Dare to ask the community around

Consider the best way of hearing from non-church people. Some kind of “clinic”, especially if it can be held in a neutral venue, such as the local library, may be beneficial. Questionnaires can be useful, if they have been carefully thought through, but often a personal approach is better. You can ask people what they feel to be the major needs of the community, and what, if anything, they would like to see the church doing for the community. Visiting individuals, or groups, on their own ground, with the purpose of exploring their needs, is much less threatening to do, and it can start to break down barriers. Of course, this open-ended questioning may generate ideas quite outside the area of family-friendliness! You might prefer to ask more specifically about the major needs of families and what the church could do. But, even then, we need to be open to hear what people want to say rather than what we expect them to say. A south London church is recorded as having asked such a question to their community. They consistently received the unexpected answer that the major problem was litter! Understandably, they were reluctant to see this as a key area for Christian effort! But, when they eventually decided to see these answers as guidance, and to act on the specific request, it led to a great deal of fruitful interaction between the church and its local community. Being friendly to families in our communities may mean doing what they want us to do, rather than what we want to do! For example, the best place for a parenting course for men may be in a pub rather than a church hall!

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