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Yard Sale - Church Member Information

West County is preparing for its third spring of community involvement through yard sale evangelism! 

Everyone is needed in this new evangelistic outreach!  And, the good news is that you can do this type of evangelism!

We will have live advertisers holding signs and bringing in customers (our evangelistic targets),  and we need to have lots of yard sale booths out on the parking lot. West County Church members pay nothing for a booth location.  The money you earn from your items is yours – you use it for any purpose you choose.

Our guests will be invited to bring their yard sale items and set up a booth on our parking lot on April 15 for a small fee. 

What will this accomplish?

  1. It brings guests to our property
  2. Gives us an opportunity to casually talk with them
  3. We get contact information for people who come
  4. We perform a community service, allowing guests to join us on April 15
  5. We become more noticeable as a church
  6. Ministries running various posts can earn a little money
  7. We make casual and non-threatening contacts in the community!
  8. We will run our large-scale yard sales during prime time, catching church-goers and non-church goers at the same time.  Our sales will be from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.

This is a fantastic opportunity for you to be an evangelist and make friends and be involved (in a comfortable way) in community outreach.  

We need everyone to be involved!  See below for a list of the people and things that we need for the yard sale evangelism:

  1. Lots of merchandise.  If you don’t have anything to sell, your neighbors do!  Bring things and set up your booth.  The more we have, the more buzz we create.
  2. We need members to bring every available table, tv tray, card table, etc. from home in order to set up booths.
  3. Speakers/PA equipment – it would be nice to have music playing softly while our guests are shopping.  Does anyone have any of this that is portable?
  4. “Planted” shoppers/evangelists – don’t take this role lightly!  We need to have lots of people milling around (it adds to the excitement of the yard sale), and these people can look like shoppers, but should be available to have casual conversations with guests.  These “planted evangelists” are very important to the process and add a warmth to our yard sale.  We need at least 30 “planted evangelists” at all times during the day (we can arrange shifts for these planted evangelists).  The conversations should not intimidate our guests, but could be as brief as commenting about the number of booths or what a fun event, etc.  Planted evangelists would act like guests at our yard sale, conversing with the real guests.  Just light conversation – making our guests feel like they are part of a large crowd of shoppers at the yard sale.  Planted shoppers/evangelists don’t need to buy anything, but they should look like they are shopping.  
  5. Set-up/tear-down teams – we need strong men to help unload trucks and set up tables and make the physical part of the outreach smooth. 
  6. Young adults are needed for advertising or other volunteer tasks – be creative and communicate about what you would like to do!
  7. Families with young children are needed – you add volume and excitement to the sales, and your children can talk with the younger guests.
  8. More mature members of our church family are needed – there are tasks for you!  You can man booths when the booth operators need to take a break, you can work the baked sale booth, you can help direct traffic.
  9. God has work for all of us, and with smiles on our faces, we can make our church noticed and make contacts with our neighbors.  
  10. We need lots of plastic bags that the booth operators can use when guests buy items.  
  11. We should bathe this evangelism outreach in prayer, and it would be ideal to have 2-3 people in a room at the church, praying all during the yard sale.  Prayer warriors, here is a job for you!
  12. We need cones to help direct traffic.

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. Can we bring furniture to sell?  Absolutely!!!!  Bring anything that is in keeping with Christian living.  Big items for sale are exciting at a yard sale.  We do ask that you take your items home after the first sale and bring them back for the second sale.  We don’t have storage room at the church. 
  2. If I don’t have much (and I haven’t been able to get additional items from my neighbors), can I share a booth with another church member?  Of course!  We are glad to have anyone participate.  The goal is just to have a lot of merchandize out on the parking lot to make this a real draw for guests.
  3. Can I donate my items after the first sale?  No, please don’t.  We have two sale dates, and we need lots of “stuff” for both sales.  Please bring items back for the April 15 yard sale.  We will figure out a way of making donations possible at the conclusion of the April 15 sale (but remember – next year you may want to have merchandise for yard sales, so you may not want to donate all of your items that remain after the sale).
  4. Is there a cost for West County Church members to set up a booth?  No!  This is not about making money from church members.  Our yard sales are a tool to make contact with others.
  5. Is this permissible in Chesterfield?  Yes!  The “Special Activities Permit” from the City of Chesterfield is in process, and within a few days it will be finalized, and we can proceed with our outreach.  
  6. Can I invite my friends and family and neighbors to join us for either  sale?  Yes, certainly!  We will charge a small booth fee ($10) for non-church members, but they will get a nice location on the parking lot (and can have any size of booth), free advertising, and they will be part of a mega yard sale that will draw in lots of customers.
  7. If I lead a ministry at the church and can come up with a fundraising booth/plan during the yard sales, can I pursue that?  Absolutely!  But, please communicate with Rebecca prior to making plans.  Our ministries should be active in this outreach and are encouraged to be creative in what they can offer to guests.  Remember – this yard sale evangelism needs to be big, be pulled off with precision, needs to be well planned, needs to be staffed appropriately, and needs to be welcoming to our guests.  Anything that adds to the excitement and “event” nature of the yard sale evangelism is more than welcomed. 
  8. If I am a West County Church plant member, can I participate free of charge?  Yes!  You are welcome to join us and sell items that you have.  Your participation will certainly help us become more noticed in the community, and we hope we can help you sell a lot of things, thus benefiting you!

For any questions or suggestions, please contact Rebecca Lawrence at 314-497-7992 or aCellist@hotmail.com.  Please communicate with Rebecca about a ministry booth that you may want to run. 

Together, we can do this.  God will bless our efforts as we give him what is in our hands and ask Him to bless it.  We have a prime location, willing church members, and most of all, we have God’s blessing.