Expand your vision of what “church” can be!
The church provides many wonderful opportunities to invite people in, but what about the rest of our neighbors—those outside our walls? How can we be the church to them? As Jesus often demonstrated, we can’t truly love them unless we make the effort to know them. Let’s get creative and find new ways to reach out to the wider community.
The possibilities are endless! Don’t let the sheer number of ideas below overwhelm you. As the saying goes, “You can do anything, but you can’t do everything.” The point is to do something. This website offers a glimpse into the many ways Christians are already loving their neighbors beyond the church walls.
Explore. Read. Pray. Be inspired! But don’t stop there. Let’s move beyond just thinking and start mobilizing our efforts to share Christ’s love. If an idea sparks an “Aha!” moment—something you think we could do at Bethany—let’s talk. Many of these ideas can be done with just a few people. Involve your small group, your class, or your friends and neighbors. We can’t do everything, but we can do something!
Exciting ideas are spreading around the globe!
- The New Wineskin Initiative
- Dinner Church
- The Neighboring Movement
- Fresh Expressions of Church
- Explore God
- Alpha
- Table Talk: Deeper Conversations across our UMC Connection – PodCast
- He Gets Us
Also there are SO many great books for more inspiration! Click Here
Other Ministries and Ideas
- Union – Dallas
- Wholly Committed Ministries
- Little Free Pantries
- Front Yard People – The Turquoise Table
- Bread Church
- Group.com Lifetree Cafe Resources
- Not Specifically Christian But Still Relevant
- Heartlines – Center for Values Promotion
- Sidewalk Confessions
- Sidewalk Talk: The Power of Human Connection
- Kairos Prison Ministries
Partner With the Community
- Bridging Communities: A Church’s Vision Comes to Life
- How to Get Your Church to Partner With the Community
- Church Partnerships With Nonprofits
- How Churches Can Build Community Partnerships
- The Multiplying Effect of Community Partnerships
- Partners in Hope
- The Red Bench – Interfaith Conversations That Matter
- The BIG Event – Texas A&M University
Insightful Articles
- The Gathered Church and the Scattered Church – blog post from Indiana Wesley University
- 50 Ways to Take Church to the Community
- “Dear Church, Shut Up“
- “The Loneliness of Being a Millennial in Church“
- 10 Ways to Love Your Neighbor As Yourself
- “Stop saying ‘Christians Aren’t Perfect’”
- 10 Facts About Atheists
- Three Options to Reach the Unchurched
- The Church is an Embassy, Not a Social Club
- Readying for Radical Change – Yale Divinity School
- Being the Church Beyond the Walls – Huffington Post
- Why Millennials are less religious than older Americans – Pew Research Center
- Listening to Young Atheists: Lessons for a Stronger Christianity
- Ten Ways Christians Tend to Fail at Being Christian
- Readying for Radical Change – Yale Reflections
- 7 Ways to Love People – Core Christianity
- Why are We Christian’s so Quick to Judge?