Neighborhood Ministries

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.