{"id":2638,"date":"2013-04-21T10:13:52","date_gmt":"2013-04-21T14:13:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/activistfaith\/?p=2638"},"modified":"2013-04-19T10:14:23","modified_gmt":"2013-04-19T14:14:23","slug":"make-a-difference-where-you-are-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/activistfaith\/2013\/04\/make-a-difference-where-you-are-12.html","title":{"rendered":"Make a Difference Where You Are"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>[Guest post from Bibledude.net blogger and friend, Crystal Rowe.]<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/gods-art\/4053320936\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/bibledude.net\/church2-590x391.jpg\" width=\"590\" height=\"391\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Last week, the Barna Group released a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.barna.org\/congregations-articles\/502-do-churches-contribute-to-their-communities\" target=\"_blank\">new report<\/a> revealing that 75% of adults believe that churches have a positive effect on their local communities. This sounds like good news, right? So why is it that church membership is dwindling? It seems that people would want to take part in this positive influence of the community around them.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s the thing \u2026 the next question asked was:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Many churches and faith leaders want to contribute positively to the common good of their community. What does your community need, if anything, that you feel churches could provide?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Many adults had no idea how churches could contribute \u2013 even though they had previously said the presence of a church was a positive addition to the community. Here were the other results:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Addressing poverty 29%<\/li>\n<li>Teaching the Bible and giving spiritual direction 12%<\/li>\n<li>Serving youth, families, &amp; the elderly 13%<\/li>\n<li>Cultivating biblical values 14%<\/li>\n<li>Assist those in recovery 10%<\/li>\n<li>Assist with financial or career education 7%<\/li>\n<li>Be inclusive and accepting 3%<\/li>\n<li>Be engaged politically 1%<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>What this report really reveals is that although people are not hostile toward churches, they really don\u2019t see how the local church plays an active role in its community. This is particularly true when churches are located in an area with very little poverty.<\/p>\n<p>But the gospel message is about transformation \u2026 that in Christ we are a new creation, full of hope and joy. We live full and abundant lives because of a greater purpose. So if the gospel message is about transforming lives, then shouldn\u2019t our churches be transforming their local communities?<\/p>\n<p>It seems there are a couple of things church leaders can learn from this report. Just what can we do to make sure our churches have a positive impact on their local communities?<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Have a public face.<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nShow up at community events. All too often our church leaders do most of their work inside the church building with church members. They don\u2019t see the need to attend the local parade, community fair, chamber of commerce, town meetings. Because the church has largely been absent from these community events, it\u2019s difficult to understand how the church and community connect.<\/p>\n<p>If the church is part of the community, then the church should be active in the community. Church leaders should be the human face of the church. When people think of the church, there should be people that come to mind.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Build relationships outside the church.<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\nI think a lot of people in the community have misconceptions about the church. Although most people think the church is a positive thing, many don\u2019t see the need to be personally committed to a church. There could be many reasons for this. Maybe they are too busy. Or maybe they aren\u2019t sure the church has anything to offer them \u2013 after all, the church is there for the poor and the downtrodden, not the mainstream, right? Or maybe they\u2019ve had a bad experience at a church \u2013 felt unwelcome, judged, kicked out.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of the reason, it\u2019s unlikely that they have a real relationship with someone who is active in a church community. When we build relationships with people outside of the church, we begin to walk in their shoes \u2013 and they in ours. They begin to see how church has a positive effect on our lives \u2013 and maybe how it could have a positive effect in theirs.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Is your church active in the local community? How do the churches around you contribute positively?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Crystal Rowe\" src=\"https:\/\/bibledude.net\/userphoto\/crowe.thumbnail.jpg\" width=\"57\" height=\"80\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Crystal has a heart for making the church and the Christian faith real and relevant to the world around her and is passionate about serving others in the name of Christ. Crystal is married to her perfect match, David and is Mommie to the two sweetest kitties on earth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[Guest post from Bibledude.net blogger and friend, Crystal Rowe.] Last week, the Barna Group released a new report revealing that 75% of adults believe that churches have a positive effect on their local communities. This sounds like good news, right? So why is it that church membership is dwindling? It seems that people would want&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":230,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Make a Difference Where You Are - Activist Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/activistfaith\/2013\/04\/make-a-difference-where-you-are-12.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Make a Difference Where You Are - Activist Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[Guest post from Bibledude.net blogger and friend, Crystal Rowe.] Last week, the Barna Group released a new report revealing that 75% of adults believe that churches have a positive effect on their local communities. 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It seems that people would want&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/activistfaith\/2013\/04\/make-a-difference-where-you-are-12.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Activist Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-04-21T14:13:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-04-19T14:14:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/bibledude.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/church2-590x391.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dillon Burroughs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Make a Difference Where You Are - Activist Faith","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/activistfaith\/2013\/04\/make-a-difference-where-you-are-12.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Make a Difference Where You Are - Activist Faith","og_description":"[Guest post from Bibledude.net blogger and friend, Crystal Rowe.] Last week, the Barna Group released a new report revealing that 75% of adults believe that churches have a positive effect on their local communities. 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Dillon served in Haiti following the epic 2010 earthquake and has investigated modern slavery in the US and internationally. His books include \"Undefending Christianity,\" \"Not in My Town\" (with Charles J. Powell), and \"Thirst No More\" (October 2011). 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