Children’s activities My wife and I have lived in Trailer parks (now called Mobile Home parks) throughout our marriage. Previously, trailers were usually small and easily moved and many residents moved frequently. People rarely bother to get to know their neighbors because they would move soon although more trailers are becoming bigger and harder to move. There is rarely anything for the kids to do. Many parents let their children roam the neighborhood without any supervision and they often get into trouble trying to create their own activities. The same goes for large apartment complexes where there are a lot of families. Parents and managers of mobile home parks and apartment complexes are often happy to see someone organize supervised activities for children to keep them out of trouble. Managers may be reluctant if an outside group wants to start it but are more willing if it is headed by a family in the park. Other managers may just be glad someone wants to start it. Many mobile home parks and apartment complexes now have community rooms for activities but they are seldom used because there is no one to organize activities. Such activities draw kids and provide contacts with their parents that open the door to developing a relationship with the parents. People in general are becoming more isolated from those around them, even in neighborhoods o permanent houses. Many neighborhoods have become more dangerous and parents don’t want their kids running the neighborhood without supervision and keep them cooped up in the house. As a result, many people in permanent housing neighborhoods are becoming as isolated as mobile home parks and apartment complexes and need children’s activities as well. Such activities should be out of concern for the lost, not just to keep the kids out of trouble. When I first went to work with the Salvation Army, I saw a lot of clients from a low-income housing project. I knew from experience that there was little for the children to do and little contact between mothers and so I organized an after-school program for the kids during the summer. I enlisted a church nearby to run it and enlisted a woman from the church to assist me in visiting the mothers to organize a mother’s club. The after-school program attracted a lot of kids who eventually started attending the church’s Wednesday night children’s program. Unfortunately, the church did not support the work to reach the mothers in the complex. It also dropped the after-school program once they got a good number of kids from the project attending their Wednesday night program. Unfortunately, while having active children’s programs make churches look good, the programs are expensive and not very effective if they don’t work to reach the parents as well. It has often been difficult getting churches to support the trailer park ministries. Many churches don’t do outside ministries because they don’t want “THOSE” kind of people (the unchurched) in their church and unchurched kids are often unruly since they weren’t raised by Christian parents.
Archive for the ‘Church ministry’ Category
Tenth Sunday of Pentecost -Jul 21
Reaching the Lost in your neighborhood-Pentecost is a good time to renew your resolve to reach those who have never heard the Gospel. While many Christians still think of the United States as a Christian nation, since the 1960’s, many children have grown up with no contact with the church. Many families don’t attend church and usually won’t send their children to Sunday School but will allow them to attend neighborhood activities. Many members have no idea that many of their neighbors have no church connection. The best place to start is where they are. Now is a good time to begin planning ways to reach those in your neighborhood who have never heard the Gospel. While many Christians feel that unbelievers are generally resistant to the Gospel, most have never heard the Gospel and see no reason to attend church, but would if they had a reason to. Possibilities for getting to know your neighbors include visiting neighbors to get to know them, starting a neighborhood children’s Bible club, having a backyard BBQ for the neighbors, and many more. You won’t know who doesn’t go to church until you meet them. While some may attend church somewhere, the chances are that the majority have no church connection, let alone actually attending.
Ninth Sunday of Pentecost-July 10
Personal Outreach People today are surrounded with appeals. Many have learned to tune them out. As a result, advertising and promotions which have been effective in the past no longer move people. Years ago I was out of work and got hired by a telemarketing group to recruit volunteers for non-profit organizations like the Red Cross, the Cancer Society, and similar organizations. They had found that traditional advertising didn’t work as well as before and began hiring companies to contact individuals on a block looking for someone who would mail out appeals to their neighbors on the block, because people responded to a letter from a neighbor more readily than from an organization. Often when people see a letter is from an organization they don’t belong to, they will throw it away and not even open it. A letter from a neighbor will make them curious. The church has always been effective because of the relationships of members with those around them. That is even more important today as people become increasingly isolated emotionally. It has resulted in large numbers of people feeling lonely even in the middle of a crowd. Door-to-door canvasing is better than media campaigns but not nearly as effective as neighbors visiting neighbors. The vast number of people visiting a church today do so at the personal invitation of a friend or neighbor. However a single visit is not nearly as effective as when members build a relationship through ongoing contacts with their neighbors. Members need to build a personal relationship with their neighbors to gain credibility. It is easy to say you care about someone but talk is cheap. Continual visits show that you really do care about them and aren’t just out collecting people to fill the pews. Trust is in short supply because they see so many people, including churches that are just out for their money. It will often take several visits before they begin to see that you are sincere and that they can trust you. Once they begin to trust you, they will be more willing to listen to what you have to say.
Eighth Sunday of Pentecost-July 7
Personal witness-The most effective way to reach those outside the church is through the personal witness of members. As members fellowship and interact with other believers, their lives are changed and they grow into the likeness of Christ and become the witness God desires. As members are changed, those around them will notice the difference and desire that kind of life. Unfortunately few church members today grow spiritually because the churches have drifted away from Christ and have become little more than social clubs. Members may attend church together for years and never get to know those around them. There is no close interaction of members with spiritual leaders to enable them to grow spiritually through watching spiritual leaders in action. There needs to be active mentoring of new members by those who are spiritually mature. Unfortunately, many church leaders are chosen for their business ability, not their spiritual maturity, so they do not provide good spiritual role models to follow. Up until the middle of the last century, the church was often the center of the community. It held Vacation Bible Schools, church dinners, and concerts where many in the community attended. However, few outside the church attend church activities today. If the church is to reach the lost, it must go where they are. In addition, church members must be trained to reach out to those around them and establish contacts that will enable them to recognize needs and respond to them. The early church attracted new members when unbelievers saw the love they had for each other and those around them, however the church today has isolated itself and does not provide opportunities for unbelievers to see that love.
Seventh Sunday of Pentecost-June 30
Fishers of Men-Christ told His disciples, if they would follow Him, He would make them fishers of men. His admonition was not only for the disciples, but for all who would follow Him. The pastor has very few contacts outside the church, so he has little opportunity to draw people into the church. However, the members are in constant contact with unbelievers at work, at school, as they shop, and as they interact with their neighbors who have no contact with a church. If they are actively seeking God’s will for them, their lives will be changed and will differ drastically from those who still walk in the ways of the world. As those around us see the change that takes place in us, and how we differ from unbelievers, they will be led to seek the source of that difference. It will open an opportunity for members to invite them to church and show them the source that can make a difference in their life. The church is not a fortress to protect us from the world but a haven of rest in the daily fight. It is like a ship in the midst of a sea of drowning people and we are called to lead those struggling in the water to the ship. There are people dying all around you and you may be the only one available to lead them to safety and eternal life.
Sixth Sunday of Pentecost June-23
Engage the Community Unfortunately, many church members today isolate themselves from those outside the church and unbelievers have no opportunity to get to know them. Many Christians organize their life around church and have very little social contact with those outside the church. They often distance themselves from those they have contact with and have little social contact with them. Where people used to live close to work and socialize outside work, many people now travel long distances to work and have no social contact with co-workers outside church. Believers must develop ways to connect with unbelievers. When members belong to a congregation of spirit-filled believers, they learn to recognize each other’s needs and minister to them. Their experience also enables them to recognize needs in those outside the church and minister to them. However, if members do not learn to recognize needs and minister to them in the church, they will not recognize needs in those outside the church and know how to minister to them. . The best way to connect with unbelievers is through meeting the needs of those around you through Christian service. There are many Christian Social Service organizations that provide opportunity to minister to those around them. Many organizations provide training as well.
Fifth Sunday of Pentecost-June 16
Reaching the Lost-Many churches say they want to reach those outside the church but do little to bring them in. Most churches feel that if people want to come, they will come without any prompting. Fifty years ago that was reasonable because most people had church in their background and if they drifted away after high school, they often came back when they had children so the children could have the advantage of a church upbringing but most people today have no church in their background for several generations and have no idea what church is and what it has to offer so they see no need to go. Some churches may make big displays through Madison Av-type evangelistic programs, but they draw very few beyond their own membership because people today are bombarded with Madison Ave advertising and have learned to tune it out. Many churches make no attempt to engage those who come from outside the church for curiosity or entertainment and those who come often don’t feel welcome and don’t stay. The church will not be able to reach the unchurched unless they go where they are and minister to their needs. The mission field is no longer just overseas but is now all around us and every member must be a missionary to those they meet during the week.
Fourth Sunday of Pentecost-June 9
Engage visitors-It takes more than merely recognizing that someone is visiting. Many churches not only fail to recognize visitors, but they also fail to engage them. It is important to engage visitors and let them know that you are glad they have visited. It will inspire them to come back again and maybe become a part of the congregation. They may not live in the area and are only visiting, but they will still appreciate your contact, and will be more likely to visit again when they are in the area. In addition, they may have friends or relatives that live in the area and may recommend your church to them, if they don’t already have a church. Many churches fail to follow up on visitors. If a visitor is not engaged after a meeting and is not visited soon after their visit, they often don’t return, because those people come for a reason. People are looking for a place to feel they belong and if they are ignored, they will look elsewhere. Someone from the congregation should get their name and address and arrange to visit them to get to know them and introduce them to what the church has to offer them so they will have a reason to come back, and not leave it to the pastor. The visit should take place within the following week if possible as it is less effective the longer it is delayed, since they may decide to visit somewhere else the following Sunday, if they didn’t feel welcome. The pastor should actively train visitation workers to visit those who visit the church because a church that ministers to those who attend will grow and the pastor cannot do it alone.
Third Sunday of Pentecost-June 2
Recognizing visitors–Many pastors and church boards tell me that few people visit the church. Yet when I ask about a person or family that I saw visiting, they often didn’t notice. I often visit churches and often leave wondering if I was even noticed. Though the churches are often not close to where I live, they have no way of knowing that. I could be someone who just moved into the area and am looking for a church. Many churches have no way to recognize visitors. The ushers can carry visitor cards and pass them out to those visiting or the church can have pew cards in the pews for visitors to fill out. Ushers are the front line when it comes to visitors. They are usually the first to meet them and are familiar with many who attend church. If they see someone wandering around looking for the sanctuary or the rest rooms, it is a good bet that person isn’t a regular attender. Even though visitors are more easily recognized in Sunday School than in the sanctuary, few Sunday School teachers record visitor information in their classes. As a result, many visitors go unrecognized. In addition, the church can have many activities like Vacation Bible School, potlucks, and visiting singers that attract visitors who have no church home. It takes courage to visit a large group of strangers and if the group does not recognize them and greet them, they rarely come back. Ushers and church leaders need to actively seek to identify visitors during every activity. One declining church I took over as pastor rented their Sunday School rooms to a government poverty program to help pay upkeep on the church. They wanted me to find another source of income so they could get rid of the program. The program drew about fifty people from the local community every week. It took me a while to convince the church to stop trying to chase the people out and begin inviting them in.