6 Events That Made Me Ask “Why Can’t A Church Do That?”
July 18, 2012 
7 Comments
“Brian, we are ignoring fellowship! When you look at how popular community events have become, why is the church ignoring this?”Â
This pointed question was asked of me recently by an incredibly effective church leader. After speaking with him, I became keenly aware of what my community was doing to create a sense of belonging and bring people together.
- Saturday evening I drove by Starbucks and dozens of people were surrounding the building. After closer inspection, I discovered my local coffee shop was hosting an art show. As part of the festivities, dozens of artists were doing live paintings. I thought, “Why can’t a church host an art show?”
- Last month, I drove by a grocery store and the parking lot was full.  Thousands of people were in attendance. A classic car show was taking place.  I thought, “Why can’t a church host a classic car show in their parking lot?”
- Earlier this year, I was driving home from work and got stuck in traffic for an event called Taste of Alpharetta (Ga). This event allows the community to sample appetizers, entrees and desserts from the top 50 restaurants in town. I thought, “Why can’t Fellowship Bible Church (my home church) for example host Taste of Fellowship?”
- The city of Acworth (Ga) recently hosted a low-key community picnic with a live band, a few inflatables and water slides.  Over 800 people showed up! I thought, “Why can’t a church host a community picnic with a band, a few inflatables, and water slides?”
- Festivals are incredibly popular in Georgia. Whether it is the Cherry Blossom Festival or the Big Shanty Festival in Kennesaw, Ga which attracts over 10,000 individuals annually, these events have become “the spirit of our community”. I thought, “Why can’t a church put on a series of festivals and become the spirit of their community?”
- This past week I drove onto a church property for a scheduled lunch with the pastor.  Several hundred cars in the parking lot.  The church was hosting a major realty company’s quarterly training event. As the pastor told me, “Brian, we are proud that our sanctuary has become the gathering place for the business community during the week. When those realtors are asked by people purchasing homes, ‘Do you know any good churches in the area?’ Who do you think they are going to recommend?” I thought, “Why can’t all churches open their facilities to the business community during the week?”
That church leader mentioned at the beginning of this post closed our time together with two thoughts:
- In our current economic environment, people cannot go out-of-town like they once did. They are looking for options within their communities.
- Churches need to “intentionally push fellowship” because people are dying for it.
Art Exhibits. Car Shows. Food Tasting Events. Community Picnics. Festivals. Engaging the Business Community.  Why can’t a church do these type of things to intentionally push fellowship and reach their communities? The truth is that they can.
Pastors and church leaders, what are you doing to intentionally push fellowship and serve your community?
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That is a good question Brian. Why can’t we.. As Leaders you bring up a great idea.. And I think I shall..Thank you.
Lincoln, this I know – whatever church that you happen to attend would benefit from your insights. God has given you an incredible mind. Your pastor and church would really be blessed by you sharing your ideas and thoughts. Just be prepared for this response – “That’s a great idea. Why don’t YOU lead up that initiative.”
While it’s a great question, our church has struggled with such events. Our struggle is this: do we put the time, talent, and treasure into hosting and coordinating such an event? Or do we equip our people to engage their community by releasing them to attend these secular events? We have intentionally chosen to reduce our church calendar in order to free people to attend these events with the goal of engaging the local community for Christ. It’s a tough decision, and the fellowship and equipping have to be part of the equation, but we believe we’ll see more fruit by not trying to compete with local events but rather engage the lost at those events.
Our previous church did lots of picnics and kids Olympiads for the local community. All things are possible.
Our church actually did something really similar to D. We held a block party where we had free rides, food, and entertainment for the community. We also gave away items like TVs, clothing, etc if someone needed it. Got a great response.
I also love your other ideas! Especially the car show and opening up the build to business leaders to host meetings. Such a great way to ease people in.
Joseph, thanks for the info. Does your church have anything planned for the fall?
Not that I know of off the top of my head. But there’s always something going on. We’ve also had scrap booking events, jewelry parties, and more that involved those outside of the church.