Community volunteering:Service and evangelism in one act

One of the most difficult aspects of our church plant so far has been making contacts. While several members of our team have pre-existing relationships with a few folks here in town, many of them were already Christians and are already involved in churches. In keeping with our mission of reaching those who are not yet members of any church, we are always searching for new ways of meeting people.

In conversations with Dwayne this week, we discussed ways of intentionally participating in activities that would bring us into contact with new people. As a church planter and evangelist, you face three challenges: first, what activities will correspond to your target audience? Two, what opportunities are there with a limited time available? And three, what opportunities will provide contact with more than just one or two people on an infrequent basis?

We think the answer may be volunteering. This simultaneously helps us reach two of our goals in the church plant: reach the lost and serve our communities. With a little research, I uncovered dozens of volunteer opportunities that involve less than 8 hours per month of formal committment while providing opportunities to work and serve in environments where we come into contact with many different people in our target demographic. Here are some of the Salem area volunteer resources I was able to find:

• Marion County volunteer opportunities, both short term and long term.
• United Way of the Mid-Willamette Valley
• VolunteerMatch results from the Salem area

In the next few weeks, we are going to look at ways we can accomplish the goals of evangelism and service through strategic volunteer opportunities as individuals and as a church.