Church seeks to meet the needs of a small town that is 70% unchurched.
Our county is classified as 70% unchurched. Think about it: this means that 7 out of 10 families on my street are not connected to any church. To test this number, I walked out into my yard, looked up and down my street, and counted ten homes. Of the ten, seven were unchurched. At least on my street, that number was true. I would sit at a football game and think “700 of the 1000 people here are not connected to a church.” I would see the population sign coming into our town and think of the 8,400 people who were unchurched. To be sure, there were plenty of churches in our town and county. Some of them were doing some good work, but they were all very similar in style. But I, along with others, had a vision of a new church coming to town. One that would be outward thinking and bring a different approach to reaching and connecting with the unchurched.
On our first Sunday we started with a core group of 100 people. Over the next twelve months we would double in size. For many of the people this would be their first church home, and some were giving church a second chance.
In order to reach the 70% unchurched in our county we believed we needed to become outward thinking. By outward thinking, I mean thinking about what those outside the church thought about Christ and the church and how to connect with them. To be outward thinking meant we needed to consider the fears, assumptions, perceptions, and attitudes of the unchurched toward the church. In order to connect with the unchurched, there were several things that needed to be outward thinking in nature that we believed were crucial to breaking the 200 barrier.
Outward Thinking Leadership
Whether it’s a ministerial staff member, elder, or team leader, we wanted …
