During the second service on that historic Sunday morning, the young pastor reminded the congregation of the meeting: “After service today, we will have a congregational meeting. On the agenda is the strategy that will be explained by our outreach team-a plan to reach out to our neighborhood.” The pastor realized the crowd would be small. Only 10% of those in worship showed up at these congregational meetings. “But it will be a small step in the right direction,” he thought.
The worship service was coming to a close. Before the last hymn, the pastor would give the traditional benediction. He raised his hands over the standing congregation, took a deep breath, and − suddenly − the president of the congregation jumped to the center aisle from his place in the first pew. He turned to face the congregation. The pastor was frozen in astonishment. Steve, the congregational president, spoke loudly enough so all 600 worshippers could hear: “You’ve heard the pastor announce that we’re having a meeting after church. You better come to this meeting because this will change our church forever. Do you really want those people in our neighborhood coming in to our church? If not, you better come to this meeting and make your voice heard.”