Neighborhood Ministries

Dwell in Unity-God wants us to not only love Him, but to love those He created as well As others see the love we have for each other, they will want that love and want to know the God who is the source of that love. Many churches today have a hard time attracting members because unbelievers do not see that love in the church. Many churches are more a collection of strangers than a family of brothers and sisters in Christ. Members can not care for each other if they don’t know each other’s needs. God also calls us to love others in the body of believers, regardless of the church they belong to, so that others might see how good it is to live as God wants us to. The multitude of denominations presents a picture of widespread division and the refusal of churches of different traditions to work together indicates there is little of the love the church claims to possess. The Church claims that Jesus is the way but does not appear to agree on what that way is. How can unbelievers take the church’s message seriously?

Ministry to members-B  The minister must be free to concentrate extensive time to members going through trials. However, the pastor is often so tied up in administrative duties that he has little contact with members and is not aware of members who are going through trials. The church should seek to limit the time required for the pastor in administrative duties to free him to minister to members and train help. Most pastors don’t get to spend much time actually visiting and ministering to their members and even working full time, the pastor cannot adequately supervise and minister to a church of more than 150-200 members. However, most pastors aren’t trained to do such work, even if they have time. There is too much need for the pastor to be able to do it all himself. Some churches are hiring nurses and Social Workers as part of their pastoral staff to provide medical care and Social Services to their members. At the very least, the pastor should know the nurses and Social Workers in his congregation and consult them as needed. Pastors need to train lay leaders to help them carry on their ministry when the church becomes too large for them to do it adequately themselves. The best method is to have each lay leader oversee a small group that is like a family, who he nurtures and ministers to the members under the pastor’s supervision similar to how it was done in the early church. Such small group ministry is proving just as effective today as it was in the early church, however few churches utilize it.-(See “The Living Presence” in “Rebuilding the Kingdom” copyright 2012)

Small Group ministry-part-B  witness to those around them

As they learn to identify needs and how to minister to those in need in the small groups, they begin to develop a concern for those around them. As they begin reaching out to those around them to get to know them, they begin to see the needs of those outside the church and can begin to minister to them also, demonstrating the love of Christ to unbelievers. As unbelievers see the love of Christ they begin to desire that love and are attracted to the small group. People are more willing to join a small group where they know the person that brought them than to walk into a large church where they don’t know anyone. As they get to know the members of the group, they are more willing to attend church since they know the people from their group. Many churches are often built away from residential areas. In addition, churches no longer have neighborhood activities where unbelievers get to know those in the church.  The small group can be the church present in the neighborhood and reach out to the neighbors through neighborhood Bible studies and children’s activities.