Toolbox For Faith

Each year, I spend two days at the Price’s Fork Fair. The fair is nice, small community event that provides a wonderful opportunity for outreach to the community. Our booth at the fair offers free activities for kids - a ball toss game and face painting. Everyone who comes by the booth gets a faith-themed coloring book, a small bag of candy and some faith-themed prizes (typically we spend about $200 for prizes and supplies). We also have Bibles, grief resources and information on the congregation available at our table. The booth is staffed by me and at least one volunteer from the congregation. For me, our booth is a ‘ministry of presence.’ We are present as God’s people to show God’s love to others, to proclaim God’s caring through our actions and to share the story of Jesus.

I carry my iPhone with me everywhere. I use it to check email, read the news, keep up with my daily tasks, keep my contact list, send texts and occasionally make phone calls. I’ve had my phone for about eight months now, so I am still fairly new to the smart-phone world, but I can already see how it is changing the way that I communicate and undertake ministry. In a previous time, I checked email occasionally while I was in the office. These days, I check email constantly and exchange messages with people in the congregation throughout the day. In a previous time, I would stay around the office waiting for people to call. These days, I have a growing number of church folks who send me texts to ask quick questions or update me with messages like, “Mom’s out of surgery.” In a previous time, I went back to my office to access ministry resources. These days, I have used my phone to look up hospital information for a family and to find directions to make a visit. In just eight months, my iPhone has become a tool I depend on to accomplish ministry on a daily basis.

As I think about these changes in myself and the way that I do ministry, I have started to wonder if congregations are adapting quickly enough to changes in communication. For example, should the church have a cell phone so we can send and receive text messages from the church to our youth? As people become accustomed to receiving a constant flow of information, what does it look like for a congregation to shift from a large monthly newsletter to a system which provides ministry news in small digestible bits through multiple streams? As everyone transitions away from having one home phone number to having their own personal phone number that they carry with them constantly, how will we respect the privacy of staff and congregants? In general, I guess it all boils down to this - how will we adapt to the possibilities these new communication tools provide and the expectations that they create?

I once heard a speaker describe the coming thirty years as a period of “mass aging”. There will be more senior adults than ever before and therefore we will have increased opportunities for ministry with senior adults. While there are countless wonderful ministry opportunities out there, we are considering applying for a grant from the Brookdale Foundation, to start a social respite program to assist families dealing with dementia. A social respite program provides free time for caregivers and social interaction for participants. Since social respite is designed for people in the early stages of memory loss, it is not a medical program and is therefore much easier to set-up and operate at a church. In my experience, social respite programs can provide a wonderful ministry to families who often struggle silently in the community. You can learn more about the social respite model and the Brookdale Foundation at their website.

I consider myself to be a community pastor.  I am called by the people of St. Michael, but my ministry extends beyond the boundaries of our congregation.  In today’s world, I think having a healthy relationship with the community around you opens doors for ministry to happen.  I don’t walk around the community randomly inviting people to church, but I am present at places like my son’s school, volunteering in kindergarten, and at a regular a community luncheon, occasionally offering the invocation.  Over time my continued presence has afforded me the opportunity to make Christ known and has helped make people aware of our congregation.

While each community is different, I offer these suggestions if you want to be a community pastor.

1.  Discover something you are passionate about - - for example helping children

2.  Introduce yourself to someone in the community who is working in that area - - perhaps a local principal

3.  Ask “What can my congregation and I do to help you out?”

4.  Listen to what the person says and follow through

Becoming a community pastor will not happen over night.  It will take time to build trust, but I believe that investing a little bit of your time in the community can make a tremendous impact on your ministry and your ability to make Christ known to those around you.

About 18 months ago, St. Michael started a backpack feeding ministry.  The concept is very simple, but the impact is tremendous.  In every school, there are students who depend on a school breakfast and a school lunch for their main nutrition.  Over the weekend, these students often receive very little to eat.  Backpack feeding programs provide six healthy weekend meals to these students.  The food is placed in an ordinary backpack and given to a student as they are leaving school on a Friday afternoon.  The ministry is a partnership between St. Michael, other community churches, local organizations and the schools.  We started delivering 5 backpacks per week at one school and now deliver a total of 56 backpacks each week.  If you want more information about our backpack feeding ministry or would like help starting a backpack feeding ministry at your congregation check out: Micah’s Backpack. (www.micahsbackpack.org)