Podcast Episode #145
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Discussion about ministry involvement in the community for church leaders. We also reminisce about a few small festivals and town nicknames.
Some highlights from today’s episode include:
- There has been a notable shift in how pastors and ministers connect in the community.
- Most ministers are probably not involved sufficiently in the community.
- You shouldn’t treat your community involvement as a siloed activity. Connect it to your ministry in the church.
- Some of the least used facilities in the nation are church buildings. Explore partnerships with community groups to use your facilities.
- Churches and ministers should have a presence at major community events and festivals.
The 8 guidelines for connecting in the community are:
- Most ministers are not involved sufficiently
- “Explore” your community
- Align your community involvement with your gifts and passions
- Tether your community involvement to your church ministry function
- Develop social relationships with those who are not already members of your church
- Attend significant community events
- Don’t isolate yourself from other ministers through your community involvement
- Realize opportunities for prayer
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Your suggestions for community involvement are probably good for most pastors, however, a pastor in a predominately African-American community must use much wisdom in community involvement because of the flawed picture most have of the role of the pastor. The pastor is primarily seen as a clone of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He is to be the community activist and lead all of the rallys against perceived injustice inthe community. Aligning himself with certain other activities int he community automatically says to the people, here is Dr. King!
I feel for you!
I personally try to connect to our community through our local school. We are in a rural setting, and school is the biggest business in town. I announce baseball games in the spring and write articles for the football, baseball, and softball team for the local county newspaper.
Our congregation sponsors and allows use of our facilities for the local Fellowship of Christian Athletes organization which two coaches from our church sponsor. We allow little dribblers basketball teams to practice in our gym. At high school graduation we distribute bottled ice water to attendees sitting in a hot football stadium in June. (The bottles have the plan of salvation printed on these.)
We also sponsor an outreach booth at our 3-day county fair where we give away Bibles, tracts, Scripture verse candy, water, etc.
We also join with other churches in our area to sponsor a “Jesus Burger” outreach each month at the county seat where burgers and “dogs” are served to homeless, housing projects, and anyone who wants one along with distributing Bibles and leading in an outdoor evangelistic worship service.
Our church has not been the same since we started reaching out into the community with projects like these several years ago.
I love your heart, Charles.
Is this the Charles Johnson I know? Regardless, I applaud your community efforts.
We need more churches like yours…
You are right on!!!!
We have various school teacher meetings in our facilities, we decorate teacher lounges in the schools, we landscape schools and install playground equipment. Also when there is an apartment fire or house fire we find the folks a place to live and usually give them some financial help.
We take our teens to the run down parts of town and fix up the homes.
We have been awarded “business” of the year by the local Chamber of Commerce.
Right on target here. We pastors and our congregations are so easily cut off from the communities around us. Last Sunday, I used a few of your “Signs of a sick church” in my sermon, and the one on low community impact truly hits home. Right before our recent VBS, me and a few people from the church walked around in a nearby housing project, talking with people and handing out VBS flyers. We then ran a church van and picked up kids from there. This was a great step for the church. By week’s end we were packing the van with children, which facilitated the best VBS we’ve had in several years.
Engage the community, come out of our comfort zones.
God bless you and thanks so much.
Our church hosts the montly meetings of our Neighborhood Association; We host a weekly AA group; We invite teachers from a school we sponsor to a dinner each year to let them know we pray for them and appreciate what they do; We give Thanksgiving baskets to families from our sponsor school who are truly in need; We give clothing during the winter to families in need in our community; We host a yearly picnic and a “Tailgate Party” for our community and church; We have connected with a young lady in one of our high schools to help us minister to the college community young people.
Dr Rainer, Thank you for this timely blog. We are going to go through “I Am a Church Member” as a church in our Sunday school for a quarter. I am looking forward to the response from the church. Regarding this topic, I could really use your advice. I wish I could sit with you for a cup of coffee. Here in Hawaii we have many commuter churches. Our church is no exception. Many of the members of the church grew up in the area, but now live out in the suburbs about 30 minutes from our church. The demographic around us has changed significantly. The church mindset is still community outreach. General demographic of our church is middle – upper income, educated, Asian American. We are a more traditional multi-generational church. Our community has evolved and we have a higher demographic of middle – lower income Polynesian or mixed ethnic with minimal education. There’s a disconnect. My thought is, we either have to change the way we portray ourselves, or we need to change our perspective on “community” outreach. My proposal is to discover ways to empower our members and support them in doing ministry in the communities that they live and do life. We have wonderful members that give their time to the ministries here. Then they return to their neighborhoods miles away and any relationships built with community members that participate in the ministry fade. A couple questions: Can a church thrive as a commuter church? I was told “no” by one person and “possible” by another who said Hawaii might have a unique dynamic. In regard to your title, how much of community outreach is dependent on the minister and how much on the church body? Also, opening your property up for the community. How should church leaders consider potential law suits of discrimination if we allow one outside group to use the facilities and yet deny usage for another group? I’m sure you may not have time to respond to this, but I welcome the feedback from others as well. Just trying to be most effective for the ministry of the Kingdom!
Some great thoughts on community outreach have been given.
Many communities need help in the area of maintenance . Clean-up in parks, painting in schools the list goes on. Ask the social service person in the local office. They may fall off their chair. “We’d like to help! What can we do?
One can develop a wonderful relationship through Rotary as you get to meet with some top movers and shakers of the community.
Be sure to be kingdom builders with other Churches as that speaks volumes to a community and answers Christ’s prayer in John 17: 21.
I thought this podcast was insightful. Jesus called us to the “Great Co-Mission” and with that word we are “CO” with Jesus and the alignments of our surrounding communities and the Body of Christ. Our Mission stays the same with the Gospel and its truths. I find that my generation (Millinials and GenX) look to infiltrate our communities in the places we go and the activites we do and we care about seeing peoples hearts and being who we are while living in the culture, we engage others and are honest about tough topics. Communitys gather around our churches at food give aways, causes and athletics. I love that Rainer said “Each city has its own unique incentives” that ake the city unique. We should feed on that and produce from the treasures of our communites and what God calls our cities and the communitys around us.