By Larry Rosenbaum
Many people refuse to step inside a church building — except perhaps for a wedding or funeral. Some claim that they had a bad experience in a church or were turned off by the coldness and hypocrisy they saw. Others think themselves unworthy to enter a church building. If people will not come into a church building, we can ‑‑ and should ‑‑ bring the church to them.
The church, of course, is not a building but the body of believers that God has called out of the world unto Himself. The early Christians did not have special church buildings. They met in homes and in public places such as Solomon’s porch, on the Temple grounds (Acts 5:12). When we have church services in public places, it gives unbelievers an opportunity to experience the presence of the Holy Spirit, the beauty of worship, the love, joy, and peace that is felt as believers gather together, and the reality of knowing Christ. Demonic powers are scattered when Christians gather in true worship, and an atmosphere is established in which unbelievers are convicted of their sin and drawn to Christ.
There are several ways to adapt a church service to a street situation. The first method we have used involves a single church holding an outdoor service in a public park. If you pick a busy park and meet there on a regular basis, such as the first Sunday of each month, people will start joining you and some will get saved and become part of your fellowship.
This is a good, non‑threatening way of getting people in your church involved in witnessing. If you use a public address system, people will hear you better. This may require buying or renting a generator and a small PA system. Call the police department to find out if a permit is needed and, if so, how to get one.
The service needs to be adapted to meet the needs of unbelievers. A few brief testimonies of salvation and of God’s work in the lives of believers are helpful. Avoid using Christian jargon such as “sanctified” and “washed in the blood” without explaining the terms. After the message, give people an opportunity to receive Christ or receive prayer for personal needs.
Keep the meeting short. We have a policy of not taking offerings in evangelistic gatherings, since it confirms the suspicions of many unbelievers that we are only “after people’s money.” After the meeting you can serve refreshments, giving the Christians an opportunity to meet the new people and speak with them informally.
A second method involves planning a special inter-church worship rally in a local park. Twice a month we gather Christians from different local churches for a worship rally in a downtown park on Saturday afternoon. We get a permit, set up a large public address system, and have a music group lead in worship for about 30 minutes. This is followed by a ten minute evangelistic message and an opportunity for people to come forward to receive salvation, prayer for personal needs, or to get a free New Testament.
During the worship time, the presence of the Holy Spirit is very strong and many unbelievers are drawn to listen. Some of the Christians are trained to counsel and pray with those who come forward. Other Christians are looking around for unbelievers who are being touched by God`s Spirit, so they can speak with them about Jesus. Still others are standing around the periphery of the park, giving out tracts and inviting people to join the rally.
The third method we use involves a small outreach team ministering on a public sidewalk. Our street witnessing team will gather on a busy sidewalk, making sure to leave a pathway for people to walk by so we don’t block the sidewalk. Usually, we start with a few worship songs, have a one minute testimony, worship for 5 more minutes, and have someone preach for 5 minutes, closing with an invitation for people to come forward and receive Christ.
Often, when our street witnessing team first gathers on a street, the whole team will worship on the street for about 15 minutes. Then, we will send most of the Christians in pairs to witness, leaving a few Christians at that spot to continue in worship. Occasionally, someone will preach a short message. This helps establish an atmosphere where the presence of God is felt, in contrast to the other things that are happening on the street. Workers who get spiritually drained while out on the street can join the worship group for a while and get refreshed.
