Outreach Lectures, suggestions - Ministry Exchange (MX)

Suggestions for “outreach” campus lectures

On our Spectrum of Seeker Events, linking events are the third category.
Their purpose is to show the attractiveness and reasonableness of
Christianity. These events break down barriers and show Christianity to be
compelling, reasonable, and attractive. Examples of linking events are
debates; panel discussions; academic or popularized lectures by Christians
on science, literature, politics, etc.; powerful worship services;
Christian coffeehouses; spring break service projects.

This paper will focus on campus lectures.

Before the event

1. Speaker: choose a person and topic that will be attractive to chapter members and the campus.
2. Location: choose a room with good quality lights and sound system.
3. Publicity: Publicize the event via posters, sharp-looking invitations, chalking, ads in campus newspaper, flyers to academic departments that might give extra credit for attending, etc.
4. Advance meetings: After the event has been planned by chapter leaders, core chapter members and other interested students/faculty meet for 30 minutes, twice, before the event to pray and encourage each other to invite friends. Note that these are not planning meetings. Consider a goal of inviting, on average, five nonChristian friends per student. So if there are 25 core students attending these meetings, set a goal of inviting 125 friends. Keep track of first names.

At the event

5. Greeters: Use greeters who can initiate conversation with visitors.
6. Prayer team: Consider using a prayer team in an adjacent room to pray during the event.
7. Background music: play lightly to add ambiance.
8. Evening program/flyer: Hand an attractive flyer to everyone as they walk in the door. It should contain a welcome, brief explanation of the evening, bio/picture of the speaker, and contact info for the chapter.
9. Emcee suggestions: Emcee(s) should begin on time, welcome visitors, give 20-second summary of InterVarsity on campus, and an explanation of the evening. Avoid giving chapter announcements, using Christian jargon, etc. This event really is for visitors. Keep that target audience squarely in mind at all times. Overall, be brief and friendly.
10. Optional testimony: Consider inviting a student or faculty member who has been affected by seeker events in the past-in coming to faith or growing in faith-to give a two-minute testimony about their experience. A nonChristian ally could also give this testimony—for example: a professor or student on campus that has appreciated InterVarsity’s ministry/events in the past.
11. Optional video: Consider making a short video (five minutes or less) of random campus interviews of students/faculty who answer question(s) pertaining to the topic of the evening.
12. Intro speaker: Give the speaker a good introduction, including place of residence/work, family, credentials/experience, and a favorite hobby.
13. Length of lecture: a. local person: 25-30 min. b. outside person who travels at least an hour to be there: 30-40 min. c. professional speaker who flies in or travels at least an hour to be there: 45-50 min. This person should also be invited to do another lecture, luncheon, dinner with donors, etc., as long as they’re in town.
14. Response cards: place on chairs before event, or hand out toward end of event. If possible, ask the speaker to walk the audience through the cards, checking the appropriate boxes (such as: to begin a relationship with Christ, enter a GIG, learn more about the topic at hand, learn more about InterVarsity, free lunch with a student leader and/or staff member, etc.). If the speaker would not understand how to do this or likely wouldn’t do a good job, use a faculty member, IV staff, or student leader. Response cards should also include space for evaluation/suggestions. Deposit in bins at the exits.
15. Q & A: use a moderator/emcee who calls on people who have questions. For a crowd larger than 50 people, use note cards for people to write their questions. Have someone filter/sort the questions before they are given to the speaker.
16. Total length of event, including introduction and response cards: 60-90 minutes. 75 quality minutes is about right. After that, audience gets fidgety, may feel trapped. Remember: you want these same people to come to your next event. Don’t give them any reasons to stay away, such as: disorganized meeting, poor speaker, lousy room/lighting/sound, meeting too long, etc.

After the event:
17. Follow up response cards within 24 hours. Many visitors will not fill out response cards, but still need to be followed up in the context of friendship.
18. Due a thorough evaluation of the event and improve next time!
19. Keep doing seeker events on a regular basis. Build up your chapter’s trust— that these events will be high-quality, and never embarrassing. Remember that trust takes a long time to build, but only a moment to break down.
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InterVarsity
Rick Mattson