From “Y’all Come” to Reaching Out

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I met with a pastor recently who moved to Washington from Texas. He pastors a church that is over 60 years old and was started by southerners who moved to the Northwest many decades ago. He explained that the church had been very traditional and was “too southern” – the members were having trouble reaching out to northwesterners.

Over the last four years, this church has transitioned from a “Y’all Come” approach to reaching out to do something good in the community. They’ve found ways to meet needs…like helping put out American flags in a local cemetery on Memorial Day. They also decided to bless a local elementary school – using the VBS offering to purchase school supplies.

They’ve also found ways to partner with community organizations. The pastor notes, “If you are doing good work, I can partner with you. And I can share the gospel with anyone who asks.”

The pastor sees that it is his responsibility to teach the members of his church to get out of the doors of the church and to start doing good in the community. He tells them: 1) You will have some opportunities to share the gospel. 2) People will start calling us their church – even if they’ve never been here. Someday they will have a crisis in life and come to “their” church.

He adds, “It’s a long-term process.”

In addition to reaching out to their community – they’ve also shared their church facility with four congregations including a deaf church. What a great way to invest in the extending of the kingdom!