Second Friend Day - Elmer Towns

OVERVIEW OF SECOND FRIEND DAY
The Second Friend Day is an attendance campaign with a difference. Its aim is
not just to give your church a high record of attendance on one day (which it will
probably do), but includes a follow-up campaign designed to bring visitors back until
they make a decision. The campaign takes nine weeks--three weeks of planning by the
pastor and the church leaders, five weeks of involvement by the members, and one week
of follow-up by everyone.
The purpose of the campaign is to help churches carry out the Great Commission
given in Matthew 28:19-20. This purpose is achieved by involving members in reaching
out to their friends in an organized manner. The church as a team can then lead the
friends to Christ.
The church prepares for Friend Day by mobilizing its leaders and members to
invite unsaved or unchurched friends, praying for the success of the campaign, and
preparing the church and its property (for example, cleaning, decorating, setting up extra
chairs, acquiring additional parking spaces, or scheduling a bus service).
During the five-week period leading up to Friend Day, lessons on reaching one's
friends for Christ are taught in the Sunday School, and the pastor may also preach
messages on the nature of Christian friendship. On Friend Day, everyone brings their
friend and the pastor preaches a salvation message on how one can become a friend of
God.
Before the worship service, the friends are welcomed into the Sunday School and
church, and each is requested to fill out a visitor card. This card is the basis for the most
important part of the Friend Day campaign—the follow-up. The intensive follow-up is
geared toward encouraging the visitors to make return visits to the church, thus increasing
the church's opportunities to present the Gospel. As a result, some of the friends may
profess faith in Christ and decide to become faithful members of the church.
Friend Day has been used by thousands of churches with great success. Church
Growth Institute guarantees that the program will be successful at your church, too, if the
instructions are followed closely. May God bless your efforts to bring in a harvest of
souls and help populate heaven.