6 Ways your church can radically change your community

Have Bible study meetings 

The first thing that churches should do to change the community is to work on the spiritual state of the community. Hold weekly community Bible studies and encourage people from the community to join. Finding topics to study can be overwhelming, but you can easily find sites that help you to search for topics to study. There are sites such as Biblereasons.com that allows you to easily type in questions such as, what is the love of God Bible verse. Have a topic to study or you can even go through certain chapters in the Bible. Make sure that your community is striving and growing closer to the Lord. Having weekly Bible study meetings are also beneficial because they help people to be accountable and connect with each other.

Give to the community

I encourage all churches to give to their communities. There are several ways that you can give to the less fortunate. Your church can give wearable clothes, food, money, books, etc. Think of all the different ways that your church can give to your community and help those in need. One of the things that I recommend is setting up weekly food drives where you can give food to the poor. This is also a great way to get to know the homeless and the less fortunate in your community. Get to know people who come. Let them know that they are so deeply loved and even pray for them. Build your community by investing in others. Hebrews 13:16 “And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”

Help people to find jobs in your community

There is a very impactful proverb that can change a community if done. “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” Giving is great, but help your community by helping others to learn a new trade or help them to find a job so they can sustain themselves and their family. Often times, people who are jobless want to work, but they don’t know where to start. Encourage them and point them into the right direction. Help them to retrieve sensitive information so they apply for jobs. This is why community centers are important. Help those who need it with transportation to get to their job interviews. If we actually try, there is a huge difference that can be made.

Clean up your community

Impact your community by cleaning up your community. Grab a group of people and work together to pick up all the trash around your community parks and around your church neighborhood. Audrey Hepburn said, “As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands — one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.” Let’s start putting our hands to good use and help others in need. Having a clean community benefits everyone in the community. It makes for a healthier living environment and with a healthier living environment comes less illnesses. Cleaning up a neighborhood can help the neighborhood look more attractive and remove potential diseases. Not only is safer for people, but it’s also safer for animals as well. Let’s work together as   congregation and work together for the betterment of others. Drive around your community and look for different ways that you can help out and clean things in the neighborhood. Here are a few examples of things that you can do. You can remove glass on the side of the road. Knock on doors and help out older neighbors. You can maintain hiking trails, plant new trees, paint homes, and more.

Listen to people

The church should go around and listen to people in the community. This might seem like something insignificant, but this is extremely important. Sometimes people just need someone to listen to them. Taking the time to just listen to someone in need reveals a heart that cares for them. Brian Tracy said, “Attentive listening to others lets them know that you love them and builds trust, the foundation of a loving relationship.” This is so true. There have been so many times that people have cried in front of me because they were surprised that someone actually took the time to listen to them.

Have community events

I love when churches host community events. Encourage your congregation to post on their social media accounts that there is an event coming up at your church. Post signs up around the neighborhood. Community events are awesome because they bring people together. It’s a way to get to know who lives in the neighborhood. It’s also a way to invite people to your church.

Conclusion

There are several things that could be done not mentioned in this article. However, the main thing is to get out there and make a change today.

Disclaimer: The views, suggestions and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No Forbes India journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.