All I can go by is what i think will work – having tried things in the past and getting no church support in them. I ran something called an Action Group (about 7 of us) where we helped people with all kinds of needs – all we did was listen for those in need and tried our best to help out. We did things like moved people from place to place, painted a room in a house, helped a lady after a devastating fire (to move) – and bought her a washer/dryer for her and her kids, helped supplement someone’s bill payments. We had grand ideas – but with no support – we burnt out and it passed away (the idea).

There is a lot of things the church can do as a community to (a) help others and (b) build themselves into a more tight knot community. Isn’t that the goal of a good church anyways? It’s something I noticed does work…get people working hand in hand with people that want the help – and everyone is glad to be around one another. I can’t think of a greater way to spread the good news than to be it to someone else’s life.

I think programs like – groceries for those in need, single mother support programs (maybe even cheap daycare), elderly inclusion programs (making them feel wanted and special), prison programs (not just ministering to them – but helping them study or get help from the outside – to build a life), a ‘work in the neighborhood’ project (a youth group project to clean the neighborhood or make money by cutting grass, raking leafs, shovelling snow, or basic yard work), having an employment program to help people with resumes and applications, etc. I had many more but they are written down at home.

The basic idea behind most of those programs is to get the church out of the church and into their community again…as an active and essential part of that community. People see the care this place has for the neighborhood – how can they really talk bad about it? I think then we start seeing people come through the doors that want to be there and want to learn about this faith (maybe even be involved). The whole congregation is involved in all the work so everyone becomes a more close knit community – working hand in hand for the same faith. Thsi way the people coming in and the people already there sort of just phase into one another – and the community is just strong.

At least, that is my hope – no one has tried anything like this and when I wanted to – it bombed without church support. So I figured I would dedicate my time to writing and less to that idea. I also am still like that mind you – that will never change for me – but I have no group of people now – no church – no chance. So I write about the hope of what a church can become.

I remember hearing a missionary speaking of ministering to the poor and drug addicts in Hong Kong. She spoke of a time when she visited a woman who lived on a bed, under a tent, on a roof. The woman was terribly poor but the missionary (having already sold everything she owned to give to those who needed it) had nothing to offer her. After she apologized for visiting empty handed, the poor woman replied, “Oh, that’s okay. When you leave Jesus visits me on my roof.” Does that sound impossible? Maybe but I believe with God all things are possible. Sometimes, as mere human beings, we have nothing to offer, but God cares for his children in ways that are beyond human understanding. His ways are higher…

Jesus said, with regard to the sheep on his right hand (when we stand before him) Come, you blessed of my Father,inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was hungry and you gave me meat; I was thirsty and you gave me drink: I was a stranger and you took me in: naked and you clothed me: I was in prison, and you came to me. ..For as you have done it for the least of these, you have done it for me. (paraphrased) Certainly, how we minister to those we see in need is high on Jesus’ priority list but in the next chapter when the disciples protest at the “waste” of the ointment the woman poored on him by saying, “For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.” he replies (again paraphrasing) “Why are you giving her a hard time. She has done a good thing for me. For you will always have the poor with you: but me you will not always have.

It’s such a paradox but I think he is saying our love for those in need is important but our love for him takes priority over that. We love him by obeying his words, “Go into all the world, and proclaim the good news to every creature.” To Peter he said, “Do you love me? Then feed my sheep.”

You said, “I think we have a belief in our faith that the physical is outweighed by the spiritual needs of a person…then the focus just stays on the spiritual after that point.”
It has been my experience that attending to the physical needs is actually easier than attending to spiritual ones. While, as a church, we may say the spiritual out weighs the physical, it has always seemed to me that we have attended to people’s physical needs more effectively than how we have attended to their spiritual needs.

Can I ask how, in the programs you suggest, when you minister to their physical needs, how do you also minister to them spiritually? I have known (and participated in the past) of church barbecues in a park in a poor part of the city that provide food anyone who wants it and while they eat there is worship music and testimonies and sometimes even altar calls. I have heard partakers of the food say they had to pay for their meal by listening to the church’s presentation. This kind of ministry doesn’t cut it for me. I think it can be condecending and insulting. I wonder what it looks like when you minister to both body and spirit in a loving and respectful way. Do you have some ideas? I am sincere in my question because I think there must be a better way but I don’t see it happening.

SVS, I hear your love for the poor and I hear your frustration and in that I’m with ya. Shelley

I liked the list. It doesn’t mention specific doctrines or statement of faiths or denominations. It focuses on more practical biblical scriptures rather than obscure texts. I asked about the statement because it felt to me like you had more to say about it and that “true church” seemed like a phrase busting with meaning.

I don’t have a view of the “true church”, and I am indifferent to the thought of “church” I prefer a small meetings with friends discussing life and spirituality. Which is why I like this blog and my brother Societyvs’ blog. I like hearing differing views and being involved in good conversation. It’s an intimacy which I do not always get to be a part of.

Does is supposed to say ‘doesn’t’