Description
Available on Kindle!
Check out Joy's article, "Building Community Through Arts Ministry" in Faith and Leadership magazine, Duke Divinty School, Duke University
A practical guide for church leaders seeking to engage their congregations with the community, offering step-by-step instructions on 7 ways to structure transformational community ministry.
Joy Skjegstad first outlines processes for learning about the neighborhood, assessing gifts and passions within the church, and finding a good fit between congregation and community.
7 Creative Models:
• Donate Goods or Money
• Mobilize Volunteers
• Partner with Another Organization
• Advocate around Public Policy
• Engage in Community Organizing
• Develop a Ministry Program
• Create a Church-based Nonprofit
Each of the Model chapters features examples of churches that have implemented the model, with advice on strategies that worked and pitfalls to avoid. Subsequent chapters tackle how to:
• Choose the right model for your church
• Recognize success in your ministry
• Fund the new ministry
• Do community ministry in the small church
Building on extensive writing already done on missional church strategies and community ministry, this book is a good next read for pastors and church member alike who are ready to take specific steps to implement a community ministry strategy.
Author Bio
Joy Skjegstad works with nonprofits and churches throughout the U.S. to help them achieve strategic focus, develop effective community ministry, and present themselves in clear and visionary language. In addition to Real Connections, she is the author of Seven Creative Models for Community Ministry (Judson Press, 2013), Winning Grants to Strengthen Your Ministry (Alban Institute 2007), and Starting A Nonprofit At Your Church (Alban Institute 2002). She has more than 30 years of experience starting and growing nonprofit organizations and church-based community ministry programs, including serving as the Executive Director of the Park Avenue Foundation at Park Avenue United Methodist Church and as the founder of the Institute for Ministry Leaders, a university-based training program that builds the management capacity of churches and other ministry organizations. She is wife to Brad, mom to Ethan and Julia, and lives in South Minneapolis, a diverse and resilient place full of strong women.