Will your stall just be on the side-walk?
If you are after a conversation you need a place where people will feel comfortable to stop awhile.
I would suggest finding a place where people wait around anyway (bus stop?) or set up an area where people won’t feel like they should be rushing past - a few arm chairs (two soapboxes facing each other?), perhaps offer coffee and doughnuts with every conversation?

As for topics - maybe pick some contemporary ethical issues that you can give a christian perspective on?
Stem Cell research, tolerance verses love, immigration, what you would include on an “Australian” entry exam, freedom of choice verses moral responsibility for our sportspeople…

Do you have any feedback from previous times you’ve run the stall?

Craig Schwarze - 01 September 2007 10:22 AM

What about open-air speakers on a soapbox?

Well, the Bretheran still do that, but it has never appeared very effective to me.

But you believe in Jesus and go to church...maybe it was effective.
;)

Mark Williamson - 02 September 2007 01:17 AM

Will your stall just be on the side-walk?

What is a ‘side-walk’?

Gordon Cheng - 02 September 2007 01:46 AM

What is a ‘side-walk’?

Footpath, pavement, a perambulatory thoroughfare.

Ah! Thanks for explaining. I was about to say that we I didn’t think we had side-walks in this country. I wasw imagining a conversation stall set up in Main Street, USA. ;-)

G’day,

Amanda said:

The problem with surveys is this:

Are you doing them because you want the information or as an excuse to start a conversation?

If it is the latter then are you being deceptive? 

And if those you approach for the survey end up thinking it was just an excuse to get them into a conversation what impression of Christians have you left them with?

I agree with you Amanda. When I was at Minchinbury we used surveys when we went doorknocking. At the end of a visit we would ask people if they wanted the results of the survey. Around 60% of people said yes. Within a week of seeing them I would post them the results with other literature about the church and Christianity.

At Christmas last year we revisited those who did surveys with us and we gave them a mug with the church logo and service times on it filled with lollies and a brochure advertising our Christmas services. We did this as a way of saying thank you to these people for their assistance (the info we got back was very helpful) and also as a way of maintaining the contact and plugging our Christmas services.

Yours in Christ,
Mark

Dominic said:
I did a bit of digging on my computer and found an old menu that we used for a conversation stall in 2004. 

However I don’t think this menu is quite what we want for now as it doesn’t have enough distinctions between the various categories - and it doesn’t point as clearly as it could to some of the issues that we are raising in the various mission presentations.

Hi Dominic and Craig,

Perhaps you could add some starters that relate to the visible lack of peace, trust and assurance in our society today, such as:

Is real peace achievable?

Is trust dead in our society today?

Why do I feel more anxious than I used to?

Will we need to keep building walls in our city?

Grace and peace,

Terry