Professional Dissertations DMin

Date of Award

2005

Document Type

Project Report

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry

College

Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary

Program

Doctor of Ministry DMin

First Advisor

R. Clifford Jones

Second Advisor

Ricardo Norton

Third Advisor

Skip Bell

Abstract

Problem

From 1994 to 2003, the Silver Springs Shores Seventh-day Adventist Church in Florida had difficulty attracting and retaining members despite yearly evangelistic crusades and other efforts at soul winning. The purpose of this project was to develop and introduce a plan designed in response to this challenge, one tailored toward the specific needs of the Silver Springs Shores Church.

Method

In order to develop a model that would specifically address the needs of Silver Springs Shores Seventh-day Adventist Church, a thorough demographic study of the local community was conducted. The project entailed a feasibility study of the community and target groups during its evangelistic campaigns. To enhance the effectiveness of the church’s evangelistic programs (for example, making them more culturally sensitive, more capable of retaining membership, engaging youth, and drawing new members of people affiliated with other denominations), a study was conducted of various evangelical approaches taken by other communities. Specific proposals were then formulated.

The Results

The specific proposals included (1) making changes to evangelistic meeting structures and styles, (2) focusing on methods of engaging individual church members to become more involved in church activities, including evangelistic meetings themselves and community outreach programs, (3) increasing and improving involvement of young people in church services and other church programs, and (4) revising the church service itself to make it more meaningful and interesting for various age groups. A number of the project’s recommendations have already begun implementation with initial promising results. The changes thus far have sparked excitement and enthusiasm among members.

The Conclusion

The project has already begun to help improve the evangelistic efforts of the church. Church members have already begun to be more active in distributing literature in the community and soliciting potential members for Bible study. The church is engaged in more community projects and has participated in programs that combined its own choir members with those of other faiths. Church services have been revised to be more engaging. The fast pace at which changes are occurring in our society calls for constant and relevant changes in church programs. Revisioning evangelism and programs in the church to challenge the mind-set of new generations can only champion church growth in unprecedented ways.

Subject Area

Seventh-day Adventists--Florida--Ocala; Silver Springs Shores Seventh-day Adventist Church (Ocala, Fla); Evangelistic work--Seventh-day Adventists--Florida--Ocala

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/dmin/462

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