The Church is meant to worship God, disciple their own and reach out to others. I think many congregations have begun to get a handle on worship and discipleship (not that there isn’t room for improvement).
But what about outreach?
First we have to acknowledge that opportunities for outreach have changed. This is especially true for congregations in communities that are under lockdown.
How can we still do outreach?
Perhaps some of the ministries we were operating pre-COVID-19 are not able to be undertaken. One option is to look to organizations that are still active as essential services.
There are food banks, homeless shelters and other programs that must keep running, even in times of pandemic. They may be in need of volunteers, finances or other resources. It may be better to come alongside an existing program rather than trying to start a new one under pandemic conditions.
But what if we would rather do evangelism?
I don’t see the clear division between meeting spiritual and physical needs that some do. I actually think that congregations working hard to help people during a pandemic goes a long way toward spreading the gospel.
But how does that directly help our congregation?
Some congregations only support programs that have a direct benefit to their church. Their job is to build their church, not to build other ministries. I think that is wrong thinking. Our job is to build the kingdom of God, not to build our own churches. Doing outreach for people in need i always right, even if it never puts a new person in our pews.
A pandemic is not a reason to stop doing outreach. But it is a reason to rethink how we are doing in this season of ministry.
