BCM/D Annual

‘Community’ is a popular word in churches. We talk about ‘reaching our community’ and ‘engaging our community.’ We want visitors to feel that our church can offer a ‘community to connect with’ and ‘get plugged in to.’ We all know that community is important, that connecting with our surrounding community is part of our very mission as the body of Christ. So, why is it so difficult to truly connect with our community?

As you look across our convention, our churches are all uniquely and divinely placed within different cultures and contexts…different communities. Since each local church context is different, the strategies to ‘connect with our communities’ will need to be different. If you hear of a wildly successful outreach event at a church in the next town, there are no guarantees that following their formula will yield the same results for your church. If your community has a different culture with different needs, your strategy must also be different.

Although there may be significant differences from one community to the next (sometimes even within the same town) there are some fundamental strategies in Scripture that every church can apply when trying to connect with their community:

1. People, not programs—

   Luke 19:10 tells us that “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Jesus didn’t come to develop outreach strategies, to create curriculum or to tour the Christian conference circuit. Jesus cared about people, He came to seek out non-believers and to save them. We’re given The Great Commission in Matthew 28, commanding us to make disciples of all nations. Programming, planning and strategizing are important…but loving people is vital.

2. Partnership, not competition—

   Jesus was the ultimate community organizer. He hand-picked key leaders and motivated people to action by focusing on issues that they cared about. My home church, Calvary Baptist of Bel Air, MD partnered with First Baptist of Aberdeen, MD to provide backpacks and school supplies to over 70 children in Aberdeen. The supplies were donated by children attending VBS at CBC/Bel Air. The backpacks were packed by volunteers from CBC/Bel Air, then distributed by volunteers from both churches during a block party at FBC/Aberdeen. By meeting a need, over 70 families had a positive experience with FBC/Aberdeen that day. Are you willing to overlook ‘territory’ and find common ground with other believers for the greater good?

3. Give it away, for free—

   Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Every fall in Bel Air, one block from our church, is the Bel Air Festival of the Arts. Thousands of people swarm to town for the event and parking is difficult to find. This year we contacted the festival organizers and offered our parking lot to them. We provided free refreshments, a comfort station, moon bounces and free shuttle service to and from the event. People couldn’t understand why a church would do this, for free. We gave out a gift bag to every car that left our lot, over 450 bags! More than 450 people had a positive experience with CBC/Bel Air that day.

Do you spend more time talking about connecting with your community than you do actually interacting with them? Do you see other churches as a threat or as partner in our shared goal of making disciples? Do you demonstrate Christ to your community by serving them, with no strings attached?

How has your church succeeded in connecting with your community? How has your church failed at connecting with your community? We can all learn a lot from each other’s experiences, let’s talk about it in the comments section!

Wally Yocum
Minister of Youth and Contemporary Worship
Calvary Baptist Church, Bel Air, MD
Follow on twitter at @WallyYocum