Do you see this group having a conversation together?
Can you see who’s in that mass of people?
Can you tell what they’re talking about?
Can you tell me if you can easily join that group if you wanted to?
Why am I asking these questions? Because I think your church is stuck in a holy huddle formation.
What’s the end result?
No realistic outreach.
No authentic engagement with the community.
No real invitation for meaningful conversations.
It all means that in the end, your church will have no relevance to the community you’re trying to attract.
Churches can be facilitators of community conversations or fake it. A choice: be relevant or not Click To TweetREAL LIFE EXAMPLE
With the latest series of #blacklivesmatter incidents piling up, I’ve been thinking that the Church could be the host and mediator of conversations between police and residents in a meaningful way. It’s what I call the Oprah Effect. Her value to her tribe isn’t because of what she says each week. It’s because of the 2nd chair on stage.
OPRAH EFFECT: Your value to the community increases by having an open chair for conversation Click To TweetWhen you change your posture to be external facing things change in a big way. Something as simple as Coffee with a Cop at Church. Just think about it.
The church has the opportunity bring people together. Your church can be the natural ground people in your community begin to trust. You can invite residents to simply come and meet-up and have informal conversations with local police officers.
Your church would be seen as trying to do something meaningful in terms of working toward peace, reconciliation, relationships and understanding.
Proximity is a deterrent of hate. The closer you are and know someone, the harder it is to lash out at them. It works both ways. I’ve been thinking: Why isn’t the church even considering things like this for its own community?
And guess what? Someone in my own town beat me to it. . .
I found out about this first when in line at the grocery store overhearing people ahead of me. Then later I saw this flyer posted around town.
In this case, a local restaurant diner in the middle of town is taking initiative to become the Switzerland of the local community. Their place in community only will be elevated because they took initiative for the benefit of the neighbors.
This is what the flyer says is the purpose of the event: “No agenda or speeches, just a chance to ask questions, voice concerns and get to know the officers in your neighborhood!”
Why didn’t the church – your church, my church, any church – think of this before?
REAL CHALLENGE
Until church leaders revamp how they think of their daily, weekly, monthly agenda to incorporate possibilities to be a meaningful participant in community life, each church risks being further relegated to being a irrelevant member of the community. And I don’t know a single pastor who signed-up for the job with that objective in mind, do you?
AM I WRONG? IS YOUR CHURCH STUCK IN A HOLY HUDDLE THAT REALLY NEEDS SOME TURNING AROUND?
