Blog Repost

In my morning digest of blogs, I found a very interesting article from Brad Leach commenting on a leadership team meeting he had at his church last night. They were looking at some of the things the church needs/to be aware of during our current economic crisis. You can read the whole post here.

Here are some highlights:

Awareness: The church (which is the people) can't meet each other's needs if they don't know what those needs are. We talked about developing a website, a catalog, or even a simple bulletin board where people can post their needs as well as the resources they have available to help others (finances, talents, skills, time, etc). I think small groups become even more critical, since they are an intimate setting in which people can be real about their needs in relationship with people who are committed to lifting each other up.

Practical Discipleship: When money is tight we've got to teach people to live on less. That means teaching on budgeting, cooking, and strategic shopping (fancy word for coupons). We can do classes, but I think the better approach is life on life mentoring.

Partnership: If the economy continues to struggle for some time, it will become more and more important for churches to cooperate by sharing resources rather than competing for them.

Hope: The Great Depression didn't just refer to a depressed economy. The term describes what happens to people emotionally. It is obvious that problems like disappointment, depression, fear, anxiety, and hopelessness are on the rise in our city. This is an opportunity for the church because we're hope dealers. It's time for a hope campaign.

Thanksgiving: If you focus on your problems long enough you start to think that's all there is. But let's be honest. Even in a recession we've got it better than most of the world. We're surrounded every day by real, tangible, gifts from God. It's time to stop complaining and start drawing closer to Jesus through praise and thanksgiving.