Get the Wheels Turning with Community Involvement
by Chris Forbes
Free tips for getting the word out about your church from the Ministry Marketing Coach
You want to attract new people to your church, but it seems to take so long to get the wheels turning in your direction. Don’t wait for the people of your community to come where you are, go to where they are!
Get involved in your community by finding a community event or club in which your church or ministry can participate.
Is your church inwardly focused? Here’s a quick way to check if your ministry needs to develop an outward focus in ministry. Ask yourself whether your ministry’s annual plan includes at least one event that is compatible with the community calendar? (excluding Christmas and Easter). If your church doesn’t take into account the community calendar in your city, you may be too inwardly focused.
Every city has some kind calendar of events. Many of these present tremendous ministry marketing opportunities for your ministry. If your church is inwardly focused, all the activities and planning take place without considering the community events. With an outward, community focus, your church has a chance to reach many more people.
Churches are always busy with activities. Something is always going on within the walls of churches. Ministries are often overwhelmed with activity. But, many are unaware of what’s going on in their communities. They are just not involved. Sometime churches even reinvent ministries that compete with existing community programs. It is counter-productive to develop a ministry in your community that already exists outside your church. Why not get involved in the community event and meet new people?
For example, here’s how one ministry got the wheels turning—literally! The church was interested in starting its own cycling club. But they discovered in that same town a very active community of cyclists already existed. They decided it would be so much better for their church to get involved in the community of cyclists instead of creating their own community. Most likely if the church had had its own separate cycling ministry it would only serve to draw out believers from the outside cyclist community into its own.
Get involved in your community and think outside the walls of your church.
Action Point!
Find a community event or club organization to which your church can become a part and get involved in your community. Find something your church can get behind that is compatible with your mission and that you can really support. You’ll meet new people who could become part of your ministry, too.
