleman. “We did the best we could with what we had, but nothing really structured.”

In 2018, he began talking to Wallace Lewis, a new member of the congregation, about EE. By the end of the year, they were ready to start their first Share Your Faith workshop. Unsure of whether the congregation would spend an entire Saturday learning how to share the Gospel, they broke the workshop into small one-hour sessions on Sunday mornings. But people came out and wanted more. In 2019, they offered two-hour sessions on Saturday mornings and then hosted an all-day workshop.

“They were really excited about it, because it was something new and it was easy and comfortable,” said Pastor Coleman. The more the congregation learned, the more confident they became. “It gave the congregation a mindset of faith – a new attitude to know that this was something they could do.”

For Pastor Coleman, the training was an eye-opener. He incorporated what he was learning into Sunday services. He posted the five-finger path on the screen at the end of every service while he extended an invitation to accept Christ.

“Each Sunday morning, the congregation is seeing it displayed on the monitor. They are hearing me repeat it over and over again. The whole purpose behind that is to help them understand that our responsibility is make sure that we are offering Jesus Christ to individuals.”

Pastor Coleman also began looking at his counseling sessions as opportunities to share the Gospel. He quickly discovered that many people who sought counseling didn’t have a personal relationship with Christ. But they left the counseling sessions saved and able to face their situations.

“As spiritual leaders, we don’t want to assume that people in our congregation are saved,” said Pastor Coleman. “EE has given me this comfortable ability to shift from what the person actually thinks they need to discover that their need is spiritual.”

After one year, the pandemic brought training to a halt in 2020. Many churches in the rural community struggled to open back up when regulations eased. But when First True Love World Outreach Ministries re-opened its doors, hundreds flooded back in to the church.

“Because of EE, people’s level of faith has expanded. Because they have shared the Gospel, they now understand the Gospel. They can have faith to go to God’s house on Sunday morning without fear.”

Even though attendance decreased some, Pastor Coleman sees the church continue to grow. “Even in the pandemic, I always see new faces, new families, new couples coming in and visiting us. That lets me know that the members are still sharing their faith.”

“Our ultimate goal is to bring the church together. We’re excited to know that we can be this foundational church to share with other churches what we have learned through EE.”



Category: Stories   |  

3 Responses to Church Grows in Confidence and Faith after Learning EE

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Post an Article
Become a Donor
img
March 2023 1 posts
February 2023 1 posts
January 2023 1 posts
December 2022 1 posts
November 2022 1 posts
October 2022 1 posts
August 2022 1 posts
March 2022 6 posts
February 2022 12 posts
January 2022 22 posts
December 2021 26 posts
November 2021 26 posts
October 2021 27 posts
September 2021 27 posts
August 2021 25 posts
July 2021 19 posts
June 2021 32 posts
May 2021 22 posts
April 2021 24 posts
March 2021 22 posts
February 2021 21 posts
January 2021 19 posts
December 2020 17 posts
November 2020 22 posts
October 2020 19 posts
September 2020 19 posts
August 2020 20 posts
July 2020 24 posts
June 2020 22 posts
May 2020 23 posts
April 2020 25 posts
March 2020 30 posts
February 2020 27 posts
January 2020 27 posts
December 2019 27 posts
November 2019 29 posts
October 2019 26 posts
September 2019 24 posts
August 2019 26 posts
July 2019 28 posts
June 2019 24 posts
May 2019 27 posts
April 2019 29 posts
March 2019 28 posts
February 2019 28 posts
January 2019 30 posts
December 2018 28 posts
November 2018 30 posts
October 2018 34 posts
September 2018 30 posts
August 2018 30 posts
July 2018 27 posts
June 2018 25 posts
May 2018 28 posts
April 2018 25 posts
March 2018 23 posts
February 2018 23 posts
January 2018 19 posts
December 2017 22 posts
November 2017 29 posts
October 2017 41 posts
September 2017 35 posts
August 2017 36 posts
July 2017 35 posts
June 2017 36 posts
May 2017 38 posts
April 2017 33 posts
March 2017 35 posts
February 2017 33 posts
January 2017 35 posts
December 2016 39 posts
November 2016 35 posts
October 2016 38 posts
September 2016 36 posts
August 2016 38 posts
July 2016 34 posts
June 2016 34 posts
May 2016 37 posts
April 2016 33 posts
March 2016 35 posts
February 2016 36 posts
January 2016 37 posts
December 2015 38 posts
November 2015 41 posts
October 2015 37 posts
September 2015 40 posts
August 2015 38 posts
July 2015 38 posts
June 2015 39 posts
May 2015 37 posts
April 2015 30 posts
March 2015 7 posts
February 2015 5 posts
January 2015 2 posts
December 2014 4 posts
November 2014 5 posts
October 2014 6 posts
September 2014 6 posts
August 2014 4 posts
July 2014 4 posts
June 2014 6 posts
May 2014 3 posts
April 2014 3 posts
March 2014 5 posts
February 2014 2 posts
January 2014 7 posts
December 2013 8 posts
November 2013 5 posts
October 2013 11 posts
September 2013 4 posts
August 2013 5 posts
July 2013 15 posts
June 2013 8 posts
May 2013 7 posts
April 2013 19 posts
March 2013 15 posts
February 2013 13 posts
January 2013 9 posts
December 2012 9 posts
November 2012 11 posts
October 2012 8 posts
September 2012 8 posts
August 2012 7 posts
July 2012 7 posts
June 2012 5 posts
May 2012 10 posts
April 2012 8 posts
March 2012 15 posts
February 2012 10 posts
January 2012 20 posts
December 2011 29 posts
November 2011 21 posts
October 2011 17 posts
September 2011 9 posts
August 2011 4 posts
July 2011 2 posts
June 2011 6 posts
May 2011 3 posts
March 2011 6 posts
February 2011 4 posts
January 2011 1 posts
December 2010 1 posts
November 2010 2 posts
October 2010 4 posts
June 2010 1 posts
May 2010 2 posts
April 2010 4 posts
February 2010 1 posts
January 2010 8 posts
December 2009 1 posts
November 2009 3 posts
October 2009 3 posts
August 2009 1 posts
July 2009 8 posts
June 2009 5 posts
April 2009 3 posts
March 2009 1 posts
January 2009 3 posts
December 2008 2 posts
September 2008 2 posts
August 2008 6 posts
July 2008 2 posts
June 2008 7 posts