Neighborhood Ministries

Assisting Neighbors-Assist with yard work. As people get older, they often cannot do many things they used to do, such as shoveling snow, raking leaves, or mowing the lawn and it is getting very hard to get people to do the work. In addition, we face a growing number of single women and families headed by women who need assistance. Professional people are often way too expensive for those on limited incomes. Teens used to do the work to earn spending money but many parents now give the kids money to buy a lot of things they used to earn money to get for themselves. In addition, many kids are so busy with sports and other school activities that they no longer have time to do such work. A neighbor mowing their own lawn or shoveling their own walk can easily mow an extra lawn or shovel an extra walk and it is a good way to teach teens the value of a dollar or the joy of helping someone in need. In addition, those out of work could use the money. While it doesn’t pay like a full time job, it provides a little money until a job can be found.

Adult Tutoring- Many students today, especially boys, drop out of school before graduating and many who graduated from high school before the implementation of “No Child Left Behind”, can not read and write because they had trouble in school and were just passed from grade to grade. Many classes today teach by memorizing words rather than learning how to figure out words on their own. As a result, many adults read very little because they have never learned to read adequately. Many such people are unable to get decent paying jobs and often can not get any steady work and can not afford classes to bring them up to an adequate level to get a good job. Often tutors can bring them up to an adequate level in just a couple years of part-time tutoring. Many schools and social agencies provide classes to help adults achieve high school equivalent degrees but adult tutors are needed to teach evening classes in reading and Math, as well as basic computer skills to enable participants to deal with the demands of everyday life since many jobs today require computer experience.

Special Events in the park like Church picnics give the church an enjoyable time of fellowship but can also serve as a valuable way to reach those who don’t attend church. Large community events like fireworks displays that draw crowds also provide excellent opportunities. Games and activities for adults and kids can attract those outside the church if the church is open to inviting and including them. A table with snacks or a picnic meal also may attract kids playing nearby and church kids can be encouraged to invite kids playing nearby. Church families can also invite their neighbors to come with them and members of neighborhood Bible Clubs will get a chance to meet the larger church. Pavilions often have electric outlets and the church can set up a screen and show children’s videos. If electric is not available, someone can do a chalk drawing or paint a picture while telling the story that goes with it. Be sure to have literature on hand telling about your church. As the people get to know church members, they may be willing to join in other activities the church has.

Neighborhood Center Ministry-Poor areas have many problems caused by poverty. Lack of transportation makes it difficult to get assistance from agencies and there are many needs that agencies can’t help. The Salvation Army has developed the greatest network of neighborhood centers of any church. Each church is usually in a poverty area and provides not only a religious center but social services and community programs. People coming to get social services become aware of religious services and other services. Formerly, churches were centers for community activities since they had the only facilities for community gatherings other than schools. Many churches today close their facilities to non-members. Any church today, especially those in poverty areas and rural areas, should be a community center ministering to social needs around them, as well as their spiritual needs. Ministering to the community often leads non-church people to ask why they do it opening the doors to tell them about the Love of God.

Meeting A Need-If there is a need in your area and there is no one meeting that need, you may  consider organizing a ministry through your church or in your community. The small groups may check to see if there are nearby residents needing lawns cut, snow shoveling of simple repairs. If the group doesn’t have anyone available, they can ask neighboring groups. Churches often claim they don’t have the resources. Some needs may be beyond the resources of the local small group. Churches often claim they don’t have the resources. In the mid-1970’s, I belonged to a house church consisting of only six families. They became concerned about the large number of suicides in the area after I told them about the hour, I had spent the previous week on a railroad bridge with a teenage girl who could not decide whether to jump. They set out to organize a crisis hotline and contacted Contact International and with their help laid plans for a crisis phone line for the county. In only 12 months, the members of that church gathered 129 volunteer phone workers and trained them, and secured enough voluntary contributions to support a phone bill of almost $1500 a month, plus cover utilities and rent for an office, to provide a place where people could call toll-free 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from anywhere in the county. They went on the phones only a year after we began planning and are still serving their community to this day, after 44 years of continuous phone service. They drastically cut the suicide rate in their area. If a church of only six families can do that, what can a church of 100 or more families do?