How many doors allow people to enter your church?

During a doctoral class Elmer Towns spoke about the difference between people coming into our churches through the front door and those who would come in through the side doors.  For many years the church has invited people to attend their worship services.  This was the attractional model, and is the model for those churches who still expect people to come into their church to attend the worship service or Sunday school program.  This model was effective when the culture was more favorable towards Christianity and the church than it is today.  However, the attractional model is much less effective today.

Side-door outreach invites people to become involved in various activities your church offers.  It is a much more relational way to reach out to unchurched people in your community.  These folks are invited to participate in activities that may not be spiritual in nature, but it allows them to develop relationships with people in your congregation.  These relationships will often encourage them to begin asking questions about your faith and provides you with opportunities to share your faith with them.  

A church can have many side doors.  It might have a ministry that provides meals to needy people that may be very attractive to someone who has a passion to help the less fortunate.  Another side door might be a small affinity group that meets in a room in the church or elsewhere.  Perhaps there are some individuals who enjoy fishing and decide to meet once a week to discuss new fishing techniques and equipment.  Others who enjoy fishing can be invited to join the group.  There may be a group of people who enjoys quilting and builds a small group around that interest.  Again, non-churched people can be invited to be a part of this group.  Side door activities can be very nonthreatening and yet offer a great opportunity to reach out to unchurched people.  There really are no limits to how many side doors a church may have, and the more the merrier because it offers a church greater opportunities to connect with the people who may have faith questions.

There are some cautions about side-door ministries that a church needs to know about.  In today's culture people are suspicious of churches, and if they believe that your group only exists to add another notch on its spiritual gun they will not be part of the group.  If you have an affinity group based on a love for fishing, then you better be going fishing together.  You need a leader who has a passion for fishing and enjoys teaching others about his or her love.  You are looking to build relationships around common interests.  You will be praying that through the relationships you are creating with others that you will have the opportunity to share your faith at an appropriate time, and in the meantime you will enjoy fishing and spending time with people who enjoy fishing as much as you do.  (At the least, you might be asked why you don't fish on Sunday mornings...assuming you don't!)

People are looking for opportunities to create authentic relationships with other people who share common interests.  The key word in that sentence is "authentic." Nobody wants to be somebody's project.  Even more, people don't want to feel like they've been used.  But, when done well a side-door approach can be a very effective way to reach out to persons in your community who are not connected to any church.