In the fall, lots of churches do something like a Trunk or Treat where kids and their families have a safe place to gather candy from the back trunks of costumed church members. Or they have an Egg Roll at Easter. Or some kind of Santa event near Christmas. Lots of time and money invested by the church and members to do these activities. So how do you know if they are successful?

First, you have to define the goal. Is this to be an event put on by some members of the church to serve your own kids and maybe a few guests?

Or, is it to provide a friendly connection to the neighborhood? A low key, come-enjoy-this-event-our-church-is-doing-because-we-want-to-be-good-neighbors sort of thing? And maybe someone will actually ask us to tell them about Jesus?

Or is it to be an outreach vehicle? Something intentionally designed to reach those who do not know Jesus?

Most churches are really good at the first two of these, so let me share a few ideas to help with the third, which is intentional outreach evangelism in your community.

1. Ask members to serve, not be served. 

2. Cast a wide net to invite non-members. Community hand-outs and flyers. Nearby apartment complexes are especially good target areas.

3. Greet the visitors. Have designated greeters. If in doubt, just flat out ask people if they are visitors to your church event. 

4. Try and have a mechanism to have people sign in. Door prizes are an excellent tool for this. Especially stress that they do not have to be present to win. You call the winners and deliver the prizes later.

5. Have a targeted invite for an activity after the event. Of course, you can give a handout that lists worship and class times, but where I worship, we try and have something "extra."

For our recent Trunk or Treat, our church (Hillcrest in Abilene) used a QR code to be used to register for a free meal the following Wednesday: Chick-Fil-A sandwiches! As we gave out the cards, we stressed three things.

First, this was a thank-you to the visitors for hanging out with us.  

Second, we gave a brief explanation of what Hillcrest is about. Our emphasis from various ministers and members was that Hillcrest was a good place to find community, help for marriages, a youth program, children's programs, and that we were active in helping the community. The close of our brief presentation was an invitation to talk about Jesus if they would like to find and get started on their Jesus journey. We were absolutely not shy about our hope: for more to join us in following Jesus.  

Finally, this thank-you meal was an hour before Wednesday night services. We told them they were invited to stay for class. There were volunteers to help the kids and teens find their class. The adults were invited to stay for a brief Jesus story.  

Several people responded in very positive ways to the invitation to talk about Jesus, and there are a number of on-going conversations with non-believers.

But be warned: some church members are not really interested in this approach. They want things for their kids and family. It is OK if visitors come, but that should not be the focus. So if you choose a more evangelistic approach, you have to keep the real focus in front of everyone.

Also, some visitors will not appreciate being invited to talk about Jesus. You have to accept that as one possible outcome with a more targeted approach to these various events.

In short, decide what matters to your church. Then do what it takes to further that approach.