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Identifying with a specific neighborhood helps a congregation make concrete its willingness to be for the city—rather than being a church against the city, disdaining its evils; a church above the city, caring only about heavenly and not earthly realities; or a church in the city, so accommodating to its values as to be indistinguishable from it.
A holistic approach ministers across the spectrum of needs in a community.
their ministries flow more from skin-deep compassion (“Those poor homeless people”) or superficial obligation (“There, that takes care of that!”) than a genuine longing to see God’s will done in their community as it is in heaven.
Hot tubs are great, but if you spend too much time in one you shrivel up and get sick. Same is true for the bath of blessings that our wonderful Savior provides for us. The blessings are meant to be fuel in our little rockets, rockets that have a trajectory set by the Word of God (Luke 4). If we stop with merely basking in the blessings of salvation, we, our families, our churches, will shrivel up and get sick. A body needs exercise, and so does the Body of Christ. The mission of Christ is the exercise regimen prescribed by the Ultimate Personal Trainer.
There is church because there is mission, not vice versa.
The church’s mission has three basic components: The church is to be a witness to God’s kingdom, an agent of God’s kingdom, and the sign of God’s kingdom.
“The Jordan River feeds into the Dead Sea, and there’s no outlet. Nothing lives. They call it the Dead Sea because it takes in but it does not give out. The church is the same way. If you take in and don’t give out, you die.”
Following are seven suggestions for cultivating an outreach-minded congregation. 1. Welcome whoever walks through the door.
2. Network in the community. Networking is the exchange of information,
3. Cultivate a sense of belonging to the community.
The more a congregation knows and likes the community, the better it will be able to express love for the community in ministry.
4. Incorporate a commitment to the community and outreach mission into church life. Church members will consider outreach mission unimportant if it is invisible to them.
The church should be a refuge for members from the bruising realities of the world but not a fortress where people go to shut out the world.
5. Interweave the interests of church and community.
6. Take the church out into the community.
7. Support the relocation of church members into the community.
Without love, outreach ultimately amounts to busywork (1 Cor. 13:3). Bridge-building activities and relationships can easily become just means to an end, a kind of community public relations, if love is not the heart of the matter. The more a congregation loves God, the more God can love a community through the congregation.
Rev. Lou Centeno observes that many churches have become “a kind of incubator, a safe zone for themselves, but there’s no connectedness to the community. . . . They are pursuing protection and purity, but they have neglected the command of the Lord to help your neighbor.” Is your church too comfortable? Chip away at the walls that keep the community at arm’s length. Embrace the upside down values of God’s kingdom to become a church that proclaims, “We are for the world.” Then your church can fulfill its calling to be a witness to God’s kingdom, an agent of God’s kingdom, and a sign of God’s
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Activism is most fruitful when rooted in a growing understanding of who God is, how God has been working salvation in human history and individual lives, and the mission of the church. The congregation should understand not only the theological basis for holistic ministry but also the connection between outreach and the rest of the church’s work.
How does hands-on ministry enrich our discipleship?
See ensuing list
A recent study found that congregations best serve their communities “by weaving together a network of money, volunteers, and other supports.” The average congregation collaborates with a total of six community outreach organizations.1
Practical Reasons 1. Few churches have the resources to carry out their vision by themselves.
2. Partnerships expand a church’s opportunities to form evangelistic relationships.
3. Partnerships prevent duplicating services and thus focus the church’s resources where they are most needed.
4. Church ministries are more effective when they cooperate, rather than compete, with local efforts. Partnerships with local agencies give people in the community a greater sense of ownership and responsibility for local needs and prevent the community from developing an unhealthy dependence on the church. A principle of community development is, Never do for people what they can do for themselves.
5. Partnerships expose people to social issues and needs outside their usual context.
6. Partnerships with established agencies smooth the way for churches new to holistic ministry.
7. The current social and political context for church-based ministry creates new opportunities and incentives for collaboration.
1. The holistic ministry of each congregation is only part of the larger work being done in God’s kingdom.
2. God created people to live in community, and a healthy community is made up of diverse institutions.
3. Through partnerships, the church embodies Christlike servanthood to the community.
4. Partnerships among Christian churches and agencies strengthen evangelistic witness.
To protect a church’s independent witness, it may be prudent to set up a separate 501(c)(3) nonprofit arm affiliated with the church to manage programs involving partnerships with secular entities.
Healthy partnerships do not substitute for the gifts and resources of the congregation. One of the advantages of partners is that they fill in gaps in the congregation’s resources or abilities. This can become a weakness, however, if the congregation becomes dependent on the partner and takes no steps to develop its own capacity.
An effective partnership is an investment that multiplies the congregation’s gifts, not a crutch for its inadequacies.
2. The church supplies the partner with volunteers or funding, and in return the partner provides the church with a ministry outlet that does not require much administrative effort.
A crucial task for leaders . . . is helping a congregation gain a realistic picture of itself, its situation, and its possibilities in the present and immediate future. . . . Without such realistic assessments, . . . planners often experience frustration. Either they fail to see new possibilities for the congregation because of an inadequate grasp of the congregation, or they find that their dreams for the congregation do not fit the realities of the situation.
A congregational study recognizes that holistic ministry is not just something your church does; it flows from the essence of who you are as the body of Christ.
1. To appreciate your church’s uniqueness, so that ministry remains grounded in a specific identity, vision, and context.
2. To identify where God has already been at work in and through your congregation.
Similarly, when you look at your church through a self-study lens, aspects of church life may become clearer.
While churches can’t—and shouldn’t—try to map their course in too much detail, having a game plan grounded in the facts is an essential ingredient of successful ministry development.
5. To help anticipate challenges. Knowing its weaknesses as well as its strengths allows your church to shore up spiritual and material defenses. Conflict, discouragement, and strained resources are inevitable—but they are easier to deal with when they don’t catch you off guard.
You are not creating a brochure for outsiders but holding up a mirror in order to paint a self-portrait. In any case, there are no “right” answers.
These questions and the self-study process are outlined in more detail in a resource available from Evangelicals for Social Action.2 You may also want to refer to the handbook Studying Congregations,3 which offers a comprehensive guide to the “disciplined study of the congregation,” for more in-depth discussion and additional data-gathering tools.
Self-Study Questions 1. Who are we? Examine your congregational identity and history. How would your congregation describe itself and its ministries? What traditions and characteristics make you unique?
2. What do we believe? 4 Examine key areas of your church’s theology relevant to outreach: What is the Good News? What does it mean to be saved? How is the church to witness to Christ: by telling people about the gospel and/or by demonstrating the gospel (e.g., through lifestyle and service)?
3. What do we do? This question has three components. Examine your church’s ministries of congregational nurture. How does your church help members deepen and apply their spiritual life?
describe your church’s outreach. What social ministries are in place? Are these primarily aimed at providing goods and services, developing skills or character, promoting economic/community development, and/or reforming politics and social structures? What programs of evangelism and evangelism training are in place? Does the church target a specific geographical area, ethnic group, or type of need for outreach? How are outreach ministries promoted within the congregation?
4. How do we do what we do? Examine your church’s leadership. How would you describe the style of pastor(s) and key ministry leaders: hands-on types or delegators, orderly or spontaneous, independent or team workers, entrepreneurial or managerial, down-to-earth or visionary? What activities take up most of the leaders’ time—
