Focusing on the right community ministry
I frequently work with churches that are located in communities with multiple needs and issues. In urban neighborhoods, and more frequently now in suburbs and rural communities, you might find the following issues:
•high levels of unemployment, with families struggling to meet basic needs as a result
•an achievement gap between children who live in poverty and those who don't, resulting in lower graduation rates and college attendance for youth from poor families
•a lack of affordable housing that has driven some people into homelessness
Trying to meet all the needs that you see is counter-productive. It's likely your church won't be good at responding to them all, and if you try, your impact on the community will be minimal. So a critical step in developing effective community ministry programs is focus: making good choices about the one or two areas in which your congregation will work.
I've found that asking the following questions can help a congregation become more focused in developing community ministry.
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