My friend Adam shared some great ideas yesterday for churches (could also apply to other organizations) to become more involved and open to their communities. I found this list to be very easy to implement and practical.
- If you have a building, offer a public bathroom and shower that’s open to whomever needs it during your office hours.
- Ask every attendee to get in the habit of bringing a canned food item to church every week. Then start a food pantry that’s open a couple days a week for people to drop in.
- Buy things for the church from local suppliers. Avoid the big box (probably cheaper) stores for ones that support a local company. Encourage your church attendees to do the same.
- Encourage people who go out to lunch after church to be generous with tipping servers and conscious of how long they are staying. You want wait staffs to desire the church crowd, they are avoiding it at all costs now.
- Require church staff to live within the area you are trying to reach.
- Add a requirement to all board and staff job descriptions that they attend public meetings. (Schools, city planning, city council, county government, etc.)
- Ask adults to volunteer at the public schools. (Give staff lots of freedom to volunteer)
- Participate in organized community events. Cleaning up, planting flowers, helping with parades, etc.
- Make church property open to the public. (Playground equipment, skateboard park, community garden, host local festivals, allow the schools to hold events in the auditorium.) Better yet, turn all of your property into a community center.
- Create a culture of saying yes to community involvement instead of no.
I spent six years on staff at a few different churches, and I know sometimes the first reaction to suggestions like this is, “Well, that sounds nice, but realistically…”
A tip?
Your community doesn’t care about your policies and structure.
Your community cares about how you treat them.
Anything you’d add?
Comments
34 responses to “Ten Simple Ways to Love Your Community”
Exactly! That is what the church should look like.
.-= Steven´s last blog ..so here i am. about me? well. i am just a normal guy. a guy… =-.
use technology to connect people in the congregation…..
my church uses The City by Zondervan…..
http://www.onthecity.org
JJ
I talked to a friend on Tuesday that is trying to give away half of what he makes (money).
He is only 18, love seeing that.
Great list.
.-= Kyle Reed´s last blog ..What Story Are You Living? =-.
I live in a metro area where over half of students do not attend public schools. I would say volunteer for kids, wherever they go to school. Some of the most “privileged” kids I know don’t have an adult in their lives who has regular conversations with them. Not only that, but I am routinely shocked at the number of kids who go to private schools because they’ve been expelled from the public system or have extreme specials needs.
Not trying to debate which one is better at all. Just that there are a variety of venues where needs can be met.
We’re kidding ourselves if we think that what happens week in and week out in the 4 walls of our churches doesn’t leach out into the community in one way, shape, or form.
So even as we proactively look for ways to reach out to those outside our 4 walls, let’s remember that if we love one another well, that will be our best testimony.
And if we can’t do that, it’ll be useless trying to share Jesus with those who don’t know Him yet.
If we can figure out how to love one another well, the natural outflow will be to love others in an authentic way that will really resonate with them.
They, too, are looking for community …
.-= Linda Stoll´s last blog ..The Endless Void =-.
good stuff. cant think of anything I’d add
.-= jackalopekid´s last blog ..captionthis =-.
Awesome tips!
The only thing I would add would be to encourage churches to partner with their cities in local foster care and adoption. Our church is a neutral meeting spot for parents to connect with children who are in foster care.
The need is SO huge but churches aren’t aware. Be in the Church by being IN the community.
.-= Bianca Juarez´s last blog ..post-it project… =-.
Totally agree here. 143 million orphans in the world (not all Foster kids are orphans so even more opportunity). I love it when churches challenge their people to step into this need with love and grace.
Thanks for this post too Anne. You rock!
good list…if we could do even 3 of these things a lot would change, I think.
.-= Josh´s last blog ..(my)April =-.
Wow. Great list.
All of these are such good ideas!
My church is located near a couple of my city’s schools (one of the middle schools is right next the church) so there has been lots of church/school interaction. At Christmas time, the staff gathered all the names of the students in the two elementary schools and one middle school that are very close to the church. They put the names, grades, and teachers of the students on tags and laid all of them across the altar on Sunday. At the end of his sermon, the pastor asked everyone to take at least one tag, buy a gift for that child, and bring the gift and the tag back to the church so they could distribute the gifts to the students. Every single tag was taken, and every single one of them was returned with a gift. We were encouraged to pray for the child our tag represented. At our Christmas concert, we took an offering for the teachers of those three schools so we could give them a Christmas bonus. One day in December, the children’s pastor, his staff, and some of the other staff at the church went to the schools and personally handed the gifts to the kids, and handed checks to the teachers. My church takes reaching out to our surrouding community very seriously, and it’s beautiful to see them get so hands on and involved.
.-= Charlotte´s last blog ..last night I had a dream I met a young Paul McCartney. =-.
This is awesome…!
This comment made me cry. I love seeing the church being the hands and feet of Jesus.
.-= adam mclane´s last blog ..Thai basil flowering [Flickr] =-.
I’m a part of planting a Missional Church – a church with a focus outward into the community. One of things we are wrestling through is how to create that heart to give to the community, and if it is better to be involved in one location as a group, or in many locations spreading the hope of Christ in smaller but much wider ways. Personally I am trying to learn how to live out this love every day as I do small things such as returning shopping carts instead of leaving them in parking lot, smiling at neighbors more, being a respectful and patient driver, communicating with the purpose of only speaking words of redemption toward others, etc.
I absolutely love the list, but I hope it is only the starting point and not where we stop.
.-= Sherie´s last blog ..No longer! Not on my watch! I will…. =-.
This is GREAT! One thing I’d add is that when there is a community crisis (when a tornado hits or a child goes missing or a hurricane is forecast) the church should throw its doors and its arms open. Then, when the crisis is over, the community will remember where the love and comfort was found in their dark hours.
When I was in high school, the large national forest adjacent to our church caught fire. It was a huge fire and firefighters from all over the state were brought in to fight it. Our church (and a few others) opened our doors making iced tea, hot coffee, and sandwiches for the firefighters and anyone in the community who needed comfort. It’s been many years, but as I search my mind for a picture of what The Church should really be like, that’s the first picture I see.
.-= Sarah Salter´s last blog ..The Question =-.
My church is having an Outreach/Community Service Sunday, on April 25th. Basically, we are going to meet at church at 9am for a short time of worship/devotions and then the church is going to break out into about 15 groups, each of which will do different things: anything from helping at the local shelters or food bank, to taking baked goods to our police/firemen, to service single older ladies in our church, to taking care packages to tent city, to cleaning up the local elementary school.
This will be a new and odd experience for us all…my church hasn’t done anything like this in the 18 years I’ve been there. But it will be good. Then we’ll meet again in the evening to hear about how God has used us and that should be exciting. The hope then becomes that this won’t be a one time thing but that people, including myself, will see ways in which we can serve our community and through that, share God’s love.
.-= Mindy´s last blog ..Ready to go =-.
I think that the last one on your list – about saying “yes” – is the biggest one to me. It’s been a journey in my parenting that I want to say Yes more than I say No with my tinies. It’s opened me up to so much change in my life with God and community.
As the mom of a disabled child, the one thing that keeps us away from church is our fear that nobody will be able to “handle” her, and still keep her dignity. She’s physically almost 13, but mentally only 4-5, so she doesn’t fit in to a usual middle school program (even though she’s in a special ed class in her middle school). I guess part of my suggestion is to be willing to embrace the different and implement them into the community. I know we say we do (I’ve said I do), but a lot of us with disabled/special needs kids don’t get involved because we don’t know how.
I like this list but I’m uneasy about #4. I’ve always been uneasy with the whole going-out-to-lunch-after-church thing. Call me weird, but I just don’t like the concept of a “sabbath” in which you don’t work, but you expect others to work. Christians don’t want to work on Sundays, but they want non-Christians to wait on them. It’s never really added up. It has always felt more appropriate to me for Christians to share a meal together at church or in their homes on Sundays.
Anyone have any thoughts on this?
Sabbath isn’t on Sunday for everyone (mine is Monday, usually), and I don’t know any pastor who actually rests on Sunday. We require church staff to work on Sunday all the time. Plus, I live in a heavily Jewish neighborhood, and most people around me do it Saturday.
If person is devoted to observing it, they can do it another day. It isn’t about the technicalities of work. It’s about being deliberate with rest, asknowledging our finiteness, and reconnecting with God. And, we are each responsible for our own Sabbath.
I work Sundays because it’s the day they’ll let me work, and I need and am grateful for the money. Go and tip well.
On homes vs. resturants, be flexible. I’m poor, so it sucks when everyone always wants to go out, and I end up not going a lot. However, homes are intimate and some people need the comfort of neutrality in new relationships.
Well-said. Wow.
.-= Darien Gabriel´s last blog ..DarienGabriel: GoToWebinar : Webinars Made Easy. Award-Winning Web Casting & Online Seminar Hosting Software http://ht.ly/1VLr4 /Good 4 churches & nonproft =-.
I’ve never thought about it like that. Food for thought. Thank you.
I love this. Our church helps families when one of the parent is ill. We pick up the kids from school, clean their house, cook meals.
We have a group that visit the old people who don’t go to church so they won’t feel left out.
Children of 5-6 years come home after 3 and their parents are still working, we play with them and teach them about the Bible. The best part is when we pray because the majority is not christian.
The only group we haven’t reached out to is the youth, the teenagers. That is my dream to start something for them. They just wander in our village doing nothing really.
It’s good writing this down. I wasn’t aware we did all this. I’m so grateful now. I love what Bianca added. I hope we start that one day.
I really love this list! What’s great about this list is it’s DOABLE for most people. I think people get overwhelmed by thinking they have to do everything…pick one thing and go for it!
.-= Kristine McGuire´s last blog ..Do You Have Enough Spice? =-.
One of the most disappointing things I see in my area are the signs that say “No Skateboards on Church Property”. That just frustrates me.
This stuff is hard work, but most church folks don’t want hard work. They just want a place to go on Sunday morning to have their sins forgiven.
.-= Bernard Shuford´s last blog ..Demian Farnworth and 30 Seconds =-.
Best blog for sure, Anne. What I would always see is when a visitor came to church, even with a group; four or five friends together, the regular church member would get up and move when they came into sit down. I discerned (& I promised it was not a judgment) they looked at them and didn’t like the way their piercings were or dressed because they (the member) was pharisee type behavior and were more spiritual than the visitors and the first people out the door when church was over, was them.
Amen and amen on getting involved in the community events around town; parades, etc. Oh yes! Where’s the Christian love? Now that I’m on the outside looking in since we retired from thirty-eight years as Sr. Pastoring; I can honestly say you hit the nail on the head, Anne. Soooo true! You are very insightful and genius on what you are writing! I cannot accept the no tipping! So sad! Maybe one of these days the visitors will outnumber the members in making them (the members) feel welcome. Oh yes, they do know a lot about what goes on in churches.
.-= Carol´s last blog ..Small Stuff – Don’t Sweat It! =-.
Make church property open to the public. (Playground equipment, skateboard park, community garden, host local festivals, allow the schools to hold events in the auditorium.) Better yet, turn all of your property into a community center.
This one reminds me of what I heard about Francis Chan’s church in Simi Valley, CA, recently. They did a $20 million building campaign, but then he proposed building a much less expensive park and amphitheatre in the community instead. Not only would this allow the community to benefit from the grounds during the week and create an “open church” feel on Sundays, but it also would allow them to give most of the $20 million they raised away to people who really needed it. I find that so totally creative and inspiring.
.-= Christianne´s last blog ..Where on the Journey into Love are You? =-.
I work in the inner city of Baton Rouge La. with homeless and at risk youth and let me tell you, the greatest need is Mentors. 4 hours a month even is enough to make a huge difference in the world to come. We say “next generation blah blah blah” but we are letting the kids of the inner cities destroy their lives, do we not see that effects us too? The church has a responsibility to the fatherless and we need to start acting. Mentoring.
.-= CaroleTurner´s last blog ..10 things that DO and 10 things that DONT =-.
Anne, one thing I would add is something we have learned as a church. When a community agency needs something that you can provide be quick to say, “We can help!” No, a congregation cannot always give help. However, it really does create credibility when these agencies see that Christians really do value what they do and are willing to help when they can.
.-= Jim Martin´s last blog ..13 Ways to Really Mess Up Your Children =-.
Thanks or your post Anne. You’ve touched on a timely topic that we’ve been addressing recently at our church. Thanks for giving more food for thought.
Great list. It is so easy to get so wrapped up in the church that we stop being the church.
.-= Steve´s last blog ..Bible Reading Isaiah 4 – 6 =-.
I think working together with other churches in the community in projects and outreach can break unnecessary divisions amongst the Christian community as well.
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You can as well love communities across the globe e.g. through medical missions visit http://www.aymu.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=103&Itemid=149
Sports Evangelism
http://www.aymu.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=102&Itemid=148
Albert KUNIHIRA
Africa Youth Ministries
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