Church Planting: Exegeting Your Community

When we were preparing to plant The Garden Community, we were pretty certain that we knew what we were doing, and who we would be serving. As we moved into Baltimore, and began to better understand our surroundings, we began to tweak our understanding of what we were up to and who we would be intentionally investing in. We came to a realization that we would most likely NOT be made up primarily of artists, but would be more intentional about bridging two neighborhoods, and cultures.

For us, being on the ground, and being able to watch, listen, and learn about the neighborhoods that we moved into was huge… and it enabled us to better serve those whom we encountered as we went about the work we were called to. This cultural exegesis is a process that every planter needs to go through, and while demographic studies are a good start, exegeting your community is a process that takes time, patience, and a great deal of listening.

Put simply, exegeting your community is how you go about understanding the needs and expectations that the people living in your community have. It is from developing this understanding that you are able to know how to best impact your neighborhoods. Last week I had the pleasure of listening to Nicholas Smith share about some of the ways that his church is meeting the needs of the surrounding communities. As he was discussing how they come up with new ways to serve their communities, he stopped… looked at those of us listening to him, and said “sometimes we need to stop praying and go outside to talk to some people.” That is the very essence of exegeting your community.

The key to doing this well is being flexible, willing to learn, and moving on what you learn. Hours spent researching your community and learning what makes it tick will ultimately be worthless if you are unwilling to make the strategic shifts necessary to act on the wisdom you have gained. How do you gain this wisdom? I believe it is slightly different for every neighborhood, but here are some basic suggestions that can help you get started.... Keep reading