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Jumpstarter 6 of 10

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Radical Christian Living  /  Churches That Evangelize  /  Discussion Questions
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Question 6
In his Jehovah’s Witness examples, Bercot describes moving Sunday services to make Sunday-morning door-to-door outreach possible and structuring meetings to feel like a public lecture (no opening prayer/singing, no collection plate, built-in intermission); what does this reveal about their view of outsiders, and what parts of their outsider-minded planning expose blind spots in how kingdom churches plan gatherings?
Another way to ask: Bercot describes how Jehovah’s Witnesses plan services and meetings around making outsiders feel welcome and making outreach possible. What does that show about how they think of outsiders, and what does it reveal you might be missing in how your church plans gatherings?

Direct Answer Bercot’s examples show Jehovah’s Witnesses constantly planned around how outsiders think and feel—especially the unchurched and anti-church—while many kingdom churches plan mainly for internal nourishment and tradition rather than newcomer access.

Support from Transcript:

  • Service time was shaped by outreach: his congregation met “Sunday afternoon…so that we could go out on Sunday mornings and evangelize,” reaching “unchurched people…unbelievers…burnt out on conventional Christianity.”
  • The meeting format was designed to lower barriers: a “sermon…not a normal church service…We didn’t have a prayer before it or any singing before it.”
  • They removed money pressure: “No collection plate…we would tell people, leave your wallet at home.”
  • They built an exit ramp for visitors: “a 5 to 10 minute break…so…people…could…go home without feeling embarrassed.”
  • He contrasts this with kingdom churches: “The services in our churches are not normally designed with the public in mind…we build our services over what will be effective for us…follow the traditions…handed down.”
Discussion Follow-ups Without copying their methods, what barriers in our services might be unnecessary for outsiders, and which are truly essential to worship and holiness?

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