Tract Ministry Becomes More Than a 'Rack in the Lobby'

Many churches, if they have tracts at all, will only have a rack or table where people can help themselves. But a few churches go further and maintain a tract display with someone responsible for promoting the tract ministry.

Parkview Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana is one of those churches that take their tract ministry seriously. Member Brian White has assumed the responsibility of promoting the tract ministry to the whole church.

In addition to a well-maintained tract display, White provides an instruction kit on how to make your personal tract ministry more effective. The kit contains inspiring information on the effectiveness of tracts, testimonies of people saved or brought under conviction by reading tracts, and suggestions for dozens of places to leave tracts.

In the kit he suggests various kinds of labels to stick on the tracts. One has the church address, phone number and service times. Another label says FREE SAMPLE for tracts that are left laying around so people will feel free to take them.

He has also designed a small envelope with a neon sticker on the outside that says, Free Invitation For The Ultimate Gift. He puts a tract inside the envelope to give to people who don't want to be seen accepting "religious" literature.

To protect tracts in wet weather or places where they will get soiled, White suggests using plastic "ziploc" bags. By placing a strip of double-sided tape on the back of the bag it can be attached to conspicuous places at bus stops, schools and in restrooms.

The tract ministry kit also includes a list of topics that each tract deals with and the location of that tract on the tract display. This way it is easy for a church member to find the exact tract that will fit a specific purpose.

Through much prayer and creativity, White has resurrected an oft neglected "church tract rack" into a vital part of the church's outreach to the community. He remembers the man on a bus that received a tract and then prayed to receive Christ; and the three prostitutes in the court house waiting for a court hearing. After reading The Outcast, they came under conviction and began to cry.