A 2006 survey of churches found that “nearly 95% of the churches’ ministries were for the members alone. Indeed, many churches had no ministries for those outside the congregation” (found in Tom Rainer article 7 Deadly Sins of Dying Churches).  Well today it seems a growing number of churches are looking outside the walls as they strategize for ministry & missions opportunities. And immediately outside the walls to the local community, not just overseas. Seeing this trend in our area, the Northshore Baptist Association recently sponsored a Faith in Action Roundtable to collaborate with churches who are doing hands on ministry projects off campus. Here is the Handouts from that meeting which includes thoughts on why we should, how to get started, and a lot of tips & tricks & helpful forms that a church can use in planning ministry opps.

Lots of reason to look outward:

• Increasing needs & decreasing government funds for the needy.
• More lanes needed for people to serve through the church.
• Increasing number of people who are out of the pool of current church outreach methods. Higher % of churches fishing for the same 40% of the people.

Looking forward to future Roundtable’s & Collaboration with Outward Focused churches.

And here’s a few other individual forms that are useful for planning projects:

• Work Site Info Form-English
• Work Site Info Form-Spanish
• Res Safety Awareness Form- English 2010
• Res Safety Awareness Form-Spanish 2010
• Access Ramp Material List
• Blank Material List
• Example Paint List
• Roofing Material List

Special thanks to Seth Green, a World Changers Construction Coordinator, for his help with our Roundtable.