Community Outreach helps churches and believers love their neighbors with practical compassion and gospel clarity. Explore Bible-based articles on serving local needs, building relationships, partnering with community organizations, and creating outreach ministries that are sustainable and effective. You’ll find guidance on evangelism, mercy ministry, hospitality, and engaging your city with wisdom—so outreach is more than an event and becomes a way of life. Whether your church is starting new initiatives or strengthening existing ones, these resources equip you to serve your community in Jesus’ name.
November 22, 2016
New Year”s Eve””January 1: Contact a New Year”s Eve party venue and arrange to offer free rides home. The venue can call or text you when someone needs a ride. (Be sure to take someone with you. Do not go alone.) January 16″”Martin Luther King Day: Plan a day of service in the community to help meet pressing needs. For more information, go to www.nationalservice.gov/mlkday. “”Outreach Magazine, www.outreachmagazine.com
November 13, 2016
By Justin Horey It took a gang member for Tommy Nixon to understand grace. In 2002, Nixon cofounded Solidarity, a ministry designed to “help churches transform their cities,” but after a decade living and working in the low-income neighborhoods of Fullerton, California, he was frustrated. Nixon”s work with Solidarity had introduced him to a number of local gang members, and he had been ministering to one in particular for 10 years””but the young man”s life wasn”t changing. Despite Nixon”s efforts to help him, the gang member wound up in jail, and even was deported. Nixon recalls turning to God in
November 3, 2016
By Michael C. Mack November is National Diabetes Month in the United States. In 2012, 29.1 million Americans, or 9.3 percent of the population, had diabetes. Here are a few ideas for your church or group: “¢ Host a family diabetes gathering. Invite a local representative from the American Diabetes Association (ADA) or a diabetes educator to speak and answer questions. Provide a healthy meal. “¢ Provide information about diabetes, which can be found on the ADA website, www.diabetes.org, or from a local office or a local endocrinology office. Help clear up many of the common myths about diabetes. “¢
September 10, 2016
How one church is facilitating the priesthood of all believers””inside and outside the church walls By Justin Horey Is a Little League coach a children”s ministry worker? Is a backyard barbecue a discipleship group? Is living out your faith as a public school teacher as important as serving in student ministries? At Mountain Christian Church in Joppa, Maryland, the answer is yes. Lead pastor Ben Cachiaras says Mountain Christian Church encourages ministry both inside and outside the church walls, because it”s essential to do both. “We legitimize ministry even if it”s not within the four walls of the church,” Cachiaras
By Jennifer Johnson Since the mid-1990s, Lighthouse Ministries has been helping the poor, the addicted, and the hungry of Lexington, KY, with food, recovery programs, and other outreach efforts. At the Nehemiah House, men can participate in Bible study, anger management classes, GED preparation, and counseling as well as receive help with their substance abuse issues. Families receive support and resources for the recovery process. Lighthouse”s “Dining with Dignity” program also serves hot meals to thousands””more than 40,000 lunches in 2015 alone. Last year the ministry bought a second building, allowing the Lighthouse team to serve almost 200 people at
By Adrian Wallace Collaboration is the key aspect to effective inner-city ministry that, in turn, creates healthy multiethnic Christian community. Some of the main reconciliatory agents in Lexington, Kentucky, have been the joint efforts of churches of different denominations, parachurch groups, nongovernmental organizations, and civic organizations. Help has come from ministry partners like the Lexington Leadership Foundation, whose mission is to connect, unify, and mobilize the body of Christ. For example, LLF assisted Broadway Christian Church in creating an urban ministry. Quasi-governmental organization Partners for Youth, the Fayette County Public School system, and others have helped bridge gaps that have
By Brian Jennings and José Heredia If you walked around our urban neighborhood, you”d find a mix of ethnicities, cultures, and skin colors (about 30 percent minority and growing). You”d meet widows who”ve lived in their homes for 40 years and couples restoring the floors of their first home. You”d also see lots of apartments, several of which house people with poverty, hunger, disability, or struggles with mental illness. A few years ago, the Holy Spirit began compelling us to take steps toward ethnic, generational, and socioeconomic diversity. We have a great church of loving people, but we acknowledged that issues
By Jennifer Johnson Open Arms provides homes, care, and education for children of all ages who have been neglected and abused. Most of all, Open Arms provides hope. The ministry, located in Switz City, Indiana, started as the Indiana Christian Children”s Home by a Johnson University grad named Bill Tucker more than 40 years ago. Today, Open Arms not only runs “The Miriam Home” for abandoned, abused, and troubled teenagers, but also provides training and support for foster parents and educational opportunities for young adults. “The core of this ministry has always been the children”s home because there”s such a
April 21, 2016
By Jennifer Johnson It all began with a few sandwiches back in 2002. “My wife and I became convicted about whether we really loved poor people,” says Dallas Stamper. “We decided to make sandwiches and give them away to a few people on the beach. We ended up connecting with four homeless men and talking to them for three hours””which surprised them, I think, because they were used to people giving them food and then hurrying away. We asked if we could meet them again the next week, and that was the beginning of People In Need. The second week
March 21, 2016
By Jennifer Johnson For more than 125 years, the house at 516 N. Wall Ave. in Joplin, MO, has reached local residents for Christ””as a private home, as the first campus of Ozark Christian College, and later as the home of North Joplin Christian Church. Today, this historic building continues to facilitate ministry as the Neighborhood Life House, a nonprofit organization that builds relationships with community members and shares the love of Jesus through a variety of programs for children and families. “A group of us at College Heights Christian Church had been working with a ministry to an apartment
February 4, 2016
By Jennifer Johnson In 2013, the people of Grandview Christian Church (Johnson City, TN) changed the way they thought about local missions””and how they reached out to their community. “In the past we had a “˜community concern committee” that made decisions about which local nonprofits to support,” says Brandon Waite. “But we gave small amounts of money to many different groups and didn”t really build relationships with any of them. We decided to be more intentional about reaching our area and really partnering with a few local organizations.” The new initiative was called JCServe, and Waite was hired to serve
January 15, 2016
By Bill Belew Jesus was an immigrant child. His original home is not where he grew up. That fact can move us to reach and serve the children of immigrants all around us. A couple of years ago, a friend of mine became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He was thrilled when I invited myself to watch his swearing in. None of his Persian (Iranian) family members or friends were able to make it. There were more than 1,500 new citizens from 140 to 150 different countries being sworn in that day. As the names of the countries
January 7, 2016
By Jennifer Johnson At dinner the other night, Nina asked, “If a deaf person never hears language spoken, does he still think in words?” Interestingly, I had just talked to Chad Entinger earlier that week about these very concepts””which had blown my mind. I proceeded to blow hers, explaining that deaf people aren”t just signing everything we”re saying, the order of the ideas may be signed differently than we would say them, and there are many different sign languages just as there are many spoken ones. “But wait””everybody has trees. Why don”t they all have the same sign for tree?”
October 1, 2015
By Jennifer Johnson When the chaplain of Decatur (IL) Memorial Hospital retired after 25 years of service, Wayne Kent, lead pastor at First Christian Church in Decatur, got an idea. “I approached the hospital leadership because this kind of hire is different from what they normally do,” he says. “I told them we could help with the process””or they could just ask us to do it.” With that, Kent began a series of conversations with the hospital administration that resulted in First Christian “just doing it”””evaluating applicants for the chaplaincy position, hiring the chaplain, and expanding the program to provide
September 27, 2015
By Michael C. Mack Studies show more than a quarter of American adults are divorced or raising children alone. Yet surveys indicate only 5 percent of single parents attend church regularly. What can the church do to reach single moms? One congregation has thrown baby showers for single moms-to-be. The goal is to show love to someone struggling and unsure of God”s love in a difficult time. Women from the church cook, plan games, and act as hosts at the event. The Single Moms Ministry at McCook (Nebraska) Christian Church started a new Bible study group and handed out fliers
September 26, 2015
By Michael C. Mack Over the summer of 2015, Northeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, served its community through a wide variety of big, all-in serving events called Love the Ville (#lovetheville) that took lots of planning and coordination and made a huge impact on the community. What does it take to plan and execute big serving initiatives like the ones Northeast carried out? What are the secrets that any sized church or ministry can implement? Go and do minister Randy Gordon provides three vital planning and execution principles: 1. Talk to the right people. Maximize the relationships you already
June 13, 2015
By Michael C. Mack Do you have bicyclists at your church? Invite them to be involved in ministry together. Here are a few ideas: “¢ Many cyclists are already riding for various good causes: diabetes and cancer research, to support the Arthritis Foundation, and many others. Support them financially and with prayer as they train and ride in these events. Sponsor a cycling team that wears jerseys with the church logo. Promote the events to get more people to ride for these causes. Show up and cheer along the course. “¢ Members of Northeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, started
By Michael C. Mack July is National Ice Cream Month. How can you use ice cream in your ministry? Momentum Christian Church in Stockbridge, Georgia, owns an ice cream truck that it uses for all types of ministry. David Powers, who oversees “Out There” ministries and community partnerships, said the truck is a way to build trust and serve in the community, but it also provides the people of Momentum a low-commitment, easy way to serve together. When Momentum launched, lead minister Bart Stone bought the 1988 postal truck off eBay, and the church converted it to serve ice cream.
By Jennifer Johnson A century ago, churches were known for building hospitals, schools, universities, and community centers instead of constructing buildings only for their own use, say leaders at Crosspointe Church of Cary, NC. This month, the church is breaking ground on a new 130,000-square-foot facility that will increase its space for Sunday programming””and provide a new YMCA for the community. As the church leadership team considered the need for new facilities, they wanted to create something that would serve people in the area every day of the week. While discussing potential options, they noticed a lack of activities for
April 20, 2015
By Fred Liggin When I first met Frank, I didn”t know anything about him other than he was poor and homeless. I didn”t know his story. I didn”t know how he got into such a mess. Did he drink himself homeless? Did he waste his money? Was he just lazy or did he refuse to work? Did something traumatic happen to him that caused him to spiral out of control? But it didn”t matter. We were Jesus” followers and we had to help him. So we did. As we began walking with Frank, we learned how he got into this
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