Ministries

 The Lynchburg District United Methodist Church is involved in various ministries, working with families,men, women and children in order to share the love of Christ.

Fifteen Churches on the Lynchburg District gather to learn how to attract more members from Jim Griffith

15 of our churches spent the weekend with Jim Griffith a professional coach and church planter. We learned a lot about the issues facing our churches today.

But there was a picture he used that really caught everyone's attention.

He showed a castle, surrounded by a moat, high impenetrable walls, drawbridge up - isolated, desolate. "This is what our churches look like to those who walk by but will not go in." The next slide showed the same castle with the United Methodist cross and flame displayed on the wall. "We were then asked to think about that picture." The next slide showed an arrow pointing to one of windows up high in one of the towers of the same castle. Beside the arrow -- Pastor's Office.

Jim Griffith, said: "The Pastor should be out in the community meeting people, representing our church. Yet, we put them in an office and tell them to wait for someone to visit. People who are already in the castle may come - usually to complain. People outside the castle will not. To them the drawbridge is up, the moat is too deep and the walls are too high."

Then Jim offered another possibility: "What if every pastor was told by their church to spend a minimum of eight hours a week networking within the community they serve. Suppose they were encouraged to actually meet and talk to people outside the church - get to know them and their families, hear their concerns, pray for their needs? What kind of impact would that have on the community, on the church? What if your pastor first set the example, then helped the church members do the same? What kind of church would that be?"

For two days, 15 churches then learned how to be a different kind of church that is willing to devote time and energy to filling the moat and lowering the drawbridge.

One person attending the class wrote: "I learned that I need to free up 20% of my pastor's time to network in our community." Another wrote: "Guests come in on the elbow of fellow members. We must learn to invite." Another wrote: "One action step I will take is to institute discipline of 8 hours of networking per week." Another wrote: "Pastor needs to appoint or delegate more to laity to give added time to the pastor to network in the community."

Jesus was asked: "Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?" Jesus replied, "'You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments." (Mat. 22:36-40)

• Love the Lord with all your heart -
• Love your neighbor as yourself -

Everything about the church and the God we serve is based on those two commandments.

There is no castle, no moat, no high walls... Love the Lord with all your heart. Love your neighbor as yourself