How might you reach out in new ways?

[Jonathan Dennis]

Discuss new ways you, or your church, might reach out.

[Deb Warren]

Our congregation is reaching out by actually going outside! We have developed a "backyard" ministry. The community park that is next to our church was run down and not getting much use. We adopted the park from the city and have added a flower garden, meditation area, and butterfly garden. We also have a vegetable garden that supports our We Care Food Pantry. We have been intentional in providing music, worship and fun for the community in the park. Joy abounds!

[David Hackett]

My favorite way to start reaching out is, as author Michael Green once phrased it, by "doing the orthodox thing in the unorthodox place." That is, do what we usually do inside the church, but do it outside the church. The simplest is to hold a small group meeting in a public place rather than in someone's house, even though we'll be doing Bible Study or sharing or praying or whatever.

[Heather W. Reichgott]

At the last church I served in San Francisco, I started a youth group. It was a small church--not a lot of youth in the church itself. The group worked because kids invited their friends to come. These friends weren't involved in church and neither were their parents, but they wanted to come to youth group. We held the group not on a Sunday night, but on a weekday afternoon right after school let out. Also, a critical part of getting the group going was paying attention to transportation: I drove some of the kids (with their parents' permission), and we had to be attentive to issues of how kids would get home in the late-afternoon dark in a city.

San Francisco kids are very savvy when it comes to religious issues, diversity, politics and all that... they live in a giant melting pot of diverse people in every way. So the "new thing" was making the group a little more sophisticated than the youth groups I grew up in. We did less singing of praise songs (although I LOVE to sing praise songs!) and more sophisticated discussions of politics, Bible, movies with religious themes.

And we cooked together. I'd recommend that for any youth group. It's awesome and fun and builds friendships wonderfully. Also, I'll never forget the day when 3 boys came, all age 10 or 11, and I asked "who knows how to cut up and saute peppers and onions?" and three hands went up.

[Stephen Baldwin]

1) chocolate chip cookies. our YOUth group makes choc chip cookies for folks in our rural community who are ill, suffering in some way, or just need that little bit of joy that only a cookie can bring.

2) great point about going outside, Deb! lots of folks are intimated by the walls of the church. simply changing the venue of annual gatherings from our fellowship hall to our lawn increased attendance substantially!

3) i'm curious to know how folks would feel about appropriating the "do the orthodox thing in the unorthodox place" argument, which seems to be a communal call, to the individual pastor? should the pastor do the orthodox thing in the unorthodox place? play basketball at the gym with the kids others ignore? help the old lady with her groceries? i think so, but i know many folks who would scream, "self care!" and say that sets a dangerous precedent. perhaps Green covers this; i haven't read his work. thoughts?

[Chris Walker]

I consulted with a church about 10 years ago that was in a dying mode. The pastor wanted to launch a contemporary service but the session was opposed. I was asked to visit with them and help them brainstorm.

Out of that meeting they got excited about hosting a block party. The elderly members went door to door with an invitation door hanger. They had clowns, a cookout, and inflatable jumpers. Nearly 100 people from the neighborhood showed up.

They were extremely disappointed that no one came to church the next day.

However, they noticed the abundance of children who came.

It sparked a new idea: vacation bible school.

The following year, they connected vacation bible school with the block party. Had more children than they could handle. Again, no one came to church the next Sunday.

The following year: another vacation bible school and blockparty.

The session realized the need for a daycare and preschool. This little church in a big old building launched a capital campaign to refuburish their closed Christian ed wing.

Within a year or two, they launched a daycare / preschool. The block party has morphed into a neighborhood watched, spun off a meals on wheels program, and a few other senior care ministries.

For a church of 50 members and 100K operating budget, the preschool is now a vital part of their service and mission to the community. It has a 40K budget on top of that.

It has brought new vitality to this small congregation that began to reconnect to its neighborhood. It is still small and elderly (average age is 70), but they are making connections to their neighbors and demonstrating the gospel. This year, they want to be more intentional about communicating the gospel and connecting people to the church.

They have observed that the parents of children are often not available but that the grandparents play an important role in the children's education. That has begun to spin off ministry ideas to grandparents to impact a generation that many churches are accidently ignoring

Chris W.
http://www.EvangelismCoach.org