The Lewis Center for Church Leadership from The Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D,C., United States for Wednesday, 7 November 2018 "Leading Ideas: Worship Under the Bridge and Never Fail to Attend Because You Can't Contribute"
The Lewis Center for Church Leadership from The Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D,C., United States for Wednesday, 7 November 2018 "Leading Ideas: Worship Under the Bridge and Never Fail to Attend Because You Can't Contribute"
Bishop Robert Schnase tells the story of a Texas congregation sharing ministry with its homeless neighbors in relational and empowering ways. This powerful example of risk-taking mission began with the simple desire to learn about people's circumstances and ask, "What do you need?"Two people, a married couple, actively belonging to a faith community in New Braunfels, Texas, began to experience a particularly strong nudging. It was a question, nagging and persistent: Where do homeless people in our community go each day? Who are they? How do they live, and where do they find shelter? They had seen people who had no homes, but when they asked around they were told that “there are no homeless in New Braunfels.”
The couple kept asking questions and eventually learned why — technically — that was true. Most of the homeless were routinely picked up and taken outside the city limits and left there. The couple persisted, still asking the same questions. Eventually they found small camps located near the interstate, under the bridge of the Guadalupe River, and behind abandoned buildings.
What do you need?
Emboldened by their faith and their spirit of openness, they drove up to the camps, got out of their cars, and gently approached the men and women. In each of these encounters, the couples asked simply, “What do you need?” Socks. Underwear. Food. Batteries. The couple brought those items to the camps and stayed to visit. They listened and shared stories. There were awkward moments and beautiful ones — and laughter. They began to form relationships. Every Saturday they went in search of people their community did not want to see.
Worshiping together
They began to wonder if they might help in other ways. Specifically, they wondered if their friends without homes would like to participate in prayer or worship or even Holy Communion. This idea was welcomed. So, they asked their pastor to come. She did. They worshiped and prayed and shared the sacrament. They gathered again and again. The people in the camps, the couple, the pastor, and a few other everyday disciples from Gruene United Methodist Church decided to make worship under the bridge a regular monthly event. Someone made a promotional flyer, printed copies, and handed them out at the camps and around town.
At 8:45 on Saturday morning, a small team of people from the congregation met at the church to load the trucks with tables and chairs, breakfast and coffee, a generator and music equipment. They carried boxes of clothing, collected earlier in the week as an offering for their homeless neighbors. Folks had also gathered that week to assemble bags of food, enough to last a person for a few days. Those bags were loaded up, too. Someone from the music team created song sheets and made copies so that everybody could participate. Musicians showed up with their instruments. The person from the congregation who had prepared a brief message arrived with notes in hand. The elements for Holy Communion were carefully packed and loaded in the back of a car. These folks who attended the church, others from the community, and people without homes from the various camps all made their way to the designated location, beneath the interstate, along the river’s edge. There they had church. There they were church.
Grace abounds
The next month, on the appointed Saturday, something unexpected happened. The trucks were loaded, song sheets copied, message written, food bags and communion elements all prepared. When the people from outside the homeless community arrived, they were met by a welcoming party made up of their homeless friends who had left the homeless camps early that morning and gathered at the worship site. They swept the dirt to remove cigarette butts, emptied the trash, and made their space ready. They worked elbow-to-elbow with people from the church to unload the truck. They set up tables and chairs. It took off from there. The people who lived in the homeless camp took on the task of welcoming people before worship — they became greeters. They distributed the flyers, inviting people to their church by the river. They enlarged the circle of worshipers, inviting people who slept in their cars and the working poor who simply couldn’t make ends meet.
Many weeks earlier, that couple from the church just knew there were people living without homes in their town, and they decided to serve God by helping them. Those very people were now welcoming them, singing songs of praise, praying and receiving Christ with them, and serving God by helping them as their brothers and sisters in Christ.
This material is excerpted from Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, Revised and Updated (Abingdon Press, 2018) by Robert Schnase. Used by permission. The book is available at Cokesbury and Amazon.
Robert Schnase became Bishop of the Rio Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church beginning September 1, 2016, after serving as Bishop of the Missouri Conference. He has written many books, most recently, Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, Revised and Updated (Abingdon Press, 2018), available at Cokesburyand Amazon.
Lovett H. Weems, Jr., explains that while only a few members of your church may be currently experiencing hard times, most of the others live with the reality that they could face hard times some day. And they will feel better about giving to a church that acknowledges that reality.The Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons are often filled, as they should be, with admirable efforts to help those with limited financial means. Most of this help goes to people outside our congregations, again, quite appropriately, since churches exist to serve others. These seasons should also remind us, however, that there are members of our congregations going through hard times.
Some in your congregation may be experiencing a difficult period in their lives due to their recent circumstances. The loss of a job, the breakup of a marriage, or the sickness of a family member can turn lives upside down emotionally and financially. Find ways in all you do to acknowledge such diverse life situations, as you also offer the appropriate pastoral care.
Stewardship appeals should acknowledge the financially challenged
In your stewardship campaign, even as you encourage people to increase their proportional giving, become tithers, and move beyond tithing, never forget to acknowledge those who are in challenging places financially. Always add something such as, “Remember that if you are out of work or have had a financial setback, tell us on your commitment card that you cannot make a pledge at this time. This is our time to help you. Above all, don’t ever fail to attend just because you can’t contribute.”
Everyone feels good about being in a caring church
Some of you may say, “Those who are unemployed or suffering financial hardship represent a small portion of our congregation. Why would we want to reference them in our communication to everyone? Why don’t we just go to them individually?” You should, but you still need to acknowledge this group publicly — if for no other reason than you can never know the true personal circumstances of everyone.
But there’s a more important reason. You may not have many people unemployed at any given time, but you have a church full of folks who know they could become unemployed. And when they hear that reality acknowledged, they don’t think, “This doesn’t apply to me.” They are glad to belong to a church so sensitive and caring. Often those who are financially secure themselves have children or others about whom they care deeply who are going through hardship.
Ways to help
Your language matters, but your actions matter even more. Finding specific ways to help people sends an important signal that your church cares about its members and provides practical help. Ask church members with human resources training, career counseling, or other relevant experience to meet with those looking for jobs. Offer financial planning workshops to help people with the basics of budgeting, debt, saving, and other financial matters. Whatever mechanisms the church uses to support those in need beyond the church can be used or supplemented to provide modest assistance for members in the most need.
Yes, these are the days when we think especially of those in need. Be sure to include those who are closer to you than you may think.
Lovett H. Weems, Jr., is senior consultant at the Lewis Center for Church Leadership, professor of church leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary, and author of several books on leadership.
The Right Question
Leaders do not need answers. Leaders must have the right questions.
Churches often have an image of what new members might look like. Chances are that churches similar to yours are seeking those same people. Try using this question to spark new ideas.
1. Who are the people in our community that all churches are overlooking?
To answer this vital question you need to track giving accurately according to your church's unique pattern of giving -- not simply the budget divided by 12 months. Our Congregational Giving Profile Video Tool Kit helps you track finances based on the way people in your church actually give, establishing a more meaningful system of monitoring and reporting progress on your budget.
Churches can no longer open their doors and expect that people will come in. Effective congregations go into the world to encounter those in need of the gospel. 50 Ways to Take Church to the Communityprovides tips on reaching beyond the walls of your church with worship, community events, ministries, and service.
Embrace an expansive concept of community
Learn to regard your community as an extension of your congregation. A church’s mission field goes beyond its membership to include all the people God calls it to serve. You are connected to individuals who never set foot in your building.
Know that what’s happening within the church — preaching, worship, music, Bible study — is no longer enough to attract people in an age when church attendance is no longer a cultural expectation.
Don’t sit in your church building waiting for people to come. Be prepared to meet people where they are.
Prepare spiritually
Acknowledge the synergy between the Great Commandment in Matthew 22 (love your neighbor as yourself) and the Great Commission in Matthew 28 (go and make disciples). Evangelistic outreach expresses our love of others.
Remember that Jesus primarily engaged people through everyday encounters, rather than in the Temple or synagogues. He fed people, met their everyday needs, and enjoyed the fellowship of others.
Express love and compassion for your community in big and small ways. Avoid judgmentalism.
Pray regularly for your neighbors and lift up community concerns.
Attend to the faith formation of existing members. Willingness to share faith and reach out to others develops as one grows in faith and discipleship.
Prepare spiritually for the transformation that creative, risk-taking outreach will bring.
Get to know the community surrounding your church
Review demographic data from public, private, and denominational sources, but don’t assume that statistics alone will tell the whole story.
Get out in your neighborhood. Walk the streets. Map the area, and record your observations. Note how the community is changing.
Assess community needs and assets. What are the needs of your context? Who are your neighbors, and how can you serve them?
Be attuned to where God is already at work in your community.
Listen and learn
Know that ministries that truly bless a community often arise out of conversations where you listen for the hopes and dreams of people in your community.
Interview residents of the community. Sit in a park, diner, or coffee house. Ask simply, “What are your challenges, hopes, longings and dreams?”
Get to know the major public officials. They are people with tremendous influence. They need to know of your church’s commitment to the community.
Involve many people from your church in this work. Hold one another accountable to the tasks of engaging and learning from others.
Discern clusters of issues and concerns that arise from these conversations. Ask what issues, suffering, injustices, or brokenness might you address.
Build authentic relationships
Strive for meaningful engagement with others, not superficial gestures.
Make sure you are reaching out to people for the right reasons. If your motive is simply to get them to come to church, people will see right through to it.
Maintain appropriate boundaries, and respect all with whom you engage.
Collaborate with others who are also passionate about the community. Don’t reinvent the wheel if you can partner with someone else serving the community.
Turn your existing ministries outward
Challenge each church group with an inside focus to find a way to become involved with the community outside the church. A choir might sing at a nursing home, or trustees could sponsor a neighborhood clean-up.
Extend recruiting and advertising for church groups and events to audiences beyond your congregation. For example, recruit for choir members in a local paper or community list serve.
Build relationships with those taking part in existing programs that serve the community, such as ELS classes, food pantry or clothes bank users, daycare families, etc.
Reach out through community events
Plan “bridge events” designed explicitly to draw people from the community by providing for them something they need or enjoy — block parties, free concerts, seasonal events, parenting classes, sports camps, or school supply giveaways, etc. Source: Get Their Name by Bob Farr, Doug Anderson, and Kay Kotan (Abingdon Press, 2013)
Hold these events off church property or outside the church walls in venues where people feel comfortable and naturally congregate.
Get the word out through a well-planned publicity campaign.
Encourage church members to invite their friends and neighbors. It is less threatening for them to invite someone to a community event than to worship.
Avoid explicitly religious themes: no preaching, prayers, pressure, or financial appeals that might turn people off or reinforce negative stereotypes about church.
Remember, the event itself is not the purpose. The purpose is to meet people where they are and build relationships. Mingle. Get to know people.
Have a well-trained hospitality team. Make sure guests are enjoying themselves and know their attendance is appreciated.
Gathering people’s names and information about them will permit follow up to those for whom it is appropriate.
Invite those who attend community events to another event — sometimes called a “hand off event” — planned to draw them into a deeper relationship.
Extend your congregation’s spiritual presence beyond church walls
Recognize that many “unchurched” people are spiritually inclined but apprehensive about attending church because they feel unwelcome, distrust institutions, or have been hurt in the past.
Pay attention to the heightened receptiveness to spiritual engagement around religious holidays such as Easter and Christmas.
Offer offsite worship services on special days, such as Christmas Eve, Palm Sunday, and Easter. Select familiar venues where people feel comfortable — parks, restaurants, parking lots, coffee houses.
Offer imposition of ashes on Ash Wednesday in public places.
Partner with other institutions (such as nursing homes, hospitals, or prisons) or commercial establishments (restaurants, bars, shopping centers, or sports facilities) to offer worship services to their constituents or clientele on special days.
Plan creative outdoor events, such as live nativities or “blessing of the animals” services, to help make your church visibly present to the community in creative ways.
Hold your Vacation Bible School in a local park or recreation center. Canvas nearby neighborhoods to invite families.
Reach out to local media. Community outreach is often newsworthy, and reporters are often looking for religiously themed stories around the holidays.
Connect spiritual outreach to community service
Acknowledge that many served through feeding and clothing ministries, justice ministries, weekday children’s services, and other ministries of community service have no other connections with our churches.
Ask if these ministries inadvertently convey an “us and them” attitude or communicate that “you are not worthy of joining us.”
Identify aspects of church life, such as characteristics of the building or how people dress, that may make some feel unwelcome. Are there alternatives that may reduce barriers for some to enter?
Treat everyone as a person of dignity who deserves respect.
Extend genuine hospitality to those you serve.
Focus first on building relationships of understanding and trust.
Consider adding a spiritual or discipleship element to community service activities but without any sense of expectation or requirement. For example, have a service or study following ESL classes for any interested.
Seek to conduct each activity in a way that connects people to God and the church.
This new Lewis Center online course examines the historic significance and contemporary relevance of class leaders, a role essential to the success of early Methodism and an effective means of nurturing discipleship. The first 50 enrollees may take advantage of a scholarship for free tuition.
This is not the first time that the United States has had to incorporate new peoples into society. Almost always, doing so had made the country richer, more vibrant, and more economically successful.(William H. Frey)
This ten-session video-based congregational study featuring biblical scholar N.T. Wright addresses questions of the reasonableness of the Christian faith in the modern world. Simply Christian is an excellent course for both established believers and seekers and is ideal for your congregation's small groups, adult Bible studies, and Sunday School classes.
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