Community Involvement

Yesterday, I received an email from a "friend of a friend." He is a pastor in rural Oregon, and he asked some interesting questions about a pastor being involved in their community. He is being asked to become more engaged in the leadership in his community. My friend mentioned to him that I have a history of community involvement, so he wrote me asking for any ideas or suggestions that might be helpful. Here, in part, is my response to him.

Terry: I appreciate you writing and asking. Let's see if we can pass along some of the things we have learned here. Our church is Valley Christian Center. We started this church 22 years ago, and it has been more fun than anything I've ever done. It has definitely been a walk of faith. Perhaps that is part of the fun, to see how God leads and provides. We have never been a large church, but we have an impact in our community.

I have always been "community" oriented. While pastoring in a small town in Eastern Washington, I was an EMT, on the fire department, and very involved. We became known as a "community" church (much to the dismay of some of my denominational brethren!!). I was there to minister to the community and that's how I've always felt. So I get involved. I am a business man, out of necessity, but also as a way to be involved. I sold insurance for almost 20 years, was a Police Chaplain for 15 of those years, and have been a member of our local Rotary Club for 25 years, and I will be their president this coming year. (See my Blog "profile" for more.)

I applaud you for getting out of the church and into your community. That's what Jesus did; He even went to parties and had a good time with people! My community involvement is not to gain members for my church, but to be a positive influence. It gives me opportunities to meet people and help them when needed. I have had some of them come to our church, but that is not my goal. My goal is to be an authentic person in a community making a positive difference.

I became involved in politics by attending City Council meetings and watching the governance process at work (I was inspired to do that through our "God and Country" cirriculum for our children. I used that cirriculum to teach our church about the foundations of our country and our religious heritage. It was an eye-opener for our people). It was not long until I was appointed to the Planning Commission. I became chair of that committee, and was then asked to run for Mayor! This was not one of those things I had planned to do, it was just one of those "doors" that opened for me and I went through it. I spent 8 years as the elected Mayor of the community where we live. What a ride…

This allowed me to be more involved in my community, not as a "pastor" but as a "Mayor." I was able to give leadership to our community. I did not "use" my position as a pastor, but neither did I try to hide it. I tried to be fair with everyone, and I think I did that. It was a great honor to serve this way and I developed many new friends and acquaintances.

So to all the Terry's out there, use any method God opens for you to reach out to someone else. God bless you as you find opportunities to serve in your community.