Mission Connectivity: A Tale of Two Cities
Do you believe that anything is possible? Pastors and church leaders in very diverse ministries consistently tell me they want to make a difference in their community. Many do, but others retreat into their sanctuaries when unexpected obstacles and challenges arise. The Apostle Paul proclaimed in the Greek marketplace, “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands” (Acts 17:24, NIV). God’s spiritual network is powered by Jesus Christ and must not terminate at your church. To improve our mission connectivity, we will learn how God’s spiritual network is experienced in two different cities. First, a story from Racine, Wisconsin, a Midwestern city of 78,000 between Milwaukee and Chicago on the shore of Lake Michigan. Then, a story from Newark, New Jersey, an urban hub in the Northeast that is home to more than 279,000 people.
City Seeks Church Connections: Racine, Wisconsin
Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” (Luke 17:17-19, NIV)
The story of the ten lepers helps us understand that grace and gratitude are core values of the Good News of Jesus Christ. Though ten individuals received a healing touch, only one returned to give thanks. In response to God’s amazing grace, how does your church show its gratitude through community connectivity?
The Mayor and Council in Racine faced a dire budget deficit. Mayor John Dickert wanted to try one more thing. He sent 182 letters to the city’s nonprofits asking for financial assistance. According to the Journal Times, tax-exempt organizations were asked if, “they would consider paying a portion of the property tax the city would ordinarily charge them if their properties were taxed.1
Mayor Dickert said his Racine Fair Share Program was based on similar initiatives in cities like Boston and Milwaukee. In the United States, property tax exemptions relieve churches from paying billions of dollars to their communities that businesses are obligated to pay. But churches enjoy all the same benefits and services, including police and fire departments, common access to community places and repairs to roads, for example. The Racine Mayor reasoned that though churches did not owe property tax, they had a civic duty to do what they could to help solve a mutual crisis.
Mayor Dickert told me in a phone interview that he was grateful for the many churches that expressed authentic connectivity to the greater community, but the town still needed a financial boost to serve all of its citizens.
Two months passed as the town’s leadership anxiously awaited results to their financial appeal. “City Administrator Tom Friedel told the aldermen that the city has yet to collect any money through the program,” the Journal Times reported. But two weeks later, the mayor’s office received a free-will gift from the parishioners at Olympia Brown Unitarian Universalist Church in the amount of $1,500. Of the 182 organizations asked to help, only one came forward to give thanks before the budget deadline. A few months later, Mayor Dickert expressed gratitude for two more contributions: $100 from Beth Israel Sinai, and $500 from the Racine Education Association.2
Church Seeks City Connections: Newark, New Jersey
When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. (John 6:12-13, NIV)
Other than the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the feeding of the multitudes is the only other story told in all four Gospels. A core value of the Good News of Jesus Christ is that we don’t have to be present to be blessed. God will reach us where we are. The basketfuls of left-overs made their way down the hill to bless those unable to attend the main event. How does your church distribute blessings through its community connectivity?
There are many reasons to walk, and many reasons to go to church, but I bet you haven’t considered walking to church for shoes. One church decided to pay attention to their community by applying a new model for mission connectivity.
Emanuel First Hispanic Presbyterian Church leaders told me they were not satisfied with their annual Everybody Is Welcome campaign. Hospitality, abundance, and generosity were slowly beginning to resonate within the congregation through Bible study and worship. Over the years they incrementally improved their methods, but “getting people into church,” seemed misdirected, if not too small a goal. They began to ask themselves, “What jobs do our neighbors need to get done in their lives?” The church was ready for a change as they embraced a renewed community-focus I call the Jobs To Be Done model for church connectivity.
The church’s earlier focus, “getting people into church,” left many parishioners experiencing low ministry satisfaction and low energy, with correspondingly disappointing results. As they shifted from invitations to church, to inquiries about what neighbors needed to get done by the church, their ministry satisfaction and energy increased. Week by week, they shared stories, and improved their community intelligence and their connectivity.
To their surprise, the most frequently expressed need by the community was about shoes. Kids needed shoes for school and play. Parents needed shoes for work. Shoes were expensive, quickly worn out, or were outgrown. Also, those with a shoe surplus needed to do more with them than let them take up closet space or eventually be thrown away.
Since the job of acquiring good shoes was required, the church became a kind of Shoe Depot. The Walk To Church For Shoes project offered shoes, in good condition, for free. People met around the tables sharing shoes. Kids played. Food was enjoyed. Prayers were offered. Strangers and new immigrants, young and old, came for shoes. Once that job was accomplished, many found that other immediate and longer-range jobs they had to do in their lives could be accomplished. New people participated in new ways. A community was blessed!
Connectivity Is a Gospel Mandate, and a Mission Opportunity
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14, NIV)
From Racine to Newark, communities need blessings from tangible connectivity–a point of contact. Connectivity describes a reciprocal, beneficial relationship. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are not strangers or exiles in a foreign land. Our communities consider us resident neighbors. The community appreciates the potential value a church and its ministers provide.
An opportunity exists for every church in America to understand that mission connectivity begins by cultivating a spirit of grace and gratitude for your community, then delivering tangible blessings in the name of Jesus Christ.
To get started on the connectivity path, consider two questions:
1. What unique mission will God send to your congregation to achieve in the world? Cultivating connectivity in a spirit of grace and gratitude allows your congregation to focus on a few, clear ministry outcomes. Remember the one out of ten who returned to give thanks!
2. How will you connect your neighbors to God’s spiritual network? Discover and deliver what is important to the community. Remember the left-overs in the story of the feeding of the multitudes!
Track your results! Create a Church Connectivity Scale to measure and promote how involved your people are with one another. But also keep a Community Connectivity Scale that measures and promotes how involved your people are with community groups, programs, events, and issues. A church that demonstrates a high inside and outside connectivity would likely have a higher involvement index (spiritual energy and ministry satisfaction) compared to congregations that scored lower in these two key areas.
Every community has its unique challenges, but you can apply the lessons learned from Racine and Newark. Your neighbors can experience spiritual health and wellness, justice and reconciliation, and prosperity and peace in the name of Jesus Christ. Grace and gratitude can get the job done through mission connectivity.
Notes
1. Spoto, Cara. “City Seeks Help — Letter Asks Tax-Exempt Groups to Help Pay for Services.” Journal Times. Last modified October 2, 2012. Accessed September 1, 2015. http://journaltimes.com/news/local/city-seeks-help-letter-asks-tax-exempt-groups-to-help/article65709488-0c86-11e2-97f8-001a4bcf887a.html.
2. _______. “Three Give to City – Although Amounts Small, Mayor Thanks Nonprofits.” Journal Times. Last modified January 17, 2013. Accessed September 1, 2015. http://journaltimes.com/news/local/three-give-to-city-although-amounts-small-mayor-thanks-nonprofits/article83a9eba0-60a2-11e2-b7c2-0019bb2963f4.html.
