Loving Your Community, by Stephen Viars

I love to see churches that impact their communities.  Stephen Viars, pastor of Faith Church in LaFayette, Indiana, calls churches to demonstrate love and service in their communities in Loving Your Community: Proven Practices for Community-Based Outreach Ministry.  As often as churches get caught up in denominational politics, theological nit-picking, and cultural commentary, they (ok, we) miss their purpose of sharing the love of God with their community.

Viars's basic rule for churches is: "We ought to be guided by the principle "Say yes unless you have to say no."  He writes that "wise churches look for every opportunity to share love and resources with those around them." He offers very practical ideas from his church's experiences.

I was surprised by his first recommendation.  "One of the first ministries I would lead the church family to start would be a community-based biblical counseling ministry because of the wonderful opportunity it affords to love your community." I wouldn't have guessed this would be first priority, but it makes sense, in that it opens doors for relationships, personal ministry, and impacting individuals' lives.

In the bigger picture, Viars touts the idea of churches as community centers.  Rather than a building that sits dark six and a half days a week, our churches should be hives of activity for people from the community.  I love this idea.  We might be too tied to our buildings being used for "holy" purposes, but what is more holy than bringing people in and creating opportunities to love and serve them.

Throughout the book, I kept thinking, Wow, these ideas will take a ton of time, personnel, and money to implement.  That's partly true, but he offers some help there, too.  And once a church catches this vision, it will snowball and grow.

While Viars's vision may seem out of reach to many in traditional churches, his presentation will force you to stop and think about the purpose of the church and the potential your church has for reaching your community.  What higher calling is there?


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!