Get Involved in your Community!

Technology is changing every aspect of our lives. Though the benefits have a huge impact on our societies. ‘Get involved in your community’ is a statement that you see everywhere! However, with technological advances one of the greatest challenges is not about the devices, software, or solutions- it is about how people are managing the process of cultural change and how churches are getting involved in the community.

Especially as the culture surrounding our society continues to change, it can become hard for modern churches to stay engaged in their communities. Too often, church leaders and pastors only look from one perspective and retreat into their bubble which can also leave the communities totally out in the cold. Maybe it seems difficult to reshape their community and maybe the churches are always on the lookout to do something more for their communities; outreach services can help foster deeper connection with God and find ways for engagement.

What is community outreach?

Most churches all year round follow the most evangelistic outreach which is centered on Jesus and the message of salvation. Additionally, there is urgency around the gospel and that message must be heard and not be deferred.

Outreach typically is about meeting people in your community by finding creative ways to get their attention. They can do this by hosting community festivals or helping the needy.

However, with technological advances, people are changing the way they feel about culture and religion. The church leaders and pastors need to make sure that the church is on the top of everyone’s mind and look for outreach ideas for family and community engagement to increase their congregation members. Here are some tips to keep in mind while you plan to do so:

●   Keep the numbers secondary:

Sometimes to see effective results, church leaders end up overeating numbers, and underrating relationships which is not the way to connect with the community in the long run. Showing people respect and dignity is a powerful aspect and everything else should be a secondary measurement, to say reaching more people every day.

Changed lives are an obsession so it is important for leaders to see the unbelievers advancing the gospels into their lives. For instance, if someone in the community is suffering financially, all they really need is someone who would believe in them. This would transform their lives and they can get out there, do work to get their life back on track.

●    Go deeper than surface level:

Despite all the technological marvels we have today, technology can’t replace human interaction. To combat the issue of cultural change, churches need to combine the digital elements and human communication and put people into the community to build strong ties, it can be a webinar or attending events.

To simply put, there will always be training among the churches in the ways they can reach their community, to reach out to those around them with a gospel. Building relationships or family and community engagement are a two-way street, which involves modeling how to engage people far from God in relationships which is the key strategy.

●   Reach the lost and unchurched community

Based on the community the church is serving and to reach the lost, growing, and self disciples, the congregation needs to have a clearly defined mission. You will need to constantly assess how new ways are being received and what your reputation is in the community. If the responses are not satisfactory or the initiatives don’t go as expected, it is worth making small tweaks rather than cutting whole initiatives. Just like reaching out to the community, you need to listen to the unchurched community, to be gauging why a service your church offers isn’t working well.

Churches can help the community and engage more when they get out in their communities! As they use their time to build relationships and give others respect while making small amendments to their offerings, they can expect to see not only their communities change but the world change!

Reconnect With God: How Immersion Experience Can Help Pastors?

Reconnecting with God is one of the simplest things in the world. However, with the world evolving rapidly, more and more churches are struggling to survive. Maybe pastors have been away from the church and they are finding a desire to revive their beliefs and be close to the community and God again.

Whether you have been drifting farther from God or the community has started to rebel. Then to strengthen the faith, there are a lot of books, seminars, and congregation workshops given on how the church leaders can go about reviving a church.

Having said that, it is good to focus especially when it comes to our churches reaching the un reached in their communities and reviving their beliefs. Many churches can simply revive the congregation, increase the health of the church, and expand their ministry by sending their pastors for an immersion experience.

Now before the ministry suggests them to read books, or attend the conferences these won’t necessarily work or be called an effective strategy. The people in the church, the pastors are the church. Community members may connect or not, but it is the congregants, pastors, and parishioners who make up the identity and ultimately with their opinions affect the future direction of a congregation.

Immersion in the local culture teaches you about yourself!

Volunteering in a foreign country whether in a Holyland is a sure-fire way to immerse in local culture and connect with God directly, hands-on way. Not only this, you learn a lot about yourself through traveling. You observe the local communities far from your own country, realize how you feel about their beliefs. This will provide access to life-changing experiences that you won’t find in any book or conference. This will eventually help you to learn and accept the differences in observing and reacting to completely new situations. All-in-all you will not be the same person after returning to your daily routine.

Your time away to reflect on your thoughts:

An amazing way to refocus and reconnect is taking a break from everything and reflecting, which is only possible with short-term immersion experience. This would be the best time to even out emotions that may have gone haywire due to the stress of connecting with the community and expanding the church. If you are thinking to jump-start everything all over again and create a more fulfilled relationship with Christ; your body will need a recharge and physical renewal by going to new places, meeting new people, staying with different communities, and observing the different ways they think.

Once you are away from all the mundane tasks that would possibly distract you to make a connection and preach God, it will become much easier to get back strong with a habit to focus on God and read your Bible.

New things to learn!

No matter how long you have been practicing Christianity or how well-read a pastor you are, it doesn’t necessarily mean you know everything about your religion. To add to this, the effective ministry does not happen in isolation and requires collaboration on the part of the church to make you learn new things surrounding your faith. If you need to revive your relationship and build your faith, take some time off and travel. Then you will understand how interconnected everything is and all this will reflect the more you will communicate with your community. Dig into the place you have been to and study the community on how they are different socially, culturally, and environmentally. Everything happening will be visibly clear and right in front of you and the entire congregation. You will be able to develop a strategic plan in collaboration with the church and its members on how we are living out the vision of the church and the strategy on what we are going to do.