A few weeks ago, one of the churches in our small town hosted Sonshine Saturday – an afternoon of Southern Gospel music and outreach at one of our local parks. The other local churches were invited to join them and have food booths with items to sell to concert-goers.

It was a very hot afternoon, but at least half a dozen churches staked out spots around the stage – selling everything from Mexican food to hot dogs and burgers and even baked goods.

And as we sat there through that very hot afternoon, we realized that other than musicians and churches selling items, there were maybe a dozen people who came.

Now, there are a lot of reasons turn out could have been so small – it was in a different location than the previous one, which had been far more centrally located…it was the first homegame for the Pop Warner football teams…did I mention it was really, really hot?…but the more I’ve thought about, the more I’ve come to believe that the purpose didn’t quite match the event or really even the town. Ultimately something that could have reached and introduced a lot of people to the Gospel didn’t.

And that’s something that’s really been on my mind and in my prayers as we make these plans to reach more toward children, youth and families at our church.  As we committed this month to prayer and planning, we really began to see the brokenness and need in our community – a community that is desperate for Christ.

How do we reach people where they are, something Jesus made a practice of doing? While I rather enjoy some Southern Gospel, a hip hop or country concert festival would have been something that would have had a bigger draw. How do we engage culture and people the way Jesus did, using terms they were familiar with in their time? Words like sanctified go over well with most churched people…but someone just walking by would have no idea what it meant. How do we see the needs? The real needs – not just the superficial ones (though we’re working on meetings some of those too). Over and over and over in Scripture, we see Jesus go that extra step and get to the root of things. How can we do that?

How do we bring lasting change and a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ to a community that is largely unchurched or for whom church going is cultural?

With relationships.

We could have a concert every single weekend, and still not see the family of God grow in Dos Palos. It’s going to take personal relationships – getting to really know people, becoming invested in them. We no longer live in a world where the church is trusted implicitly, and we live in a town that has been harmed so deeply by pastor’s in the past (sometimes I think pastor’s should have to take the Hippocratic oath – first, do no harm).

For the church to grow and new people to be reached (both in our community and in the world), I’m more and more convinced that purpose, intent, transparency from pastors and ministry leaders and relationship will become even more vital than they are now. For our little corner of the kingdom, we’re starting to plan some get-togethers – family and fun oriented – and we’re prayerfully working hard to make sure that the method matches the purpose.

First up?

It’s the Great Pumpkin Party, Charlie Brown! An easy night, here at the parsonage, with pumpkin carving, pizza, popcorn balls and watching It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. The more Tom and I have talked and prayed, the more we’ve come to realize that this a low-key, family focused event would be a great way to begin to build relationships with families – whatever shape or form those families may happen to take.

We have a few more get-togethers in the works, and I can’t to see how God is going to bring this plan and vision together.

And we’d certainly appreciate your continued prayers!