New Church Development
Knowing Your Community –
A Key To Effective Ministry
By Dr. Montfort C. Duncan Jr.,
Executive Director, New Church Development
If the task of the local church is to make
disciples, then the church must have an understanding of who the people
are in its target ministry area. To simply guess at who they are and
what their needs are often leads to failure in outreach and making
disciples. Effective ministry in outreach means the church needs to know
the age makeup, needs, family composition, preferences and other
essential information as it plans and implements its vision of meeting
needs of people in its area.
Knowing the community is one of the first steps that a district
committee must take as it plans on starting a new congregation. As the
first pastor of a new start is appointed, she/he spends time
understanding the community of the new church, as well as studying the
demographic information provided by Percept. This vital information is
crucial to learning about the people who are in the target area for the
new ministry. There is no reason for a new church to have to guess what
the people needs are and how to reach unchurched people. This report
provides a wealth of knowledge and information. It is then used to
determine a ministry plan, outreach events, come-and-see events, worship
styles and music.
Knowing your community must happen if a new church is to be
effectively intentional about reaching lost people. If this is true for
a new church, it is equally as valid for an existing church that has
plateaued or is declining. The same demographic information is available
for existing churches. One reason a church declines is because it is
usually ignoring the people in its ministry area. Thus, a church plans
its ministry based on whom it thinks lives in the area, instead of on
who is actually in the area.
Initial information is available at no cost for every congregation in
the Florida Conference through the Committee on New Church Development.
The information is provided in two formats—in a series of four reports
called “Ten Facts” or by a report called “First View.” Both of these are
based on zip codes. A church may download “Ten Facts” and “First View”
reports for each zip code it serves.
Twenty people from every Florida Conference congregation may have
access to this information. The Web site is
http://www.link2lead.com.
After registering for the first time, click on the tab for Community.
The two reports will be listed in the left-hand column. Click on either
of those and follow the directions. This necessary information has the
potential of helping every existing and new congregation know its
community and be more effective in its outreach ministry.
If you have questions or I can help in this process contact me at
1-800-282-8011, extension 146. |
