Six Ways to Connect with People
Every church is having difficulty getting re-started. Churches have been closed for a long time and people have gotten out of the habit of getting dressed on Sunday morning and going to church. Every church needs to think about who lives close to your church. Here are six ways to help you connect with new people.
1. Do you have Scouting Programs, AA Programs, Jazzercise, etc.? Do you know the people who are coming to your church? Did you have Vacation Bible School this summer and did you get a list of the people who attended? Send a letter to all of these and invite them to an ice cream social or picnic.
2. Do you have daycare or preschool in your church? Get to know these folks! Pastors – have bible studies with the children. Meet and greet parents when picking up their children. Parents always need a hand with diaper bags, lunch boxes, etc. Open car doors and help parents get children into car seats. Offer classes for parents once in a while. Offer free babysitting for an evening when parents can have a date.
3. Take coffee and doughnuts to the fire station, police station or the hospital. This doesn’t have to happen very often but it will be remembered. St. Thomas UMC in Manassas feeds everyone on Christmas Day. Hundreds of take-out plates are delivered to those who have to work on Christmas Day. With Covid and the extreme pressure first responders are experiencing, have a special day for first responders, nurses, doctors, and so forth. Invite them to worship with a picnic or covered dish dinner afterwards.
4. Teach your church how to invite people. Sometimes, it is hard to invite people to church but much easier to invite them to a picnic, concert, or holiday event. Look at your church calendar and decide what it offers that community folks might be interested in. If there is not a lot of these events, plan some and invite your neighbors.
5. Many churches have ministries that can be expanded. For instance, some churches deliver food to church members who are sick. This could be expanded to neighbors who are sick and it would involve a whole new crowd. Stay connected to your neighbors when they have babies or when someone dies. Make a visit to a local funeral home and share with the funeral director that your church would be happy to help a family with food or care, if they would let you know. Ask your pastor to volunteer to do funerals for anyone that is not connected to a church and let the funeral director know.
6. Have activities at odd times. I remember having a bible study at noon and thinking no one would come. The opposite was true. People brought their lunch and ate while listening to the bible study. We had a quilting Club in one of my early churches and held a bible study while the members were quilting.
Jesus told his disciples they were to be His witnesses first in Jerusalem, then in Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. This seems to be saying to us to make disciples of those closest to us. Begin connecting to your neighbors! Start with those closest to you. Go forth and bring in the multitudes.
Author: Tommy Herndon
