When your congregation chooses to reach out to its community context or the people groups God has called you to serve, from a Christ-centered faith perspective, you know your focus is to fulfill the Great Commission in the spirit of the Great Commandment.
Your conviction and commitment to these two should be certain, passionate and carried out faithfully.
What is not always clear is the method or manner you use. I advocate an action-then-reflection approach over a focus on delivering congregationally directed ministries. My conviction about method and manner is that soaring congregations are about touching the lives of others within their context in Christlike ways.
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These grassroots missional actions involve coming alongside people to reflect Christ’s presence. Rather than focusing solely on congregation-directed programs, events and activities, this approach emphasizes humble presence, Christlike service, and the cultivation of authentic relationships, following the pattern of Jesus’ life.
Love your neighbor
You start by loving your neighbor enough to be their neighbor. Remember Mister Rogers? He was a Christian minister with the right idea. Being a neighbor is nurturing an authentic, loving presence among people who need the love of Jesus.
The best way I know to illustrate this is through a personal story. I share it with humility, not boasting.
During my seminary years, I served as a community minister and then as a pastor in an inner-city congregation. The neighborhood’s economic level ranged from upper-lower class to lower-middle class. It was a rough area with many ministry needs.
Halfway through the years, the pastor was called to another congregation. Within a few months, the church called me to serve as pastor. My wife and I moved into the parsonage, which was eight feet from one side of the church building and connected to the church by a basement passageway.
We did a lot of work alongside other congregations in this community. None of us had all the resources needed to address the many ministry needs, so it took all of us working together.
One activity of our joint ministry with a group of congregations was our annual joint Thanksgiving worship service, held to thank God for the blessings of our mutual ministry. The service was held at one of the churches, and a pastor from another church delivered the main message that evening. My first year as pastor was my turn.
Deep appreciation
In my message, I talked about moving into the community six months earlier, when I became pastor. I shared how that experience deepened my appreciation for the people and for the most effective ways to reach them with the love of Christ.
At the end of the service, a woman who was a community organizer and a member of one of the congregations approached me with surprise. She said, “I had no idea you had not always lived in the neighborhood. You embraced us and were one of us from the moment we first knew you.”
I had not really planned my approach. I just engaged in what I thought was loving and Christlike.
If you know me well, you know I am not a high-touch guy but a high-task guy, so the comment was truly a surprise. I was humbled. I had no idea people always saw me as an insider. I simply tried to do what God wanted me to do.
May your ministry within a community context or among a people group be so meaningful and genuine that your heartfelt compassion is clearly with the people of the community.
EDITOR’S NOTE — George Bullard spent five decades in Baptist congregational and denominational ministry. His ministry roles included three churches, three associations, three state conventions and one national entity. He began as a columnist for TAB Media Group’s publication The Baptist Paper in 2022. Bullard now serves as a strategic thinking mentor for Christian leaders through his ForthTelling Innovation ministry. TAB Media Group published his new book “Soaring with Faith: The Difference Maker for Congregations” — available on Amazon.
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