5 first-time guests joined Renovation Community’s 4:00pm service and Thanksgiving dinner tonight. I’d never met any of them before today.
80% (4 out of 5) of our first-time guests were recently or currently Home Insecure. Of those 4, none of them had any previous connection with our church. They’d never before read what I write, knew anyone in our church, or even heard our name…
– A couple lived in their car a year ago. They’re now in a government apartment. One uses a cane; the other is on Disability. At least one of them is old enough to be my parent.
– 1 was in a homeless shelter two years ago and now in a nearby Assisted Living. They’re old enough to be my parent (or a very young grandparent) and use a walker.
– 1 is on Disability and currently living with a family member while waiting on their Housing voucher. They’re old enough to be my parent, shuffled as they walked, and needed two people to help them stand up from their chair.
– None of those 4 were young or work.
– All 4 showed signs of health challenges.
***
Before I became a pastor over 9 years ago, all the “Church Growth” experts taught me who I’d need to reach to grow a church: young, white-collar, two-income parents of young children.
The experts said that demographic was perfect: they maximized parking spaces with more people in each vehicle; they had good-paying jobs and Paid Vacation (perfect for maximizing financial giving and volunteer hours); they had few age-related health problems that could lead to job loss (and therefore ‘giving loss’ and/or ‘volunteer loss’) or require frequent pastoral visits to a hospital; and they were stable (living in homes with mortgages that encouraged them to plant roots and build equity).
As a naïve young pastor a few months into my new job, our church spent a lot of money on a big outreach campaign. But, in the eyes of many “Church Growth” experts, that campaign was a flop because it didn’t attract the ‘Young, White-collar, Two-income Parents of Young Children’ demographic. We’d definitely reached some people but they weren’t who the “experts” said we should be reaching.
I shared my discouragement with a wise old pastor who asked, “Are you going to be discouraged about the sheep God didn’t send you or faithfully shepherd the sheep God DID send you?”
God used that man’s words to open my eyes (slowly) to an entire world of people many modern churches overlook.
They are like sheep without a shepherd… ignored by other churches all clamoring to reach a tiny sliver of the population.
For reasons I may never fully understand, God entrusts some of those Overlooked to our tiny congregation.
They are His Beloved children. And He longs for churches and pastors who will care for them with Christlike love.
Lord,
It’s an honor to care for your overlooked children. Thank you for entrusting them to our care. May we always treat them with the dignity and respect befitting children of the King.
***
“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.“ (Matthew 9:36)
“My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor.” (James 2:1-6a)
