To reach their community, a church doesn’t have to have fancy programs or an elaborate mission statement – they simply need a genuine passion to serve their neighbors.
When pastor Rick Thiemke came to New Life Church in Yorkville, Ill., eight years ago he discovered that the community saw churches as “takers.”
“I would call a business to buy something and they would say, ‘no, sorry we can’t help you.’ They were really shocked that we would pay for something,” he admitted. “I didn’t really know how to change that. We wanted the city to see that strong cities were built by strong churches.”
Struggling with how to turn the public’s image of churches around, he realized one of his congregants was a public relations director for a local garbage company, another organization with poor public image. After some initial research, she suggested he join the chamber and the local economic development group. New Life Church took this advice and began looking for ways to give back to the community.
“Part of being missional is looking for opportunities,” Pastor Thiemke believes. “I read the local paper every week. Part of my work is looking constantly for in-roads to impact our community.”
One opportunity is to provide financial support for local organizations. As part of their annual missions budget, New Life Church sponsors the music boosters. They also partner with another local church to raise money each year for the local chapter of the Character Counts Program, an initiative to teach key components of good character to public school students. Neither of these programs benefit New Life directly, but the impact they have on Yorkville far outweighs the cost.
Another way that the church supports the local community is through partnerships. Looking at the needs in the community, New Life Church discovered that teens didn’t have many places to hang out. Partnering with the Parks & Recreation Department, New Life built an on-site outdoor skate park which is open to the community every night after school. In addition to the park, every Wednesday night the sanctuary is converted into an indoor skate park as hundreds of teens from the community filter in to connect with each other and God through skating, music, and a message.
Pastor Thiemke and his leadership team are effectively reaching their community. Even if some of the neighbors they serve never attend one of their worship services, New Life is creating partnerships, showing love, and building a better community for all of Yorkville.
Keep working ,great job!
Hello. Great job. I did not expect this on a Wednesday. This is a great story. Thanks!