Neighborhood Ministries

Facebook is becoming the fastest  and most popular means of mass communication. Yet many churches do not utilize it effectively. It provides an easy way to communicate activities with members and let others know about the church. While a good website is important to let people know about a church, they cost and that makes them hard for small churches to afford. They also do not handle current activities well because they are difficult to keep up to date. Facebook pages often tell about activities in real time, and are free, but are difficult to put extensive information on about the church so it is good to have both. When people are looking for a church to visit, they often look to see if a church has a Facebook page to let them know what is going on. Many churches do not have contact information on their Facebook page. When I am looking for information on a church, I enter the churches name and city and State in the search engine. Most search engines can not be depended on for accuracy. I recently entered the name and location of a local church to see what they were doing. It brought up a church by that name but the page had no city and State. I sent a message to the church, only to find out it was in Texas. Apparently the local church doesn’t have a Facebook page. However, without a listed location, you have no way to know. You should list a phone number  so people can call the office if they want more information, such as whether the church is handicapped accessible. It is also good to have your address and service times if people look it up when the office isn’t open. When I travel, I often look for a local church to worship,  if there is no city and State, I don’t know if it is the local church or another one.   There should also be an address so people will know where the church is. The most important thing is to keep it up to date. Websites are usually fairly constant and people don’t expect regular updates but Facebook pages that are not updated regularly leave people wondering if the church is still open. I check some Facebook pages and they haven’t been updated in a couple years and I wonder if the church is still active. Even if all you post is the current week’s sermon topic, it lets people know the church is still active. By posting the activities for the week, it helps members to check what is going on in the coming week so they can plan for it. The more you post, the more attention you will draw. When I didn’t post anything, I had very few followers but when I started posting things from other sites, I drew a few more followers. When I started writing my own posts, it really took off, but when I started posting videos I made, it started attracting even more followers.

Welcoming Church-I often visit churches as part of my work. When I travel, I will often attend a church near the motel where I spend Saturday night. In addition, I often visit churches when I am working with a pastor to familiarize myself with the church. When I walk in, I am no different than any other person visiting the church. The people don’t know if I just moved into town and am seeking a church to attend or if I am merely passing through. The reception I get varies a great deal. Sometimes, I am warmly greeted and invited to return, but other  times I wonder if anyone noticed that I was visiting. Usually I am not familiar with the church and may have to ask directions to the sanctuary or the restrooms. That is usually a sure sign someone is a visitor because a regular attender would know where those were. If someone is visiting and looking for a church to attend, the reception they get will often determine whether they return. It is important to have people at the doors to greet people and direct visitors to where they need to go so they don’t end up wandering around aimlessly.  Those people need to be taught to provide whatever help visitors may  need. It not only makes their visit easier, it shows them that you care about them. Some way should be made to secure their information so the church can follow up. Some churches have an information center just inside the door staffed by greeters to direct people and get information on visitors. The greeters may have cards or you may put cards in the pew. If so, an announcement should be made during the opening of the service to encourage visitors to fill the cards out and give them to an usher in case they don’t notice them on their own. Once returned, the church needs to follow up. A card should be sent at the very least but a phone call is much better. Ideally, the pastor or a church leader should visit. It should be done in the first week if possible because the longer it is delayed, the least receptive the visitor will be. The church should also seek to get to know visitors to other events like VBS, Bible studies, potlucks and concerts. While people attending those events may have another church affiliation, people do attend who have no church affiliation and may be receptive to an invitation to  attend.

Welcoming Church-Many churches grew lazy in the mid-1900’s because they had a steady source of new members to replace those who died or moved away. Most people had a church background. Many who attended as a child and dropped out after leaving home, would return after they got married and started to have kids, so they kids would get Christian training in Sunday School. In addition, those who moved into town would seek out a church of the denomination that their previous church belonged to.  There were also evangelists like Billy Graham who reached the unchurched and then sent them to a church near where they lived. As a result, the churches didn’t have to reach out to the lost and many dropped their evangelism programs. Many churches have become complacent and don’t make any attempt to reach the unchurched, in spite of the fact that the number of those with a church background is shrinking as people drop out of church and never return. Their children are now growing up with no knowledge of church and see no reason to attend. Many church complain that their church is dying because they aren’t replacing those  that die or move away, yet they make no attempt to reach the growing number of the unchurched. Christ told His disciples to go into all the world and preach the Gospel, and while some churches still have mission programs to reach the lost in foreign countries, they make no effort to reach the lost in their neighborhood.