Community Ministry

Single Mothers - baby sitting, financial and physical needs unconditionally.

Homeless - provide assistance to get back to work, get Florida ID, social security card, and living arrangements when they actually want it. When they don't we provide blankets and coats to get through the winter months. Occasional meals.

Elder Care - there are a large number of senor citizens who cannot maintian the maintainenance on their homes anymore and no budget to pay someone or family to do it near by. Repair, trim lawns etc. unconditionally

 

we have:

a bus ministry,

weekly soulwinning times at least 3 days a week,

a Reformer's Unanimous addictions program,

nursing home ministry - we have teams that hold church services in nursing homes all over the city each Sunday afternoon,

we just started our own Boy Scouts chapter

also are just starting a basketball league which will be open to the community

 

Assisted living ministry, youth detention center ministry, street evangelism, missions.

 

We are actively involved in our local FFA and 4-H programs and support our County Junior Livestock Show.

We are an active member of the Chamber of Commerce.

We give out free bottles of water to exercisers at the county lake, on each bottle is a postcard with the gospel and information about our church.

We maintain a food closet.

We distribute gospel literature in the community and several of our members actively evangelize on a regular basis.

We also give out free water and fresh fruit to participates of several city-wide races. Also with the gospel postcard.

 

HOmeless ministry--providing shelter, dinner, and breakfast several times during the winter months for those who would be housed in shelters, but the shelters are full

Provided furniture for an orphanage in India.

Provided care for HIV/AIDS victims in Malawi.

Helped with several Habitat houses.

Provided mentors for residents in a lower income community in the big city.

Provided gift cards and Christmas gifts for residents in a children's home in town.

Went to Mexico and built a house for a family.

 

You reminded me that we support an independent Baptist ministry in India that has started 40 churches, 4 orphanges, and two bible colleges. Those churches are not self supporting and are in remote villages in india.

 

At other churches I have been involved in:

Bible school

Mission trips to many varied places.

Fall Festivals

Summer camps

Bible Clubs

Meals to shut ins, even those not belonging to the church.

Celebrate Recovery

 

We've only been members for a month now, so I may not be aware of everything. But we have a food pantry, day care, adiction deliverance, an outdoors ministry like hunting and stuff I wouldn't know about. I know there more, I'm just not familiar enough yet to be able to name them.

 

This coming Sunday, our church is having what is called "The BigServe". We are not having church services or Bible study this Sunday Morning, but each class (we have 38 adult classes) is going out to the cummunity in some service capacity.

Examples include: children school supplies for orphanges, having picnics in the housing units for the poor, free car washes, having Bibile study classes for class shut-ins at their residence, performing tasks for the elderly, etc., etc. There will be a service on Sunday evening where the classes will report on their projects.

Our church does other things during the year like feed the homeless, but this is the first such church wide concentrated effort.

 

We're involved passing out free water at community events, Providing food for people in the inner city, Free Car washes, House building, Softball, Something we call brown bag mission, visiting people in the Hospital, and other things. A lot of opportunities for service.

 

I just now thought of this. Each summer for the last summer, the church I am helping with right now has sponsored a "Movies in the Park" in uptown Charlotte, and have registered people to give a way door prizes, and, of course, get them on our mailing list. We show family films once a month. I was amazed at the attendance.

 

Tim

I visited a church in Tenn once that an unusual ministry. It is a much needed one, but one I had never thought of or seen

They ministered to the wives and children of inmates left alone at home. Helped them with Christmas, visited thoughout the year and provided transportation to church and church activities such as bible school.

Lots of churches have jail and prison ministries, but this was the first that had a ministry specifically to help the families of the inmates. I think this is a great idea and a noble way to serve and spread the gospel.

AJ

 

And wait.

Prison revival for families of prisoners and prisoners at the local minimum security prison. Provided dinner each night and school supplies for the children.

 

Tim, there are a lot of great ideas here, I really liked the one that involved the whole Church going out and doing several different activities in the community instead of staying inside the church. We have a food pantry that is always open and available at our church, also we do Thanksgiving Food baskets, we provide enough food to each family no matter what size, enough food to last from Thanksgiving Dinner (ham and turkey) to Christmas dinner. This includes potatoes, canned food, fresh eggs, bread, milk, juice, etc. We have a bus ministry here just for youth. The way our community is spread out we have to travel. We have 30 kids now coming, their parents never attend, and we take them out for different activities such as State Fair, ice skating, swimming, rafting, etc. We have baptized 10 ;of the new kids this year. We help those in need with work around their homes, do servant evangelism activities, hospital visitation, help find housing for the homeless ( which in this area there are a few), We try to reach out to as many different needs that God places in our path, including care packages for our troops. Which of course is important to me. Of course we have our different overseas projects as well.

 

Oh yea Tim, you may find reading "101 Ways to Help People in Need" by Steve Sjogren a help, also he has another one "101 Ways to Reach Your Community". Hope this helps.

 

Tim we are going to do the Outflow series at some point. Right now we are getting ready to start the Discipleship course that we took through the School of Christian Studies. We know a little about the Outflow series though and remember it was discussed in our last course.