When considering how to reach out to our city a few moments come to mind. The moments are probably not your typical city outreach events, rather events where we partnered with God in what it seemed like He was doing in our area.
Caring For Our Church; Caring For Our City
In 2011, the Mayor of our city publicly presented one of our church pastors with the “Drum Major Community Service Award.” It was presented at a large public gathering in our downtown area and acknowledged his (and our church’s) consistent impact on our community. In the fall of 2015, a local news station brought their cameras to one of our young adult Wednesday evening events. They were looking for an example of a Christian young adult group that was growing—apparently a rare thing in our region. Most recently, our Pastor of Leadership Development was asked by of one of our region’s largest employers (over 4,000 employees) how they could create a culture that is better at caring for our employees?
I’m convinced these situations are at least some indication that we, as a ministry, are moving beyond just caring for those that attend our church, and, at least in some measure, impacting our city for Christ. Although we have a long way to go regarding “reaching our city,” I would like to share a few ideas I believe are giving us some traction in this endeavor.
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We have worked hard to establish a reputation as givers and not complainers.
In any interaction we have with our city officials, news stations, or in the general public, our hope is to start the conversation with “How can we help?” instead of “Can you help us?” I can only imagine the number of interactions our public officials have with disappointed, cranky people wanting the city to “fix this” or “pay for that.” Our hope is to be an exception in their daily routine by coming into conversations or meetings with helping hands rather than looking for a handout.
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We hope to saturate our neighbors with spontaneous, compassionate, personal moments of prayer.
Greg L. is a newer member and now leader at our church. He attends classes, serves on a team, and has a vibrant relationship with Jesus. Three years ago, he was a self-described atheist. His new life started when two members of our church family recognized a need he had and prayed with him in the parking lot—not hesitating, but praying “right then” and “right there.” Our church has more than 1,400 people attending on an average weekend—our hope is that each person who attends one of our celebrations would be equipped to offer spontaneous prayer moments throughout our city during the week.
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We make our weekend services reasonably comfortable and undeniably relevant for a visitor.
This is a challenge! For us this means being ruthless in our evaluation of everything from the length of our songs to the volume of a worship set, to the quality and quantity of our free coffee. We realize that not everyone will fall in love with our church, but we almost consider it a spiritual crime to have an individual give 90 minutes of their life attending one of our worship services and leave with nothing that connects to their real life. Engaging in a room filled with God’s Spirit should connect practically to an individual’s present financial state, relational situation, emotional condition, and so on. If that connection is not made, we are not doing our job as ambassadors for Christ.
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We are passionate about keeping our evangelist edge.
Tim T. is a recent convert to Jesus at our church. He is also one of our city’s police officers. Following a recent leadership development class that Tim attended, I followed him out to the parking lot. As he drove away in is police car I thought, “through Tim’s conversion, he is taking much more into the streets than the authority of the city—he is taking the authority of Christ.” That will affect our city in remarkable ways!
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Unleash the intercessors.
This is different than spontaneous prayer for individuals. This is the thought of releasing those who love to fight with prayer in the unseen world of the Spirit on behalf of a city. In 1 Corinthians 16, the apostle Paul describes a situation in the city of Ephesus that I would love to see in our city. Paul says “I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost because a great door for effective work has been opened to me.” That is a spiritual door that can be opened with intercession, and we want that door wide open in our city. I have found that there are people who will pray for hours with just a little encouragement. They will join with others to pray if we just designate a time and place. They will prayer walk, prayer drive, or prayer sing (if that is even a real thing). Let’s cut them loose. Let’s consider joining them in knocking on the spiritual door of our city and let the great work begin.
Intentional Partners
Extending our reach within our community involves intentional practices aimed at creating an environment where even “the least of these” have the opportunity to meet Christ. So, I encourage you to become a partner with your city, unleash passionate prayer warriors, and engage practically with music and message to those entering your doors each weekend.
Once the traction takes hold, there are no limits to what the Father will do.
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Visit the website of The Vineyard Church of Misawaka, IN.
