Who would have ever thought of creating the well at your church? Probably not a topic that has not been breached the inner thinking of those who are responsible for providing more ways for your church to engage with your community.
Today, I am going to encourage you to expand upon your thinking of how your church is engaging with the community in which it is located.
I can already see the motors spinning in your mind asking “what does 167 hours have to do with creating a well?” Let’s address this so you begin to get a bigger picture.
I guess it helps to know what the 167 hours represent. It’s the amount of time between one Sunday service to the next one. This is the amount of time that churches and ministries have to focus on addressing how they are interacting and having an impact within the community in which they are located.
I want everyone who is in a leadership position of a church or ministry to ask yourself how many hours can anyone within your community come to your physical location and be able to interact with you? I have yet to find a church who didn’t have office hours. However, do your hours affect someones ability to come and interact with your ministry?
Let’s face it, not everyone works from the same time clock. There’s probably a pretty strong chance that when someone would like to visit with you outside of the normal church events, they’re probably at work and dealing with everyday life.
I know that in the past, I have taken a drive to my church (not the one I currently attend) to maybe just want to pop in and have a quick chat with the pastor, only to find the doors were lock and nobody in the building.
What message do you think that sent to me? Could it have possibly sent a message that I am not important enough to be able to visit? Now think of what kind of message that resonates within your community when someone tries to reach you! Almost delivers a sort of shell-shock in some sense.
Okay, most people are bright enough to figure out that most churches have a Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and possible a mid-week service or Bible study.
But where is the rest of the time for anyone within your community to be able to come to and fellowship with either leadership or community volunteers within the church to receive their ministerial blessings? Let’s not forget that in today’s world, some people have to work two or even possible three jobs just to make ends meat.
This would be particularly true of say a single mother who is trying to raise several children on her own.
How many times I have heard people say that the church isn’t for the members, it’s for those they would like to become members.
I’m not sure that this will require any great mathematical skills, however, I’m almost sure that you’re not going to reach your community if the very building you desire them to visit is inaccessible to them. Now let’s truly dive in and begin at looking at how you can begin creating the well at your church.
I want to use a setting that nearly everyone is familiar with. Let’s take time to visit Starbucks.
What exactly is it that truly draws people into their establishment? Let’s look beyond the obvious of anyone’s favorite cup of java. Take a look at the image above. It’s warm and inviting and encourages a sense of warmth and closeness. It’s where people like to go to read a good book, catch up on their meeting notes, or just engage in conversation with a few friends.
Are churches today promoting that kind of environment, or are we more inner focused on just serving the needs of our members?
I can’t tell you the vast number of churches that I have been in that always have all these extra rooms that are always going to waste. You know the ones, they’re the ones that have all the junk thrown into them that nobody ever knows where to store.
Imagine for a moment that you dedicated one of these rooms to be a community meeting place of sorts. Someplace where they could come for some quiet time, or worship with the Lord in song. So clean out one of those rooms and begin adding some personality to it. Look at the image below and draw from it for ideas.
Now add in maybe a custom coffee maker, a sound system and you’re in business. You’ve now created an atmosphere for anyone within your community to come and worship and visit. Now only does it provide them with some place to worship, it offers them a safe environment and it just so happens to be located within your campus.
Now you’re brining in the community into your church.
How many times have any of you heard or possibly even said that if there was someplace for teens to go that was encouraging and positive that we would not see the issues that we are having to deal with today? I know how many times I have said it.
So how many churches are offering some place for a teen to hang out that provides a safe and fun place to be that doesn’t involve a Sunday evening or Wednesday night?
Add in some game tables such as pool, foosball, ping-pong, tv’s on the walls playing top Christian music videos or an audio system delivering their version of contemporary Christian music and you’re going to be the place to hang out.
I realize that some of the item’s that I suggested are going to create a financial situation for some churches, but here’s a thought. Why not charge $5 per head say on a Friday night?
What parent of sound mind and thinking wouldn’t gladly pay $5 for their child to hang out someplace that was safe and provide a decent environment for them to be hanging out at? And believe it or not, sooner or later you are going to capture the parents as well.
Eventually, the thought of “if it’s good enough for my children, it has to be good enough for my entire family” will come into play. Thus bringing more of your community into your church.
It’s pretty basic science. If we drop a seed into the ground, what is required to nurture it to make it grow?
The basics such as water, sun light, oxygen. It’s something that we all learned in school. It truly isn’t any different when it comes to being the primary force and epicenter of the communities in which our churches set.
Churches are all about planting seeds, right? However, if all you’re doing is dropping the seed into the ground and hoping it will grow on its own without any other element, chances are your seed will die and wither away in the ground in which you planted it.
When you begin to offer more than the traditional service to your community, sit back and watch as your ministry begins to grow by leaps and bounds. The only thing you are truly confined to is your level of creativity in developing an atmosphere that goes beyond the traditional service.
This has to be the one thing that absolutely grates my last nerve and I see it in churches of all sizes and denominations. Trust me, there will be plenty of food at your local dine-ins if you stay a little later, they actually plan on that.
We’re always ready to kick people out within a matter of minutes after any service.
Folks this is not a kung-Fu competition. If you want your church or ministry to feel more inviting, stop trying to rush them out the door like you’re going to the last cattle drive.
You never know who may have been on the brink of receiving Jesus, but everyone else is worried about whether or not there will be enough white meat at the local hog trough.
Seriously, will an extra 30 minutes hurt anyone? I have to admit that by looking at the figures of the vast majority of folks today, that extra 30 minutes of not beating the other church to the food barn may not necessarily be a bad thing (myself included.)
It should go without any further statements that if your are truly serious about creating the well at your church, then you need to be focused upon the community in which your church is located.
For those of us who are in charge of handling the Social Media aspects of our churches, let’s not just focus on the past of how great a particular message was, or the future of what new and exciting series is coming up, but rather of what is happening within your church that will benefit the community and encourage them to visit with you.
There are so many amazing tools and resources available through most churches denominations about this very topic.
I certainly hope that this article has caused you to think about how your church fits within your community and some ideas of how to “open up” the doors and to become the well of comfort and truth that is needed within your community.
Share with us what your local church is doing in regards to this and share the blessings with others who may be looking for inspiration and ideas.
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