Volume 2: June 2006
Features
Partnering For Effective Urban Ministry
by Juan Galloway
I work in the metro area of greater New York City, one of the most
diverse and enormous cities in the world. The problems, pain and
challenges here are overwhelming, and can even be intimidating.
It would be foolish for us, however, to hide in one of our two
sanctuaries and pray for the community to walk in our door, fall at the
altar and cry out to be saved. The same holds true in your city.
How then can we connect with the hurting--and even more challenging,
how can we heal them? How can we ever take this city or any other city
for Christ? Partnership, partnership, partnership. And did I mention
partnership?
It blows me away that I constantly come in contact with churches that
try to minister to their communities with no outside help. When we do
that, we end up narrowing what we really do to a very small area.
Resources are limited to the staff and congregation. The big word is
limited--the impact of ministry in the community is limited.
Our two churches--located in Elizabeth, New Jersey--are known as
CityTribe. We minister primarily to the homeless, drug addicts,
prostitutes and other poor people-groups who have more needs than we
could ever fulfill with our small staffs or lay leaders. To accomplish
our mission, we partner to a huge degree with other ministries and
organizations.
These include other local churches; crisis pregnancy centers; alcohol,
drug detox and rehabilitation centers; food pantries; shelters; 12-step
programs; job-training programs; Christian colleges and institutes;
missions organizations; battered women's shelters; and many other
groups. This means our two churches can be the bridge to real physical
help that will change people's lives. We can even be a bridge for
someone to find a different church or ministry that is better suited to
minister to their needs.
The Acts Example
Having worked as a youth pastor at several churches over a 10-year
span, I remember the many phone calls we received from people needing
help. Sometimes we turned them away because we didn't know how to meet
their need. At other times we turned them away because our policy was
to help only the members of our church. In other words, a person had to
be a Christian and an active member to get help.
That policy isn't exactly a welcome mat to the needy and unsaved. We
didn't even know who to refer them to and, in effect, told them:
"Goodbye, I wish you well. Stay warm and well fed." Your community
doesn't want you to tell them that you care, they want you to prove it.
James 2:16 says: "If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep
warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what
good is it?" (NIV).
Church could be--and may I be so bold as to say should be?--a resource
center for those who need help. It's not enough just to minister to
spiritual needs and leave physical and emotional needs unmet. We must
become people who care for the whole person.
If we don't understand, as a strategy of ministry, the concept of going
beyond church services and Bible classes, we need only look at the
original church in the book of Acts to learn more about it. Immediately
after their inception, the first century church went to work helping
one another, feeding the hungry, and taking care of widows and orphans.
They saw the greatest needs right in front of them and, under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wasted no time finding ways to meet
them.
What holds us back from partnering with other churches and
organizations? Is it insecurity? Fear of losing the flock? Fear of
doctrinal or philosophical conflicts? Fear of being taken advantage of?
How about fear of not getting the credit? There is a real lack of
respect in the church for the grunt work required to develop a
disciple. We all want to be the ones who reap, but many times we are
just part of the planting and watering process. There is no glory in
planting and watering. But if we are kingdom-minded, we are free to
minister to someone and then, if necessary, pass them on to someone
else to continue the work.
We have to stop being islands unto ourselves. When we cut ourselves off
from the rest of the body in our city, we become crippled in our
efforts to bring healing. When we work together, all parts can function
cooperatively to build the kingdom.
For example, although CityTribe churches don't have youth ministries at
this time, we are in relationship with incredible youth ministries in
our city that do a great job. We are free to refer people to them. The
partnering relationship means that ministry resources are better
utilized.
We're not competing with other local churches. We know we need their
help to reach and disciple our city. "Networking" is a great term that
applies to us because that's what we're trying to do--work the nets.
We're trying to spread them out and gather them in, filled with people.
Steps to Partnering and Networking
You can begin today the process of partnering and networking to reach
your community. Here are a few simple and practical steps to get you
started.
- Assign a team to research all the resources, Christian and
secular, available in your community. Have them gather data and
establish relationships with community leaders.
- Create a database (a list) with every category and type of resource that can be found.
- Advertise and simply tell the community you can help.
- Determine the hours when you will be available to meet with the
community (not just during services). Put detailed information in their
hands about how they can take advantage of the community's resources.
In the process, love them, pray for them and tell them about Jesus.
- Have your congregation volunteer with the community organizations
to which you refer people for help. This includes volunteering at other
churches that are offering services. (What a thought!)
- Find at least one need that isn't being met in your area and
organize your own congregation to meet it. Tell your network what
you're doing so they can send people to you for help.
Logistically, operating a major outreach center can be an enormous
task, but can you imagine what could happen if every church in a
particular city actually took the simple steps listed above to network
and partner? The whole city would take notice of the compassion of the
body of Christ and its determination to make
a difference.
Areas of need for which you could supply help range from providing
groceries or prepared meals to music, art and dance education to GED
tutoring to sheltering battered women to gender-confusion counseling
and many, many other areas. Do not make prayer, church attendance or
becoming a Christian a prerequisite for someone to receive help. A
person may do what you ask only to get the help they need.
It is so much better to wait until the motivation comes from their
hearts. Make these resources available with no strings attached. People
need to know you genuinely care and aren't trying to manipulate them
for your own purposes.
In Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus gave a simple list of what He'll ask us about
when we get to heaven. He said He'd want to know: "Did you feed the
hungry? Give them a drink? Invite a stranger in? Provide them with
clothes? Look after the sick? Visit those in prison?"
He doesn't mention what we normally think of as "spiritual" tasks, such
as evangelism, prayer, Bible study or preaching--though we must never
neglect these things. But neither should we neglect meeting the needs
on His list.
We cannot do it alone. We need the whole body. In fact, we need the whole city to make the city whole. Let's get to work.
Juan Galloway is director of
East Coast School of Urban Ministry, a Foursquare institute. He is also a pastor at CityTribe Foursquare Church (
www.citytribechurch.org or
www.myspace.com/citytribechurch)
in Elizabeth, N.J. To learn more innovative urban-church strategies,
sign up for "The CityTribe Method of Church Planting," a two-day
seminar sponsored by Foursquare to be held Sept. 29-30 in Elizabeth,
N.J. For more information, call (908) 352-8778 or send e-mail to
juan@nycr.org.
E-mail to a Friend
Subscribe to Urban Multicultural Ministries Resources RSS feed
Foursquare Media
Get Acrobat to View PDFs