Barna Research provided this statistic in 2017. 51% of Christians don’t know what the Great Commission is. Do you think that statistic has changed in a positive way since then?

Here’s some more interesting WELS statistics.

• As of 2019 (NOTE: this is pre-COVID) the WELS had 1,269 congregations.
• Less than half of those churches had one or more newly confirmed adults. That means over 50% of our congregations did not have one new adult join their congregation in 2019!
• Only 6% (76) of WELS congregations had 10 or more new adult members.

Outreach, or the Great Commission, is a needed core value and core system in every church. It addresses the question, “How are we as a congregation planning to continuously train our people to build new relationships with people, plant seeds about Jesus, cultivate those seeds, invite people to be a part of God’s family and then walk alongside new members in the church?”

Many people have a deep fear of sharing their faith.  Almost half of practicing Christian Millennials actually say evangelism is wrong.  (Barna Feb. 5, 2019)

In Romans :10 – 14-15 we read “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?  And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

As a lay member in the church, I’ll confess, I am not great at this but I am better than I used to be. One of the reasons I am better and more confident is because of Dave Malnes, and Praise and Proclaim Ministries.

I met Dave Malnes in Liberty Hill, Texas four years ago when 13 members from Trinity Lutheran Church in Crete, Illinois traveled to a small mission congregation, Divine Peace which is led by Pastor Stephen Apt.  Pastor Apt happened to be a son of our congregation. People who had a heart for Stephen wanted to find a way to help him and his small mission church reach more people. That’s where Dave came in. He trained all of us to go out and proclaim Jesus with people in the surrounding community. And you know what? A bunch of scared, ordinary people went and did just that! We proclaimed Jesus! Today, Divine Peace is Divine Savior, Santa Rita Ranch which not only is a church but also operates a school!

Dave Malnes is the president of Praise and Proclaim Ministries. He is a certified WELS staff minister with more than twenty years of experience in evangelism. Praise and Proclaim was launched in 2016 with the mission of enhancing the gospel ministries of WELS congregations by providing comprehensive personal evangelism training. Relying on a methodology that is simplified, well-organized, and experiential, Praise and Proclaim has provided training for over 1000 WELS members in twenty-one states.

Praise and Proclaim helps to address the equipping part of the outreach system. Dave will share how he trains people. Join us to learn how you can equip others to proclaim Jesus!

Could your congregation benefit from some outreach training? Look at the stats above. I think we all need to learn something from Dave Malnes. I will interview Dave as part of Faith Unleashed Consulting’s series: Systems in the Church. You can get a front row seat and ask Dave anything you would like!  Register to join Dave Malnes  and me in an interactive conversation on our Wednesday Webinar, April 21st at 9:00AM or 7:00PM CT to learn more about training your members to proclaim Jesus.  (Hurry, it’s just days away!)