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If you’re wondering what your next church community outreach event should be for your small church, follow along for new ways to uncover community needs you might have never considered. Keep reading to learn:
- 3 elements that can help your small church find its unique calling to church community outreach.
- How to conduct community listening sessions to uncover needs and deepen relationships.
- Your next step in responding to needs is based on congregation skills and passion areas.
It’s Not About The Numbers
As small churches, we often exchange the idea of the fruitfulness of ministry with effectiveness or efficiency. However, it’s not like that at all. It’s not about how many people come or how many people are involved, it’s about the people who are there. It’s about the fruitfulness of the ministry. We can do powerfully creative things with 30 people that, honestly, couldn’t be done with a bigger group. I want to remind you that even in bigger churches and megachurches, they have the same problems. Their budget isn’t enough either. They are struggling to find volunteers too.
Please, don’t get caught up with the numbers! Jesus Christ lived an interruptible life, and as small churches, we are uniquely positioned to be interruptible as well. If you have a bigger church, you have to keep everyone happy. You are catering to hundreds of people who are all wanting different things. However, the agility that small churches bring is something to be celebrated. We get to do things differently, not better or worse, just different!
What Does A Healthy Small Church Look Like?
Some things are a little more obvious than others. I believe that a healthy church is a church that prays. Being in prayer as a church is vital. Another thing that is more unique and not necessarily as obvious, is whether or not a church is still investing and involved in the community of people around them.
There are a lot of churches, especially when a crisis hits, that turn their focus inward and just become a church of sustenance, with the goal of solely sustaining themselves. This is deadly. This is a sign of an unhealthy church because it’s not fulfilling the mission they’ve been given. That being said, churches that continue to focus outwardly, even if they have modest means to do it, are healthy churches. They are passionate about serving the community in real and tangible ways.
Another sign of church health is when churches continue to be innovative and creative in how we apply the reality of the gospel to our local context. As small churches, we shouldn’t just be hitting repeat on everything we’ve been doing. Times are changing, and we have to start thinking about ministry in a different way. Churches that aren’t afraid to take risks, be courageous, and fail a little, are churches that tend to be really healthy.
3 Steps To Effective Church Community Outreach
1. Curate A Culture Of Curiosity
As a church, we should not be retreating inward. We should be investing in the community members around us, especially when things get hard. I encourage you to see who is truly part of your community. If there are people who don’t look like you or who live different lives than you, ask how you can serve them. Encourage your congregation to start asking these questions. We are called to take care of these people. Start asking how you can better understand them.
2. Have A Listening Session
Have a listening session with those in your community. You could meet with judges, city council people, or even the fire and police chief. Invite people to your church building so they can tell you the community’s needs. You can create the biggest impact! Approach them by saying something like, “How can we, as the combined church, start to serve you? What are your needs?”
Sit down with these people and let them know you don’t have an agenda. You aren’t doing this to get more people to walk through your church doors. Let them know that all you want to do is serve them and help them in the ways that they need!
3. Have The Courage To Respond
After hearing the needs of your local community, you have to come up with creative ways to respond. The key here is actually having the courage to do it. Understandably, it can be intimidating going into this knowing you have maybe 5 volunteers, including yourself, who can help. However, that’s where your creativity comes in. How can you scale it to fit your numbers? Could you partner with other churches to help get things done in impactful ways? Collaborate to collectively serve the Kingdom.
Church Community Outreach Is Vital To Church Health
Rather than isolating your church out of desperation to survive, I encourage you to reach outward. Involve yourself and invest in the community around you. Intently listen to the people in your community. Find creative solutions to meet their specific needs, and simply love them. Show them the love of Christ!
Read More:
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