New Life

Early in October, the Council at our church voted to propose that Second Highland Christian Reformed Church change its name to New Life Christian Reformed Church of Highland.  The proposed name change is part of an ongoing effort to change our ministry focus to become a church that has a noticeable presence within our surrounding community. 

The name "New Life" is significant for a few different reasons.  On the one hand, it reflects where we are in the history of our church.  We are praying that God will work within our church family to bring a new enthusiasm for His work within our neighborhood.  We recognize that our church is not only a refuge from the trials of the world, but it should also be a mission post to reach those who do not know Christ.

But the name "New Life" does not only reflect the current desire for our church, it also speaks to the greatest hope the Church has to offer.  When we know Christ, we begin a process of becoming new people.  The name, "New Life" points to God's promise to make us new. 

We pray that our church will be a place that people come when they recognize that they would like a fresh start.  When people are looking for a revitalization in their lives, the church has been given the greatest gift, that can lead people to that newness of life.  We want people to experience the life-changing power of Christ to make all things new.

When the Doors are Closed

Last week, a number of Elders and Deacons from our church walked through the neighborhood surrounding the church in order to invite people to join us for Family Night Dinner and our Worship Services.  We did this for two reasons.  First, we wanted people in our neighborhood to know that they were welcome to join us.  Second, we wanted to learn about the people in our neighborhood, so that we can more effectively reach our community.

Many of our experiences were pleasant as we walked through the neighborhood.  More than a few people seemed to genuinely appreciate the invitation.  Some, however, were less than enthused about being visited by people from the church.  One of the things we learned during our walk was that sometimes people shut the doors.  Sometimes they literally shut the door after explaining they are not interested, and sometimes they patiently wait and listen to the invitation before politely excusing themselves without any response.

As our church tries to become more involved in the life of our neighborhood, we are going to have to learn how to discover the open doors that we can walk through, and the doors that are closed.

During the past year, leaders in our church have been trying to partner with one of the local public schools to begin a mentoring program through the national office of Kid's Hope USA.  This mentoring (or tutoring) program creates a partnership between a church and a local public school, so that  individuals from the church who have been screened and trained, can be matched in a one-on-one relationship with a student from the local school.  Mentors are asked to go to the school once a week, and spend an hour tutoring the students they have been matched with.

The leaders of our church had high hopes that this program would be one way that we could reach into our community.  In the last couple of weeks, however, we were told that the local schools are not currently interested in pursuing this kind of mentoring program.  It seems as though, at least for now, we have run into a door that has been closed.

This does not mean that we are done knocking on doors.  Even though this door has been closed, we are hopeful that other doors will be opened so that we can build a stronger relationship with our local neighborhood.

Family Night Dinners

Over the past year, our church has been attempting to reach our community by inviting people to join us for dinner on a Wednesday evening.  On the first and third Wednesdays of the month, you can come to our church basement and enjoy dinner with other people from our church and from our neighborhood.  This spring, our Cadet and GEMS leaders have started to plan their meetings around this evening, so that families with children in 4th grade through 8th grade can take one evening to come to church.

This month, members of council took an evening to walk through our surrounding neighborhood to invite our neighbors to join us for one of these Family Night dinners.

In the future, we may consider hosting special events or activities on these Wednesday evenings, with the hope that we will create more opportunities for people to participate in the life of our church.

Reaching the Community

I cannot believe it has been over a year since I became the pastor of Second Christian Reformed Church.  While I was interviewing with the Search Committee, it was evident to me that this church wanted to make a sincere effort to reach members of the community and welcome them into our church family.  In the past year, members of Council and the Administrative Team have had discussions about changes that we might make so that we can have an influence for Christ in our community. 

Today, I am beginning this blog as a way to help members of our church understand some of the things that Council Members (and other church leaders) are discussing as part of our efforts to serve within our community.  In future posts, you will hear about our relationship with Love INC, our Story Hour and Coffee Break ministries, and our efforts to begin a mentoring progam in the local schools.  You will read about discussions to change our church name, and the ways that we will utilize our new Welcome Center.  We welcome your comments and thoughts through this blog spot, and we hope that all of these efforts will help us become a church that has a positive impact for Christ in our community.