In 2009 many families, careers, churches and communities are facing uncommon economic hardships due to a downturn in the international economy. Unemployment is high, family tensions are mounting over day to day living, delayed college for children and delayed retirement for many are everywhere. How are churches facing these current realities?
What are the issues many churches are facing today? How are churches growing through these times? What are the opportunities these challenging times are creating for churches?
Overview of Some Issues
- Family stress fueled by economic challenges
- Finding God in the tough times
- Downturn in church funds when benevolent needs are increasing
- Need to streamline programming because travel expense prohibits multiple trips to the church
- Challenge to be relevant in preaching, worship and programming
Growth Opportunities in Challenging Times
Tough times never last but tough people and churches do. Here are some ways churches are exemplifying growth in spirit and number during these tough economic times.
- Tough times call deacons back to the biblical foundation of spiritual formation and direction rather than management http://www.baptistdistinctives.org/textonly18.html
- Creating helping hands ministries that assist with home, health care, economic needs of the unemployed
- Creating structures and ministries utilizing the skills of the unemployed to give them meaning and purpose during these days and to help others in crisis
- Finding and implementing creative ways of funding ministry. (i.e. utilizing www.goodsearch.com as a way of funding ministries)
- Creating partnerships with businesses, other churches, other denominations to address the needs at hand http://www.cbcquincy.org/2008/10/02/soup-kitchen-new-diaconate-ministry/
- Bible study and worship themes find relevancy and deeper meaning as members, community leaders are invited to share where and how they are experiencing and finding God during these difficult days
- Media libraries and church websites and newsletters take on a relevancy as a means of sharing updates on job markets, resource websites, books, networks etc
- Churches are creating job banks in their churches for the community's unemployed to network, pray, find support and assistance for retooling and re-careering while reworking resume's etc.
- Celebrate the support of biological and surrogate families
- Create forums for those who survived and thrived during the depression of the ?30's to share their learnings with those of this generation
- Encourage and create forums for children and youth to talk with their peers and for the adults to talk with their peers
- Celebrate learnings, support networks, prayers answered and new careers discovered! Commission those who venture out into new waters of daily work to go there as a missionary
Resources to Consider:
Loving Our Neighbor: A Thoughtful Approach to Helping People In Poverty by Beth L. Templeton - Seasoned Guidance On How to Practice Wise Compassion Order at www.amazon.com
İEddie Hammett www.transformingsolutions.org
