I began work at my current congregation a little over 2 years ago. When I came the church was in a transitional period having undergone a split about 6 months previous. Three reasons spurred my decision to accept what many would believe to be an unattractive position:

1. It was closer to family and where Tracy received her undergrad.
2. I love a challenge
3. The church owned property in a more upscale, faster growing area with the dream of building on that land sometime in the near future.

Two years later that dream of moving to a new location seems further away than ever. We are a rapidly aging congregation with limited resources and few young couples..
We could not finance a new build no matter how much we wanted to.
And no longer do I think we should.

Our building is an older structure, sitting along I-35 in a very economically depressed, primarily Hispanic area of north Waco. Many of our neighbors either don’t speak English or struggle with communicating competently. The houses that surround our facility are run-down, ramshackle rental homes. Our neighbors clamor for our aid in clothing, food and other assistance.

Why would we want to move? There are too many churches that have fled to the suburbs. Not enough have elected to stay among the least of these. I hope that we will choose to.

Granted, we haven’t been a very good neighbor through the years. I think our long-standing members would agree to that.

But we are seeking to rectify that:

–This past Saturday about 25 of us showed up to go and knock doors in our immediate neighborhood. Our purpose was to invite them to our annual Friend Day this coming Sunday. After our worship time we will provide them with a catered barbecue dinner. (Note: we had 2 families show up yesterday, simply because we asked.)

–Each week we give away a lot of groceries in addition to operating a Clothes Closet for people who need adequate clothing. We are currently inviting all those who seek us out over the next 2 weeks to come to a free Valentine Dinner for them and their spouses/significant-other. The people in our neighborhood would never be able to take their loved one to a romantic dinner. We want to provide them the opportunity to do just that.

–I am currently searching for someone in the area to come and teach us Spanish. What better way to show that we love and care for our neighbors than to illustrate that by being willing to learn their language rather than simply expecting them to learn ours?

I know that if these and other efforts that I hope we undertake bear fruit that I will have to change my approach to things. My preaching will need to become more simplistic. I will need to network more among urban ministers.
But that is what I am willing and excited to do if we will commit to being more missional.

Here is my question for you: what suggestions for events/ministry offerings would you suggest we try? How can we better be a light where we are? How do we share Jesus here?
For this I know: we are in this neighborhood for a reason. To love the people God has surrounded us with. How can we love them better?