Outreach is not what it used to be. Gone are the days when we’d put out a flyer to the neighbors, knock on doors, or promote a “Big Sunday” event to get people in the doors.
But this isn’t necessarily bad news. Outreach needs to be rethought. In this guest article, John Hughes introduces some new ways of thinking about outreach, which he outlines in greater detail in his new book, Rethinking Outreach: A Field Guide.
— Karl Vaters
Driving down the street the other day, I saw a group of people passing out food in front of their church. The volunteers wore matching shirts as they passed packages to a long line of cars. I smiled as I continued my journey; I love it when churches reach out to their communities. The challenge is that we may have a lot of outreach and little impact.
There are three potential problems with church outreaches:
1. The Marketing Problem
The first problem is that some outreach efforts are designed to market the church.
Marketing is a one-way conversation with the community. Promoting the church in the guise of community outreach is disingenuous in building authentic relationships with the community. While appreciative of the efforts, residents see the activity as an attempt to get more members to attend church. The signs promote the church, the stickers are passed out with the church’s name on the packages, and the concomitant Gen X videographer reinforces the marketing agenda.
2) The Real Needs Problem
The second problem is that church outreach efforts may not meet the community’s real needs.
It is the ultimate mistake to assume a need in a community without doing your homework. Outreach efforts that are less than 8 hours, once a month, will never meet a community’s more pressing needs and issues, such as helping single parents, working with the homeless, addressing human trafficking, hunger, and the concerns of seniors.
3) The Personal Development Problem
The third potential problem, which concerns me deeply, is that churches may unintentionally be modeling that our faith is only for personal and spiritual development and doesn’t apply to social issues.
Mature and young believers hear great sermons that promote Biblical knowledge but leave them lacking a Public Theology that leads to impact. Churches have incredible resources: a weekly communication system, shared values, educated leaders, discretionary income, and facilities, and yet these resources are focused internally and not externally, leaving members unaware of how to apply their faith to have a social impact.
I call traditional outreach efforts fast food outreach.
It’s time to rethink outreach.
The Listen, Look, Lead Model
After years of working in communities nationwide, I have developed the Listen, Look, and Lead model, which provides a practical framework for churches to build new relationships with their communities.
Here is a snapshot of the critical components of the model:
Listen: Pastors and congregants are trained to talk but not listen. Imagine the wealth of insight and relationships that could be developed if churches regularly listened to various segments within a community.
Look: The model outlines seven roles that churches can play in the community while building on relationships, capacity, and DNA. Finding the correct role guides how the church will respond to needs, issues, and opportunities.
Lead: A fundamental mistake church leaders make is assuming that just because they are leaders in a congregation doesn’t mean they are leaders in the community. The good news is the Servant Leadership approach used in many churches is applicable in a community, if you avoid critical pitfalls.
I wonder what would happen if church planters focused first on the external community before starting services.
What would happen if small and large congregations stopped their outreach efforts and started to engage their communities?
To find out, we have to rethink outreach.
You can learn more about the Listen, Look, and Lead model in John’s new book, Rethinking Outreach—A Field Guide.
(Photo by Marco Nürnberger | Flickr)
