We start a new series where we asked several OPC Millennials to talk about reaching Millennials. We provided 4 broad categories of questions, which you will see summarized, to prompt our respondents. These were simply prompts, and we gave them broad leeway to talk about important matters related to the OPC reaching millennials. A millennial […]
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What We’ve Learned From You
It’s been about 18 months since we started Outward OPC, which leads us to reflect on a couple of things we’ve learned over the first year and a half of this project. 1. There are many remarkable and wonderful things happening in the OPC regarding evangelism. From the simple and quiet development of gospel-directed relationship […]
New Books on Evangelism
Over the past year, John Shaw has recommended 2 books on evangelism to churches and to Outward OPC. Numerous people have confirmed their value. They are: Get Real by John Leonard The Gospel Comes With A House Key by Rosaria Butterfield Within the past year, there has been a small flurry of interesting looking books […]
Reader Q&A: Tracts?
Reader Question: What gospel tract do you recommend, especially for purposes of giving something out when your church has a stand at a fair or festival? This can be a challenging question because there is some subjectivity involved and it seems that no tract is perfect. We will, however, make our best attempt to answer […]
Stories From the Field: Winston-Salem, NC
We recently checked in with Calvin Keller, the church planter at Harvest OPC in Winston-Salem, NC. Calvin just recently moved to Winston-Salem to take the call and has been on the ground for about 6 months. Upon moving to NC, Calvin and his wife had to temporarily live in an apartment complex and as Calvin […]
Helping Our Churches Be Appealing, Not Appalling
After 35 years as pastor of Franklin Square OPC, Bill Shishko is now leading a new church plant on Long Island (website: The Haven). In this new work, Bill is giving a lot of thought and effort to how this new church might reach people–unchurched or those with only a passing familiarity with the church. […]
When You Are at the Front Door & God Uses the Side
Have you caught an update in Home Missions Today or on Facebook about what’s happening at Grace Fellowship OPC in Huron, Ohio with church planter Larry Oldaker? After an extended season of discouragement, God is bringing another congregation in the area to join and be a part of Grace Fellowship. They have 21 people in […]
Rosaria Butterfield on Community & The Lord’s Day
We’ve featured Rosaria Butterfield here before (and will again), and John Shaw has talked about her book “The Gospel Comes With a House Key” on a podcast. Below is an article that is a short excerpt from part of that book. It is a thought-provoking and heart-stirring approach to living in community on the Lord’s […]
An OPC RHM (Home Missionary) Hits the Road To Grow & Learn
Recently, Mark Sumpter (RHM – Presbytery of the Southwest) shared a story with us about an opportunity he had to learn about church planting from outside of OPC circles. Mark has a friend from Houston who is taking a church planting class at RTS Jackson. Mark was invited to tag along to a full day […]
Who Will Attend Your Church This Sunday?
82% of unchurched people said they were “somewhat likely” to attend church if they were invited. 21% of active churchgoers have invited anyone to church in the course of a year. (And the number that invite an unchurched person is more like 2%!) Evangelistic Accelerant: This Sunday is arguably the day that an unchurched person […]
Welcoming Pastor (by Shane Lems) – Part 3
Last week, Shane Lems explored some insightful thoughts on being a welcoming pastor in leading worship and preaching (Welcoming Pastor – Part 2). Here’s Shane continuing to look at the pastor’s interaction with visitors: Love in Conversation Another angle of being a welcoming pastor is that we show love in conversations. Whether we talk to […]
The Welcoming Pastor (by Shane Lems) – Part 1
In the first part of this series, Shane Lems took us through a 3-part approach to being a welcoming church: biblical, balanced, and a missionary bent. You can read those posts here: (Welcoming Church). Later in the series Shane will focus on the congregation, but in this second part he focuses on the pastor. Over […]
John Shaw @ Church Planters’ Conference
Last week at the Church Planter Training Conference, John Shaw spent an extended time with the church planters discussing evangelism. A particular segment of that time warrants a summary here for a brief refreshment, encouragement, and direction in this important task for our churches. John opened with a quote from a 19th century minister named […]
Welcoming Church (Shane Lems): Part 2 – A Missionary Bent
In this series so far, Shane has set up a three-pronged approach to being a welcoming church. Last week, we considered the first two: Biblical & Balanced (Part 1: Biblical & Balanced). Now, the third: A Missionary Bent….Here is Shanes’s post: A Missionary Bent When I was a church planter, I necessarily had a “church […]
Being A Welcoming Church: Part 1 (Shane Lems)
Last week, we introduced and previewed a new series by OPC Pastor Shane Lems (Covenant Presbyterian in Hammond, WI). (More about Shane and last week’s post). Now, we will start to dig into the full articles. Below is the portion on being biblical and balanced as a welcoming church. Next week, the third prong: a […]
Shane Lems: Being A Welcoming Church – Introduction
We begin 2019 with a new series about being a welcoming church written by OPC Pastor Shane Lems. Shane is the pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church (OPC) in Hammond, Wisconsin. He and his wife, Lisa, have 4 kids. Prior to ministry, Shane was in the US Army Reserves for 6 years and worked in the auto […]
Reaching Out During The Holiday Season
We came across an article about “Reaching Out to Non-Believers This Holiday Season”—in particular it’s geared toward inviting friends and family to church with you. The article is by Ed Stetzer—a Calvinistic Baptist who was formerly the Executive Director of LifeWay Research and has planted 2 or 3 churches as a pastor previously. We’re sharing […]
The Shape of Evangelistic Prayer – John Shaw
Recently, John Shaw published an article in Tabletalk magazine (Ligonier Ministries). The title in the magazine is “Prayer That Matters,” but as you will see if you read the article, the emphasis is on evangelistic prayer. The setting of the prayer discussed is an evangelistic setting and John was thinking about how it applies to […]
10 Things: Part 10 – Sermon Series Video
In this series of posts, we will consider the practices of other churches that share some similarities with the OPC, though also some significant differences. With some of the examples (ten in number), we may see some ways in which their practice is inconsistent with our doctrinal commitments, but also hopefully learn from these brothers […]
10 Things: Part 9 – Sermon Series Intro Handout
In this series of posts, we will consider the practices of other churches that share some similarities with the OPC, though also some significant differences. With some of the examples (ten in number), we may see some ways in which their practice is inconsistent with our doctrinal commitments, but also hopefully learn from these brothers […]