Identifying Boundaries Between Church and Community

IDENTIFYING BOUNDARIES BETWEEN CHURCH AND COMMUNITY

“When we try to ‘put feet’ to what we have learned about loving others, we often
collide with various obstacles,” writes Amy Sherman in a helpful chapter in Restorers of
Hope entitled, “Overcoming the Barriers to Reaching Out.” A common story among church
leaders who have gotten started in outreach mission is the experience of “hitting the wall.”
The church has embraced a holistic theology, and is geared up to love their community in
word and deed—but then, once the congregation actually starts relating to needy
neighbors, things start to fall apart. Effective holistic ministry has been blocked by the
boundaries between church and community.

Spiritual Boundaries

What probably springs first to mind are spiritual boundaries. Paul thanks God for
having “rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his
beloved son” (Col. 1:13). In some ways, the church is to be distinct from the world around
it. We are to “be holy, for . . . the LORD your God [is] holy” (Lev. 19:2). We are “in the world”
even as we are “not of the world” (John 17:11, 14). We expect the church to reflect a
different set of priorities, values, and lifestyles than the surrounding society. This is one of
the signs of the kingdom of God.

One question to consider, however, is whether your church assumes that anyone
from the community who is not in your church is automatically “of the world.” Do you take
it for granted that if someone is poor, he or she must not be a Christian? Do you search for
God’s presence in the neighborhood in other churches and faith-based ministries, or do
they automatically fall under doctrinal suspicion? Are you willing to embrace anyone who
follows Jesus Christ as one of “us”?

Geographical Boundaries

Neighborhood churches, where most of the members live around the church, have
a natural advantage when it comes to developing an outreach focus. They have an existing
network of relationships, a cultural affinity, and built-in incentives for community
development. Members know their neighbors from “real life” settings, not just Sunday
mornings. Helping members of neighborhood churches become outreach-focused is
sometimes just a matter of helping them realize their personal stake in what happens to the
neighborhood. When people on their block come to Christ, when the schools improve, that
benefits them as well.

On the other hand, it is human nature to love the neighbor on the other side of the
city and dislike the person who lives next door. Members may need to be confronted about
a prideful attitude that sets church folk above “those people” (single moms, gang members,
Muslims, and so on) in the community. On the flip side, sometimes church members in
distressed communities have an inferiority complex that keeps them from reaching out.
They may be struggling with needs themselves, and jealous of expending the church’s
resources on outsiders. They need to be encouraged to see themselves, and the church
as a whole, as vital community assets. Leaders can help members dream of how
collaboration, community organizing, and evangelism could expand the church’s resources
for both internal and external ministry.

Commuter churches face particular challenges in overcoming an internal focus.
Members’ lives are already spread out; they resist having one more thing they have to get
in their car and drive to do. The ability to distance themselves, literally, from the pain and
problems of a needy community dilutes commuting members’ motivation to address the
needs. Members may also wrestle with prejudices and fears about going into certain kinds
of communities. Their status as an “outsider” to the community may be a barrier to forming
relationships of affinity and trust.

But commuter churches have their own advantages too. Commuting churches can
draw on a broader network of human and financial resources to support their ministries.
They can build bridges between communities, providing a hedge against the stagnation and
sense of isolation that plagues many distressed neighborhoods. The exposure to a different
culture or socio-economic class can be mutually transforming, and can form the foundation
for authentic racial reconciliation.

Demographic and Cultural Boundaries

Boundaries of demographics and culture proclaim, “This is who fits in here (and who
doesn’t belong).” The church’s identity can become a barrier to community acceptance.
Single moms often feel uncomfortable in a church full of two-parent families. A grey-haired
congregation may feel out of place in a neighborhood where half of the residents are under
18. A church with a penchant for loud music and aggressive evangelistic programs will
clash with a quiet, reserved community.

A congregation can make an intentional effort to define its cultural boundaries in a
way that includes the community of ministry. For example, Life in Christ was once known
as “the little drug church on Third Street,” because it reached so many people struggling
with addictions. New Creation Lutheran Church honors its community’s Latino heritage
through celebrations such as the popular Latino festival called Three Kings Day, while
setting itself apart from the Catholic church which is deeply rooted in the Hispanic culture.
Circle of Hope in Philadelphia has shaped its worship, message, and activities to meet the
spiritual needs of Generation Xers. Church consultant Jack Dennison writes that as a
church identifies the various people groups in its community, “Each group must be treated
as unique and approached with a level of integrity that says we understand you and will
adapt our methods in an appropriate manner to who you are rather than expecting you to
become what we are.”

Boundaries of Class and Race

Sadly, many churches also still struggle with barriers of class and race. This is
especially tragic where demographic change has swept through a neighborhood, and
people of different races who find themselves living next door still cannot bring themselves
to worship together at the church on the corner. Peter Wagner calls this ungodly syndrome
“ethnicitis.” Even congregations that include people of more than one color can suffer from
this syndrome. If the music, preaching style, and leadership all reflect one dominant ethnic
group, the church sends a message to the community that minorities are welcome to
attend—if they are willing to conform. A church must embrace diversity in every area of
church life if it is to overcome ethnic barriers.

Middle class churches—particularly in distressed neighborhoods—face significant
barriers in reaching out to people who feel socially marginalized. Differences in the way
people dress, talk, behave or smell create mutual discomfort. A warm welcome, genuine
friendliness, and opportunities for social interaction outside the church service can help
people who struggle to “fit in.”

Boundaries of “Church Culture”

Another type of boundary can keep the community at arm’s length: the “church
culture.” In a church service sometime, try counting the number of “church lingoisms,”
references, or rituals that would make no sense to an unchurched person. Seen through
their eyes, a church service can look pretty strange—people suddenly stand up, sit down,
kneel, sing, or recite something in unison from memory. Rev. Bill Moore remarks from his
long experience as pastor of Tenth Memorial Baptist Church: “There was a time you could
just assume that everybody knew who Jesus was, everybody knew how to find Matthew,
Mark, Luke and John. . . . They knew what the church was about. That day is long gone.”

On top of this, each church has its own “in-crowd” rules: what kind of clothes are
appropriate, how loud to sing, how children are expected to behave, where to go for coffee
and doughnuts after the service. Whether all these distinctives create boundaries between
your church and the community depends on how much exposure people in the community
have had to church culture, and how intentional your church is about becoming culturally
adaptive and “user friendly.” Do members value people above "in-crowd" church rules, or
do they look on newcomers as a nuisance? A church may say it welcomes everyone, but
these subtle expectations can serve as a screen for "our kind of people."

Physical Boundaries

Finally, boundaries can take physical form. Buildings that stand empty most of the
week signal that the church’s commitment to the community is part-time. Aspects of the
church’s physical layout can send the community mixed messages about the extent of their
welcome. One church, for example, installed large glass doors as a symbol of its openness
to the neighborhood. However, the doors stay locked. People enter the church through
conventional doors off to the side, so that they won’t smudge the glass. And we have even
seen churches with “No Trespassing” signs on their buildings!

Fences, locked gates, or lack of handicap accessibility can also convey a double
meaning. Sometimes these physical barriers are necessary to protect people and property.
Sometimes, however, fences make a symbolic statement about ”the rights of the members
to worship without being joined by anyone who might make them feel uncomfortable,”
writes Kathyrn Mowryin God So Loves the City. They may also “reflect a profound
resistance to change that is often subconscious.” This doesn't mean churches must keep
every door unlocked and abandon all standards for decent, safe conduct. But consider the
signals your church sends about what kinds of people are decent and safe.

Adapted from Ronald J. Sider, Philip N. Olson and Heidi Rolland Unruh, Churches That Make a Difference:
Reaching Your Community with Good News and Good Works, chapter 7 . Used by permission of Baker
Books, a division of Baker Book House Company, copyright (c) 2002.