“Yes, we do that.”
A blog by Dale Campbell,
our Prayer Leader / Relationship Manager
There’s a question church leaders will be familiar with:
“Does your church help with ‘x’…?”
The ‘x’ might be food parcels, financial assistance, or support for mental health or addiction. Depending on our church size, budget, volunteer base or other factors, some churches have thriving programmes or ministries set up with wrap around care for a variety of practical struggles people face.
Often, however, our churches don’t have capacity to offer that kind of direct support. So, we offer a regrettable and negative response to that question:
“Sorry, we don’t do that.”
Sometimes this ‘sorry’ is followed up with a referral to that larger church up the road with the large ministry for that, the NGO with specialised support, or perhaps the government organisation or professional service appropriate for the need they have. At our worst, we send people away without even a simple referral.
Churches have different gifts and varying capacities for mission and ministry. Churches shouldn’t feel guilty for not having a full suite of community ministries.
But there’s another approach we can take.
If ‘we’ refers to our own individual churches, then we are going to need to say ‘sorry’ a lot. But the first word from our lips doesn’t have to be ‘sorry’. When we are on mission together in our city, sharing resources, networked into active, local area networks, we can say ‘yes’.
“Yes, we do that.”
Your church may not have capacity to run a robust food programme, with empowerment programmes and budgeting services. But your church can partner with a well-run foodbank a short drive away and be a collection point for an annual food drive. So, when that family turns up asking for help, a church that is part of The Church can say, “Yes! We can help. We have a partnership with ‘x’ ministry. Let’s get you connected.”
Few churches have qualified counsellors offering free sessions for anxiety, depression or addiction. And yes, a wise church leader knows when someone’s needs need referral to a professional. But how good is it to have active collaboration and partnership with Christian counsellors and professionals, and training courses helping leaders and volunteers understand how to be a helpful presence for struggling folks. We can then respond saying, “Yes, we’re here to help. Can I shout you a coffee and hear more of what’s going on for you? We partner with ‘x’ counselling services and would be happy to connect you and support your journey.”
There really is only one church in our city, after all. It’s the church of Jesus, and it is far more equipped, skilled, positioned and available to care for a range of needs than we realise. All it takes is us doing the work of making sure all the parts of that body are connected and collaborating.
That’s how we turn a regretful ‘sorry’ into a glad ‘yes’.
