Gene Shelburne asks How People Can Find Your Church?

One morning last summer I was surprised to find on our front lawn, packaged in a plastic bag just like our newspaper, a Yellow Page phone book.

Seeing it revived memories of the days when I moved back home to pastor an Amarillo congregation in the late 1960s. One of my church-growth strategies then was to make sure that our small church had a larger, more prominent Yellow Page ad than any congregation of our brand.

During my first decade of ministry, I had preached for a lively but small congregation located on the main freeway in what was then the north side of Phoenix. Our fine new church building shined like a star alongside that busy thoroughfare. The constant stream of newcomers in the Valley of the Sun couldn’t keep from seeing it, and often they visited us first. Almost every Sunday we had a dozen firsttime visitors, so I knew the value of getting new residents to look at our church first.

The congregation I came to serve in Amarillo was buried in an isolated neighborhood, so I elected to make us visible by purchasing the biggest Yellow Page ad of any congregation in our non-denominational denomination. Back in those days, those ads were the way everybody— especially newcomers—found whatever they were looking for in town. The Yellow Pages worked for us. Lots of new residents sat on our pews first.

But those days are over. My church has not appeared in a phone book or a Yellow Page ad for two decades, and nobody has missed us. Instead, in this digital age, folks new in our city Google to identify a church and then depend on Siri to get them there. Realizing this shift in social habits, our younger leaders have wisely enlarged our church’s digital footprint to let this latest generation know we’re still here.

Jesus wants all of his people to be visible. Two of his most famous metaphors described his followers as “a light for the world” and “a city on a hill.” I remain convinced that a far more effective outreach than all of our Yellow Page ads or fancy websites has always been the personal invitations church members offer to their new neighbors.

“Come worship with us,” can’t be found in any Bible verse, but those friendly words can help our new friends find a place to serve the Lord.

Gene Shelburne may be addressed at 3516 Carlton Dr., Amarillo, TX 79109 or at GeneShel@aol.com. Get his books or magazines at www. christianappeal.com. His column appears weekly.