The church today is struggling. It must recognize the changes in the world around it. This details with how to deal with them. See course at
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Archive for the ‘Church ministry’ Category
Church Ministry-3V
17
Aug
I am often asked by pastors in underdeveloped countries how they can get training for their pastors. Frank Laubach was a missionary in the Philippines and forced to leave when WW II broke out. It left the people without any teachers. He developed a way for someone with a fourth grade education to teach reading to someone who could not read.
Child Evangelism developed a way that they could teach mothers to teach the kids in their neighborhood, even though the mothers had no formal Bible training by getting the mothers together and teaching them the lesson for the week. They didn’t have to know a lot, all they needed was to know the lesson they were to teach that week.
These things can help when there are no trained teachers. If a teacher teaches a student something, the student can go and teach it to others. They don’t have to know a lot, they just have to know more than the one they are teaching.
In many areas, it is hard for rural pastors to get together for training. However, if someone teaches those who are within ten miles of him in all directions, it creates a circle of knowledge 20 miles across. If they then teach those who are ten miles beyond them, it creates a circle of knowledge 40 miles across. If they then teach those ten miles beyond them, it creates a circle 60 miles across. Like ripples on a pond, the knowledge spreads.
Twelfth Sunday of Pentecost-B
17
Aug
Ministry to travelers – Few people think about those that travel, yet a large portion of our society travels at one time or other. Many travel by car and by plane but many also travel by bus. Many spend only a short at their destination before returning home. Most will stay in motels while away from home. Those who regularly attend church at home may or may not seek a church to attend while they are away. My wife and I usually seek a church to attend on Sunday when we are away from home. We usually do a computer search to find a church nearby and how to get to it, however many travelers may not be able to or may not want to take the time to research it. Motels used to have notebooks in each room with a list of nearby churches compiled by local ministerial groups, however I have not seen any for years. Searching usually requires going through the phone book to get names and then looking up their websites or Facebook page. Since we usually are not familiar with the area, we must then look up directions to them, to see if they are nearby. That is a lot of work. Unfortunately, many churches do not have addresses on their websites or Facebook page. I may look up First Church in Columbus, Oh and it will pull up a list of pages for First Church. Many of them may be in New York, Texas, Florida, or someplace else. If the site doesn’t list the city and State, you don’t know if it is the right one. If it doesn’t list an address, you have no way to know if it is nearby. Obviously, travelers are not going to visit them. Putting addresses on websites and Facebook pages would be a big help. It would also help those moving into an area find a new church home. Distributing a list of nearby churches to local churches with directions would help many travelers find a church to attend.
Twelfth Sunday of Pentecost-Aug 21-A
17
Aug
Truck Stop Ministry- Few people take any thought to the many trucks that travel our highways day and night. Many truckers have families that they don’t see for weeks at a time. Often, they are alone for long periods except for stops at truck stops to fuel, eat, and sleep. Drivers have long periods with nothing to do but think as they drive, or while they rest over layovers and while they may have passing conversations with truckers they pass, they often have little meaningful conversation. Truck stop ministries are springing up where truckers can stop and visit and where volunteers are glad to minister to their spiritual and social needs. Many ministries are getting trailers to use for worship services where Christian drivers can worship while they are on the road, since it is difficult for drivers to drive around town on Sunday morning looking for a church with a parking lot big enough to accommodate their rig.
Video-Winning the Lost
11
Aug
While Pentecost when the church concentrates on winning the Lost, is coming to a close, vacations are ending and school is starting, so people will be close to home. It is a good time to look at reaching families that may have been gone during the summer.
Eleventh Sunday of Pentecost-B
10
Aug
Inner city ministry The church has become so middle class oriented that most church members find the inner-city to be like a foreign country. Churches which grew up in the inner-city when it was a middle class neighborhood, are moving to the suburbs as their members become employed and move out and the neighborhood deteriorates into a slum. The problem is that in doing so, they leave their poorer and older members behind since they can not commute and there is no one left to minister to them. In addition, the church gives up its neighborhood base. Without a building in the inner-city, it is almost impossible to carry on a ministry there without renting a building and your motives will be suspect by residents who see you as an outside group trying to exploit them. The problem could be solved by keeping the inner-city church and building a satellite church in the suburbs. By building partnerships with inner-city churches, the rural and suburban church can help the inner-city church carry on ministry. Usually the members of such churches are poor and elderly. They do not have the money or personnel to carry on ministry. The churches outside the city can supply funds and personnel badly needed while the inner-city church can supply the facilities and the trust of the people, as well as a knowledge of the needs and how to meet those needs. As those from outside the city work in the inner-city, the learn about the need and how to minister to them. That information is helpful as many of those needs are moving to the suburbs which lacks the trained people to deal with them.
Eleventh Sunday of Pentecost-Aug 14-A
10
Aug
Homeless shelter ministry-Many people think of drunks and drug addicts when they think of homeless shelters but a growing number of families are ending up in shelters when they lose their housing. Life can be boring and never ending when there is very little to do, especially for children. Donations of magazines, books, toys, and personal items are always appreciated. In addition, volunteers are needed to provide activities. Churches with buses could take residents to free activities such as museums and collect money to pay their way to ball games, the zoo, or other activities, enabling them to get out and do things they might not otherwise be able to do. Many men and women could use help finding employment, getting their GED, or simply getting clothes suitable for job interviews. Even such things as haircuts and manicures are helpful.
Tenth Sunday of Pentecost-August 7
03
Aug
Hospital Ministry- Those in the hospital are often not there by choice. Many people hate to go to the hospital when they are sick or injured, though it is sometimes necessary. In unfamiliar circumstances, away from family and friends, and often unable to do many things they normally do. Staff do not have time to stop and chat so days are long and boring. I spent a number of times in the hospital as a child and a couple times as an adult and I don’t like it either. When I was a child, I always looked forward to the “gray ladies” (retired women who volunteered in the hospital and would bring around pop and ice cream in the afternoons and stop to talk) and the “candy strippers” named after the red and white stripped uniforms they wore(teen girls who volunteered in the hospital who brought around books, magazines, games, puzzles, and crafts in the evenings and spent time with us playing games and showing us how to make simple craft items). When I was in the hospital at age 40 for my hip replacement, no gray ladies or candy strippers came around during the week I was there. They tell me they get very few volunteers these days. Many tell me they hate to visit friends or family in the hospital because it is so depressing. If you feel hospitals are depressing, think how the patients feel. In addition, many people work and don’t have a lot of time to visit. Lastly, many people have no friends or family close by who can visit. Days are long when someone is confined to bed all day and although hospitals have TV sets, they get old after awhile.
Sixth Sunday of Pentecost-B
04
Jul
Ministry To Travelers-Many Christians like to get away and go camping on weekends to relax with the family but often don’t know the churches in nearby towns and don’t know if the churches will welcome strangers. In addition, those driving big motor homes don’t want to leave their lot to drive the motor home around town looking for a church and don’t have a second vehicle to drive. They welcome churches that provide worship services at the campground or provide transportation to nearby churches. Many people traveling stop at motels but do not know their way around town. They may look up churches in the phone book but not know the times of services or how to get to the addresses listed. Calling the numbers listed in the phone book often doesn’t help since few churches offices are staffed on weekends. Local ministerial groups can arrange with motels to leave notebooks in the rooms listing nearby churches listing times of services and maps to assist guests in finding them.
Sixth Sunday of Pentecost-A July 10
04
Jul
Trailer park/apartment complex ministry-When I was first starting out, I was asked to help a Presbyterian Church that was dying. After I got the church back on its feet and it felt it could call a full time pastor, my wife and I bought a small trailer and moved into a nearby trailer park while we sought the Lord for direction. Several in the park knew I was a pastor and asked me to start a Bible study. We started visiting those who lived in the park and within three months, we had three small house churches started. Many residents have no friends or family nearby and are seeking fellowship but there is nothing for them. Families living in the park or complex can start small groups in their home by getting to know their neighbors and inviting them to join them. Children in such parks and complexes often have little to do and eagerly attend outside Bible Stories. However, residents and managers are often very suspicious of groups outside the park who come in and try to get residents to come to their church so it helps to have someone living in the complex. Such parks and complexes now often have community rooms available for residents to meet in when the group outgrows an apartment or trailer or when residents want to hold activities for children or families.