Hi there! This looks pretty new, so I thought I'd be the first to post a comment/question of sorts.
I'm the minister of a small, growing, rural church in Bedfordshire, England. We're passionate about connecting effectively with our community and we're currently exploring how we do this and how we can do it more effectivley.
Our current Sunday series is all about four big themes that God has opened up to us. One of these is "The Community" and as I am preparing to lead the service on that theme I decided to search the internet to see what others were doing and thinking about this topic. That's how I ended up here at this blog.
Here's the thought that I've been processing: As we seek to engage with a brand new community to be built within 2 miles of our current location, how do we become part of the DNA of that new community? And not just that new community, but our exisitng community too. It seems to me that part of the answer is about how we live among the community; how we serve that community; how we become part of that community to the extent that if the church were not there, it would be missed.
That's where I am at the moment, trying to think this through alongside thinking about what God has to say about our relationship with the wider community. And this is turning out to be an essay rather than a simple story or question!
Richard, you're asking the right questions. The one you have to answer is "how do we live in that community." You have to decide how your church will be present in that community. Proponents of the connecting church model believe you can do that best through geographical, intergenerational, neighborhood home groups that do the 7 Functions of Biblical Community together. If you want talk about these concepts give Tom Bulick, Executive Director of the Connecting Church Association, a call on his cell 817 715-8413.
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Hi there! This looks pretty new, so I thought I'd be the first to post a comment/question of sorts.
I'm the minister of a small, growing, rural church in Bedfordshire, England. We're passionate about connecting effectively with our community and we're currently exploring how we do this and how we can do it more effectivley.
Our current Sunday series is all about four big themes that God has opened up to us. One of these is "The Community" and as I am preparing to lead the service on that theme I decided to search the internet to see what others were doing and thinking about this topic. That's how I ended up here at this blog.
Here's the thought that I've been processing: As we seek to engage with a brand new community to be built within 2 miles of our current location, how do we become part of the DNA of that new community? And not just that new community, but our exisitng community too. It seems to me that part of the answer is about how we live among the community; how we serve that community; how we become part of that community to the extent that if the church were not there, it would be missed.
That's where I am at the moment, trying to think this through alongside thinking about what God has to say about our relationship with the wider community. And this is turning out to be an essay rather than a simple story or question!
Richard, you're asking the right questions. The one you have to answer is "how do we live in that community." You have to decide how your church will be present in that community. Proponents of the connecting church model believe you can do that best through geographical, intergenerational, neighborhood home groups that do the 7 Functions of Biblical Community together. If you want talk about these concepts give Tom Bulick, Executive Director of the Connecting Church Association, a call on his cell 817 715-8413.
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