How did your church reach out?

[Gospellightofmine]

How did your church reach out to the local community?

How did you handle approaching -
*Latin Cultures
*Children
*Teens
*Families w/ small children
*Neighborhood people
*Young couples

[dinkime]

our big push right now is children & families -- we have really vamped up our sunday school & youthgroup -- and we started a "power hour" which is a sunday school program for 2 year olds! we also have a very active mother's group

[DaSeminarian]

our big push right now is children & families -- we have really vamped up our sunday school & youthgroup -- and we started a "power hour" which is a sunday school program for 2 year olds! we also have a very active mother's group


When does "Power Hour" run?

This is where the church should invest it's time energy and yes Money. The youth of our church are in need of good leadership and materials. Instead of developing a "seekers" service which really only caters to the baby boomer crowd you need to invest in the young people of the church and give them some latitude to make some decisions with you. Have a small contingent from the youth group attend the voters meetings and give a report of what the youth are doing or planning on doing in the future.

With the National Youth Gathering coming up next year there a lot of the youth will be wanting to attend that gathering. My suggestion is that the church help them in any way possible. They are the future of your church. Take care of them now!

Also ditch the contemporary service and get back to the traditional Divine Service.

[filosofer]

Three major ways:

1. We just approved, and the two Districts involved have also, the calling of a Hispanic pastor to serve as Associate to three congregations in the area. He would be based in our congregation under the direction of our senior pastor; our congregation has rapidly become Hispanic in the past 5 years.

2. Our Preschool has about 150 children, [EDIT] evenly divided: 1/3 Caucasian, 1/3 Black, 1/3 Hispanic.

3. We offer ESL classes on two nights during the week, as well as Adult and children Bible studies on Wednesday evenings.

In Christ's love,
filo

[Anoetos]

The demographic in our area is changing rapidly.

We're not alone. The pattern has been to move with the Lutherans as they go further out into the developing suburbs.

We've more or less committed to staying here.

We go door to door every month or so just meeting people. Telling them we're not Mormons. Inviting them to come by Sunday morning, etc.

[ctay]

Ours has started a youth service on sunday evening and lets some of the youth be involved in it.
We invite people to different things, we have left flyers going door to door to invite but its not working.

[DaRev]

We are beginning a door to door outreach to invite folks to our Christmas services. We are targeting areas outside the city proper. Our demographic has changed drastically and the membership here is extremely hesitant to reach out to the Hispanic population. I've even had people threaten to leave the church if we did that. The elders and I tried to initiate an ESL program here, but the voter's shot it down rather handily.
It's sad, but it's also the state of the community that we are in.
Our mayor was recently on "60 Minutes" discussing the illegal immigrant crisis in town.

[dinkime]

When does "Power Hour" run?


it is part of the sunday school program -- our sunday school meets AFTER service so children are not missing any part of the church service for education -- a parent attends with them...i average 6-8 kids a week...we usually have 6-8 in both upper classes of sunday school combined...

[pastorjimg]

First of all- ALL OUTREACH IS GREAT!

Our outreach strategy: Reach men.

I support reaching children and many churches think if they get the child they will get the parents but this doesn't always happen. I would add to any children's ministry you are doing in the church a renewed focus on the men of your congregation and then those men who are staying home while their wives are going to church on Sunday monrings and then focus on the men in your community. Motto: Get the father get the family.

[ctay]

Yeah I go and my husband stays home, there's no way to get him to come to church regular. He may show up once every few months. My son would go to a Lutheran church but my daughter in law grew up Baptist and been to church with me a few times and doesn't like the Lutheran church.

[DaRev]

First of all- ALL OUTREACH IS GREAT!

Our outreach strategy: Reach men.

I support reaching children and many churches think if they get the child they will get the parents but this doesn't always happen. I would add to any children's ministry you are doing in the church a renewed focus on the men of your congregation and then those men who are staying home while their wives are going to church on Sunday monrings and then focus on the men in your community. Motto: Get the father get the family.

The other thing about that is that when a father is a dedicated church-goer, the children are much more likely to continue in the church as they enter adulthood.

[C.F.W. Walther]

First of all- ALL OUTREACH IS GREAT!

Our outreach strategy: Reach men.

I support reaching children and many churches think if they get the child they will get the parents but this doesn't always happen. I would add to any children's ministry you are doing in the church a renewed focus on the men of your congregation and then those men who are staying home while their wives are going to church on Sunday monrings and then focus on the men in your community. Motto: Get the father get the family.
Amen---reaching the spiritual head is a must.

Actually outreach should start within the church body. Equip the saints first and then they will carry the Holy Spirit to others. Elder training, extensive cathecise, bible studies etc.

[Flipper]

My church does major outreach to the kids and the men in our church and community.

Problem is - we're having serious problems in the having any kids department and my husband works every other Sundays, and alternates between days and nights on most days of the week - making it very difficult for him to go to church or studies regularly. He's a pharmacist, so it's the case in any job he gets.

I guess the consolation prize is that I can at least drag my niece to church with me since her mom doesn't, and if you get sick on a Sunday, my husband can make sure you get your medicine.

[C.F.W. Walther]

"My church does major outreach to the kids" "we're having serious problems in the having any kids department" ??? How can you do major outreach if you are having serious problems in having a kids department? Am I missing something?

[Flipper]

??? How can you do major outreach if you are having serious problems in having a kids department? Am I missing something?

I can't let my kids be outreached if I don't have any. ;)

It was a joke..Ha ha. Of course I can reach out to other kids (as mentioned by getting my neice to go to church when her mom won't send her). They don't even have to be related to me.

[Gospellightofmine]

The other thing about that is that when a father is a dedicated church-goer, the children are much more likely to continue in the church as they enter adulthood.

Yes - That is true in my experience. My father was/is dedicated and all of us continue to attend.

How interesting ...

How should men be approached?



Amen---reaching the spiritual head is a must.

Actually outreach should start within the church body. Equip the saints first and then they will carry the Holy Spirit to others. Elder training, extensive cathecise, bible studies etc.

Wow - Right.

[pastorjimg]

Perhaps this should be another thread???

For those wanting more info on reaching men I HIGHLY recommed the book, "Why men hate going to church" by David Murrow. There are a lot of good ideas in the book. Here's my quick and all too brief synopsis:

Today's christian church is designed for a 40 to 50 year old woman. We talk about family, closeness, safety and security. We plan our worship services this way and preach about these topics. You can really see this phenomona in today's contemporary worship songs. Most of them sound like love songs you would right to a girlfriend.

To reach men you should talk about the challenges, dangers and risks of our faith and stay away from love songs during a worship service. At our outreach service we make it singing optional for people. Stay away from the 'mushy' sermons and keep them short.

There's a lot more but that will get everyone started.

[C.F.W. Walther]

PastorJimg

If you don't mind I am going to post excerpts from a review on his book in the main forum.

[Flipper]

That would be great - I know he wants to be more involved, it's just so hard for him with his profession. There really is something to be said about the husband taking the spiritual lead. If he's not going to church, I have a very hard time dragging my sorry behind out of bed and I'll confess that more often than not, it stays in bed. It's also weird going to co-ed Bible studies solo. Actually, I'm ok with it, but I do get some funny looks sometimes - they assume he isn't a Christian. I would love for us to do that stuff together.

[pastorjimg]

Flipper- Do you and your husband do devotions together? There are many resources out there to help with devos. I would recommend "Night Light" by Dobson. They are short and my favorite part is that there are questions you and your spouse answer that really help in conversation.

This wouldn't solve the group bible study issues but at least the two of you can be studying together. This would be a good supplement for your congregational involvement.

[DaSeminarian]

it is part of the sunday school program -- our sunday school meets AFTER service so children are not missing any part of the church service for education -- a parent attends with them...i average 6-8 kids a week...we usually have 6-8 in both upper classes of sunday school combined...


Thank you for clearing that up. My biggest pet peeve is "children's church" where they dismiss children from 2nd or 3rd grade and lower to attend a "different" church service just for them. We need to be teaching our children what real church is and not what pretend church is.

[ctay]

Starting next year in January, the first sunday of the month is friendship sunday, your supposed to invite a friend to church

[synger]

We have a couple of ways we reach out to the local community:


We partner with a Hispanic ministry in our area
We have a preschool, and are considering expanding to elemenatary grades
We support the local food bank
How did your church reach out to the local community?

How did you handle approaching -
*Latin Cultures
*Children
*Teens
*Families w/ small children
*Neighborhood people
*Young couples

[synger]

My church does major outreach to the kids and the men in our church and community.

Problem is - we're having serious problems in the having any kids department and my husband works every other Sundays, and alternates between days and nights on most days of the week - making it very difficult for him to go to church or studies regularly. He's a pharmacist, so it's the case in any job he gets.

I guess the consolation prize is that I can at least drag my niece to church with me since her mom doesn't, and if you get sick on a Sunday, my husband can make sure you get your medicine.
Flipper, I understand your frustration. My husband works every other Sunday, too. Until our daughter came along, I pretty much only attended church a couple times a month. I chose the church. I sang in the choir. I served as an elder (PCUSA). But he wasn't really involved or interested. It was "duty", if anything, that got him there on the Sundays he did attend.

When we moved to a new area, and our daughter came along, he found that he wanted to find a church home. Primarily a duty thing, again, because he made it clear that he wanted church to be a priority in our family. We found an LCMS church nearby, and much to my astonishment, he loved it (he was raised Baptist, so I was floored that the liturgy didn't turn him off).

Now, five years later, he still can only attend church service every other week. But he comes to Sunday School before church. And this fall he and I have actually been leading a Sunday School class together. He finishes the class and has to go to work. We have to drive two cars because I stay for church with our daughter. But it's been an amazing blessing.

Even with a hectic schedule, there ARE ways you and your husband can be involved in the church and worship together. God will lead you. I definitely recommend having devotions together if you can, and attending studies together if his schedule allows. My DH's schedule changes from week to week, so we can never plan ahead. It's why we're still "visitors" at the church after five years. We can't attend the new-member classes (though this year Pastor at least allowed us to take a copy of hte workbook home so we can work throgh it on our own).

I also encourage you to continue taking your niece to church on Sundays. Not only is it a great opportunity for her, but it's an accontability thing for you. I can't tell you how many times I've dragged myself to church JUST because I couldn't let our daughter miss Sunday School. When it was just me, or me and DH, it was easier to rationalize away and get that extra sleep in the morning. But God has convicted us that one of our parental duties is to see that she attends and participates in the church.

Anyway, I am rambling. Just wanted to encourage you and let you know that you're not alone with struggling with the frutration of a retail-style work schedule.
:)