Call and schedule an interview with a school official / business leader / mayor / member of the city council / police captain, etc. Pick an official whose job best fits the potential of your congregation to help. Tell the official that you represent a local church that is interested in adding value to the community. Here are several questions that ought to be included in such a conversation / interview. “What is the greatest challenge you face in your capacity?” “What are two of the most important needs you believe I or my church should know?” “What could I or my church do to make your job easier?”
Before
you do this gatekeeper interview, make certain that you have a good grasp of
your congregation’s resources: finances, facilities, and personnel. It is
entirely possible that you may be given something concrete to do. You can also
use the first two questions with more than one official.
REFLECTION:
A
mayor of a small town in the Midwest told a student who asked these questions:
“We run our city with about 35 committees, and we are always looking for people
to serve. I will give you a list, and anyone in your church will be welcome to
serve where they feel most comfortable. By the way, we are having our City
Council on Thursday. Will you offer the invocation?”
A
mayor of a city which is part of Greater Los Angeles answered this way: “Yes, I
know where your church is located. If memory serves, you have a generous
enclosed parking lot behind the church. We could use a place where the young
people of you part of town could play in a safe environment between school and
five. If you are willing to let us use your place, we will supply all of the
equipment, and pay someone to be there during the hours they are there.”
The significant issues
surrounding his proposal were, a) that the church would be connecting with its
community, b) adding value at a point of need, and c) that because they would
be cooperating with the city; they would not need to create a new program to
meet the need.
A
student scheduled an interview with the Head Selectwoman of a Massachusetts
town not far from Providence, RI. When asked what the church could do to help
her, she replied: “The place where we need the most help is in caring for the
elderly who live at home. Let me put you in contact with the person in charge
of that program.”
The
student kept that appointment, and volunteered to intern one evening a week for
a month in assisting the agency deliver services to the elderly. Using the
literature the agency had given him, and what he had experienced, he wrote a
paper which he presented to the Church Board, with the encouragement of his
pastor, proposing that the Church consider entering a ministry to the elderly
in their city.[1]
[1] Adapted from, Reconnecting the Church: Finding our Place
in Complex Culture, by J. Timothy Kauffman, p. 34.
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