50 Ways to Take Church to the Community
Churches can no longer open their doors and expect that people will come in. Effective congregations go into the world to encounter those in need of the gospel. These 50 Ways provide tips on reaching beyond the walls of your church with worship, community events, ministries, and service.
Embrace an expansive concept of community
Learn to regard your community as an extension of your congregation. A church’s mission field goes beyond its membership to include all the people God calls it to serve. You are connected to individuals who never set foot in your building.
Know that what’s happening within the church — preaching, worship, music, Bible study — is no longer enough to attract people in an age when church attendance is no longer a cultural expectation.
Don’t sit in your church building waiting for people to come. Be prepared to meet people where they are.
Prepare spiritually
Acknowledge the synergy between the Great Commandment in Matthew 22 (love your neighbor as yourself) and the Great Commission in Matthew 28 (go and make disciples). Evangelistic outreach expresses our love of others.
Remember that Jesus primarily engaged people through everyday encounters, rather than in the Temple or synagogues. He fed people, met their everyday needs, and enjoyed the fellowship of others.
Express love and compassion for your community in big and small ways. Avoid judgmentalism.
Pray regularly for your neighbors and lift up community concerns.
Attend to the faith formation of existing members. Willingness to share faith and reach out to others develops as one grows in faith and discipleship.
Prepare spiritually for the transformation that creative, risk-taking outreach will bring.
Why Jesus Is Not Our Copilot?
By J.D. Walt
"We are broken in our inmost being from the beginning. We cannot educate ourselves out of this condition or we would have by now. I wish it were not so, and yet the gift of God is complete restoration, deep salvation, redemption, healing and not so much being taught to fly as being lifted up on eagles’ wings. By the Word of God we are given the perspective of faith and hope and love, endowed with the very Spirit of God and the mind of Christ, and come to bear the flourishing fruit of the kingdom. This is the stuff of attunement."