The research found that only three types of outreach are offered by U.S. Protestant churches.

1

• The research found that only three types of
  outreach are offered by U.S. Protestant churches.

2

• Food oriented donations tops the list at 73
  percent of churches
• Vacation Bible School (68 percent)
• Holiday food programs for poor families during
  Christmas or Thanksgiving (65 percent).

3
Other types of community outreach offered by much
smaller proportions of churches in the last year
include

• prison ministry (25 percent)
• homeless outreach (24 percent)
• Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts (20 percent)
• blood drives (17 percent)

4
Other types of community outreach offered by much
smaller proportions of churches in the last year
include

• after-school programs for kids (14 percent)
• sports programs (11 percent)
• outreach to specific ethnic groups (11 percent).

5

• The study also explored the obstacles to
  evangelistic ministries.

6

• The results showed at least half of all
  churches site insufficient volunteers (58
  percent), staff (56 percent), lay leaders (52
  percent) and funds (50 percent).

7

• Four out of ten pastors lack strong interest in
  increasing community outreach.

8
The methods churches are using for evangelism are
quite varied.

• Vacation Bible School, has been used by seven out
  of 10 churches for evangelism in the last year
• 59 have used literature such as tracts or
  magazines
• 56 use events such as block parties or a Fall
  Festival

9
The methods churches are using for evangelism are
quite varied.

• 51 use musical events or concerts
• 50 use mailings or fliers
• 49 visited nursing homes or retirement centers
  specifically for the purposes of evangelism

10
Other relatively popular evangelistic efforts
include

• invite a friend to church days (42 percent)
• revivals or crusades (40 percent)
• evangelism training classes or groups (38 percent)

11
Other relatively popular evangelistic efforts
include

• door-to-door visitation within the community (37
  percent)
• community service such as cleanup days (31
  percent)
• online efforts such as blogs or web sites (27
  percent)

12
Other relatively popular evangelistic efforts
include

• audio or visual products such as tapes or DVDs
  (26 percent)
• booths at community events such as the county
  fair (20 percent)

13

• Ninety-seven percent of all churches report
  doing something specifically for the purposes of
  evangelism over the last year.

14

• Just what churches are doing to evangelize
  their communities differs quite a bit by
  denominational group.

15

• Southern Baptist churches are particularly big
  on using revivals or crusades, literature,
  evangelism training classes or groups, and
  door-to-door visitation.

16

• Other Baptist groups (National, Progressive,
  General, etc.) are fairly close to average, but
  are a bit more likely than others to use
  literature and door-to-door visitation.

17

• Methodist churches are more likely than average
  to use events, but less likely to use literature,
  door-to-door visitation, and revivals or crusades.

18

• Lutherans are particularly likely to rely on
  Vacation Bible School, online methods, and
  mailings or fliers, and less likely to use
  revivals or crusades, musical events or concerts,
  or audio/visual methods.

19

• Fewer than one out of ten Protestant churches
  offer any kind of free or low-cost day care
  services, abortion or pregnancy counseling,
  domestic violence programs, English language
  classes, job skills or job training, or adult
  literacy or reading classes.

20

• 46 percent of Methodist churches have some sort
  of homeless outreach, compared to just 10 percent
  of Southern Baptists.

21
The pastors reasons for their churches not being
more involved in community outreach included

• lacking sufficient volunteers (58 percent)
• sufficient staff (56 percent)
• sufficient lay leaders (52 percent)
• sufficient funds (50 percent).

22
The pastors reasons for their churches not being
more involved in community outreach included

• not enough time to do everything (41 percent)
• lack of sufficient facilities (31 percent)
• the congregation is mostly older people (26
  percent)
• the church is located in a small town or rural
  area (25 percent).