Before You Host
How do I prepare for an Open Doors Sunday at my Church?
Resources: Browse the resources to preview what’s available for your church service. This includes: testimony videos, presentation slides, giving cards, and other resources to help you share clearly and effectively.
Prepare Your Message: Whether you’re delivering a presentation or a sermon, take time to familiarise yourself with the Preaching guide, and decide which slides you want to use. These tools will help you share stories and insights that bring the message to life.
Organise Prayer Opportunity: Prayerfully decide, together with your church leaders, how your congregation can make a tangible impact. We’ve seen that setting a shared giving goal, unites the church around a clear vision and inspires generosity for the persecuted Church.
Strategise Giving Opportunity: Prayerfully decide in advance, together with the relevant church leaders, what the collective church giving goal to the persecuted Church is.
How can I ask people to give to Open Doors?
A church community that gives to Open Doors directly connects the whole church to the impact of strengthening our persecuted brothers and sisters in the hardest places to follow Jesus.
The best way to come alongside the work of Open Doors is to set a ‘giving goal’ as a church community. Then you can give the congregation the opportunity to meet that goal.
To give your congregation the opportunity to donate, access the relevant PowerPoint slide with the QR code and/or print an A4 or A5 Giving Cards in ‘Resources’.”
What are the key elements to an Open Doors Sunday?
We find that a great service partnering with the persecuted Church features these elements:
Need: Clear statistics regarding the scope of global persecution from the World Watch List.
Impact: Sharing the historical and modern-day reach and impact of Open Doors International.
Stories: While our thoughts and reflections are always helpful when teaching about persecution, sharing the voices of our persecuted brothers and sisters, through videos or retelling their stories, adds powerful depth and value.
Challenge: Reference the many Scriptures of encouragement in the midst of persecution, as well as exhortations to remember, encourage, and pray for those experiencing persecution.
Giving Opportunity: Create a moment in the service for people to respond to God’s prompting by financially responding to the needs of our persecuted brothers and sisters through Open Doors. That may be a one-off donation or regular giving.
Pray! Take a moment to pray as a church community for our persecuted brothers and sisters, whether individually, in groups, or all together.
What can a Church do after a service?
Pray Together: Continue using the Prayer Guides and World Watch List in your church’s regular prayers. Join the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church on the first Sunday of November.
Stay Informed: Connect with an Open Doors Relationship Manager for quarterly updates from our persecuted brothers and sisters
Celebrate Your Impact: Stay in contact with your Open Doors Relationship Manager to monitor how much was given and how many people contributed, and celebrate the impact your church community has made.
