Beyond Outreach to Community Involvement

The Church’s involvement in its greater community in the past has been limited to outreach events and compassionate ministries.  There is nothing wrong either of those, and we must continue them.  But we must also move beyond them to involvement in the community as a whole.

Outreach events and programs are designed with a specific purpose: to get those that are out “there” to join us “here.”  They may be evangelistic, but ultimately such events and programs are meant to showcase us, and what the church has to offer.  Again, that’s a good thing and every church should be doing it.

Compassionate ministries, likewise, are very important.  Jesus wants his people to care for the poor, disenfranchised, and oppressed.  If, as our Lord said, we will always have the poor with us, then we will always have something to do.  In fact, compassionate ministry to the poor, or to children, or whoever, is an excellent first step into community involvement.  But there are even more people out there who need Jesus that compassionate ministries will never touch.

Being involved in our community recognizes that first, it’s not all about us.  Second, we are a part of our local community.  It is where our members live and work.  We cannot afford any longer to be concerned only for what happens on our campuses when what is happening all around us affects every one of us as it gets darker and darker, if we desire at all to be relevant to peoples’ lives.

The community we are a part of is full of people who desperately need the Lord, even though they may not be physically needy.  They simply live without regard for God; they are starving spiritually, and they do not even know it.  They are the people out “there.” They are our neighbors, co-workers and friends.  They are our business associates and they are leaders in the community, and many of them participate actively and engage in service through the nonprofit sector.  They are, frankly, the people who make the community work.  They are who we can partner with as we in any number of endeavors as we reach them with the Gospel by living it out in front of them.

How do we get involved in the community?

Read the local newspaper.  I’m shocked at how many local pastors neglect this.  Local papers contain what is happening to and around our people, and they are what everyone is talking about at work.  There are plenty of other outlets to get state, national and world news coverage, but local events are almost exclusively covered by the local paper. 

Partner with other churches and secular nonprofit organizations on something.

Join the Chamber of Commerce, and go to the meetings.  The local Chamber is one of central outlets that touch almost every sector of the community.  They are attended by business owners, nonprofit leaders and elected officials from almost every level.  They provide opportunity for visibility, information exchange and service opportunities.  (A church to which I once belonged was a member of the Chamber, but did not attend any events or meetings because alcohol often was served there… isn’t that exactly where we should be?)

Speaking of service, pastors should belong to local service clubs such as Rotary, Kiwanis, or Lions.  These provide direct links to serving the community through people who know the community needs at any given time.  They are good networking venues that allow us to build relationships without preaching or the pretense of always trying to get people to come to church – though that opportunity will come, too. 

These are just some of the most basic methods of community involvement beyond outreach that every church can engage in.  Get to know your community and the people who make it work and you will be amazed at how many people are working to make it better and help others, and are so close to God if only there was someone to show them the way. 

But they will never come in here – we have to go out there.