Church Programming and Community Relations

What does it take to effectively organize a community? Research on programming and a map of church programs in the U.S.

Thank you for diving into our research on what it takes to effectively organize within your community! On this site, you will find explanations on how you can organize your community through transformative programming. While this approach can be extremely powerful in the hands of congregational leadership, the best way to ensure widespread success is to equip your community with the resources to create their own programs- or through giving them a way to communicate what programs might be needed! We do not have all the answers, and it's likely that someone in your own community will have ideas that we haven't considered.

What is this Web Page?

A driving force behind our research was the idea that "churches can become islands;" separated from the very community they hope to be a hub for. Our goal is to show that this problem can be avoided with proper program implementation and effort, and you don't need to look that far outside of what you're already able to accomplish to achieve this!

"What is Community Organizing?"

Community organizing is understood as coordinating cooperative efforts between community members in pursuit of accomplishing or promoting an interest. This definition doesn't entail how these organizing efforts require dedicated leadership, big-picture thinkers and idea makers, and commitment to building communal relationships. Whether your pursuits are social, economic, racial, and/or cultural, the pursuit to build long-lasting skills are core to sustaining these efforts. This can be overwhelming at first- but remember, the resources we provide are just one part of a larger toolkit you already have access to. Engagement options you create should be developed with the goal of being creative and progressive solutions to community problems- but you can only know what these problems are if you engage with the community prior to working on a project. If organizing the community in of itself is the goal, what challenges have you experienced prior to now and what resources do you currently have?

Important Terms to Know

Community Service: voluntary work done to benefit an individual or a group; in this case, voluntary gathering of resources to accomplish a goal. Community Organizing: the process of gathering resources; figuring out what you have access to in the community and making use of them and the people willing to assist. Advocacy Groups: a group of individuals who work to support bringing light to a community issue or defending a group/community resource. Social Justice: the process of working to accomplish more equal and just economic, political, and social rights/opportunities.


How to Create Programming: "What Does it Take?"

While there are many considerations that need to be made when designing programs, this page will serve as a general template. This template has been designed with the knowledge that you already know how to design concepts for programs. Our intent is to streamline the creative process that can act as barriers to entry for congregations with lower participation levels, and to to give you ideas based on what other congregations have been working on. While this research has been developed with immigrant community members at the forefront, these tips will be applicable to all congregations, whether you have a large immigrant base or not.

Understand that Community Requires Commitment

If you're not committed, those you're leading won't be either!

Work with a Common Vision, but Start Small

Prioritize keeping your contacts organized and manageable Work to provide value to your participants from day one

Select Specific Targets

Goals? Checkpoints? What needs to be changed? Utilize the relationships you've already established

Organize Lists of Accessible Help

Know what organizational resources are available Know who your volunteers are! Also know who "opponents" might be Split Tasks Up

Implement/Monitor/Evaluate/Refine

Timeline of success Results Needed changes

Make Action Accessible

Give everyone a role! Sustained leadership = sustained community A mix of small & large tasks for different volunteers, depending on needs and desires

Reach Out, Listen, and Learn from Those you are Leading

Know your truth, but know your community’s truths even more

Cultivate Leadership Beyond Yourself

This is a sustained effort that requires intentional cultivation of leadership Commit to things being a little bit messy!

Make Community at the Center of All You Do

Continuous dedication to solving the problems your community sees as crucial

Share your Successes, Challenges, and Stories with the World

Allowing other congregations to learn and adapt to change


What to Consider:

We have also contemplated what needs to be considered as you organize your lists and work to create sustained interest in your programs. The following are what we have considered to be the most crucial aspects:

The Need for the Program

Confirm there's a need, identify contributing factors to the issue you're tackling Consider if there are already programs that work to tackle the issue Walk with a vision

Who are the Participants?

Your congregation; the general community; some mix of both? Reach out, listen and learn

How does this Project Build Relationships within the Community?

Looking beyond the proximity of the congregation; within reason

Desired Community Outcomes

Develop and flesh out ideas

Implementation/Evaluation (hand-in-hand!)

Monitoring and refining are also key

Cost

Do you have partners that can help cover potential costs? Dedicated community members?

Challenges

What was expected, and what came as a surprise? Most self-reflective step of the process

The steps on this page will help you understand what we've envisioned as being necessary steps to transformative community organizing. These efforts can start with one person, but long-term commitment will require a dedicated team with intentional goals and the aim to make space for real conversations, real connections, and real values.


Strong Community Organizing: Examples

Here, you will find examples of community outreach programs around the United States that we have researched. This page will provide a study showcasing how implementation of programs can be helped or hindered by a church's leaders, resource availability, and their values. Along with showcasing this study, this page will showcase examples of programs that we have seen across the country. These examples can be used by congregations to expand their community outreach programs. We will showcase three positive examples of possible programs congregations can work to implement. The hope is that these examples will give you the extra context needed to effectively build engagement in your communities, while also showing the range of options at your disposal as a congregation.

Reducing Health Based Disparities: Faith in Action Trial

The Faith in Action Trial was a six year randomized trial designed to track efficacy of multilevel intervention to help church-going Latinas increase physical activity. "Faith Based interventions show promise for reducing health disparities among ethnic minority populations" but the implementation of health programs is often lacking due to a church's own lack of "readiness and willingness to support these programs". The article "Determinants of Implementation Effectiveness in a Physical Activity Program for Church-Going Latinas" examines the effectiveness of implementing heath based programing in churches. The research conducted in this trial gives insight into what the factors are the can effect church programing efforts. Church partitioners were invited to different classes every week and interviewed and the churches involved in the trial were not told how to implement the classes with members of their congregation. From the hypothesis of the trial, "3 constructs—innovation-values fit, leadership support, and resource availability—were identified by participants as affecting implementation." While looking at creating and implementing a program within a congregation, these 3 constructs are what congregations should be aware of. Innovation-Values Fit: If a churches values fit with a specific program, the program will be much more effective. Leadership Support: Leadership support for a particular program can have a large effect on congregation members taking part in a program or class. Resource Availability: Infrastructure and physical space for activities can help or hinder a programs success. This trial showcases three important aspects of program implementation that leaders need to be aware of when planning a new program for their congregation. This article concluded by emphasizing that "churches and the influence that key players have on parishioners is critical for tailoring interventions in ways that improve program adoption, implementation effectiveness, and subsequent intervention efficacy." Program adaptation in churches often comes down to church leadership, resources, and the values of the church. While keeping this trial in mind, below are recent examples of community outreach programs that can inspire congregation leaders to branch out into new programs.

Outdoor Activities: Pickleball Outreach Program

Pickleball has been an up and coming community sport with pickle ball courts being developed across the country. Lake Deaton United Methodist Church has used this recent growth of the sport to their advantage to foster community relations. After the implementation of the pickleball league, which started two years ago, there are over 220 members on the league roster. Players gather at the church’s sanctuary, which is converted into three pickleball courts during the week. The church has the basics, including pickleball nets, lines, paddles, and balls; which can range from fifty to a few hundred dollars. There are ways to save money through this process, such as buying chalk to make court lines instead of physical lines.

The desired outcome of the program was to reach a greater community outside of the congregation. "Several players never realized this church existed until they started playing pickleball here," said Ray DiTirro, one of the people behind the organization of the program.

Disability Assistance: "Starlight"

Carlisle United Methodist Church's program "Starlight" has been a bright program that has brought the community together to work with community members with disabilities. Starlight allows people age 12 and older to participate in various sports throughout the year that are adapted to fit physical and intellectual disabilities. The program focuses on building friendships and allows players to socialize with other community members. Aside from sports, the program also includes walking, movie days, and lunch. Pastor Mira Hewlett was an early leader, helping to establish the program’s goals from the beginnings of the program. When asked why she dedicated her time to the goals of Starlight, she said it was to help "fill gaps in the community".

Since the program’s beginnings, church leaders and volunteers have focused on introducing more safety measures to make the program safer and accessible.

The program has grown from nine players two years ago to 28 players. These players come from different areas of central Pennsylvania and compete in basketball, pickleball, baseball, softball, and/or tee-ball leagues.

Healthcare: West Virginia School of Nursing and Pallottine Foundation

Thanks to a partnership between the West Virginia University School of Nursing, the Pallottine Foundation of Huntington, and local churches established in 2023, easier access to nurse-led care is being established in West Virginia’s heavily rural Mingo County. Nurses from West Virginia University School of Nursing worked with local churches in Mingo County to offer local residents healthcare screenings, education, and connection to resources. In working with West Virginia School of Nursing, churches can work to better connect their congregation with healthcare professional while also connecting the churches with the greater community. The implementation of this program came in part due to the strong leadership from pastors and other leaders of congregations who decided to proceed with the program. "The faith community nursing initiative aims to continue expanding all throughout rural West Virginia. Additionally, the initiative is working to establish Telehealth opportunities within churches to connect patients without transportation."

Partnering with local universities to create programs that can benefit members of congregations can lead to better healthcare and overall health of churchgoing people and establish connections with the community and students in the local area.

Helping Children: School Supplies

Greater Works Christian Center in Virginia hosted an event handing out 100 free bags of back to school supplies to the first 100 children who attended the community program.

The outreach program focused on helping children with their upcoming school year and for those who needed it most. Along with the outreach event, there was live music, food, vendors, and bounce houses for the children. These were all added on to help with community connection. While attaining the supplies needed was the main goal of this program, the focus on getting kids to school and giving them everything they need to be successful, is a shift in programing that has a greater focus on the kids themselves and helping them succeed in the classroom. Programs like this connect churches with the local community as well as local schools. Establishing relationships between churches and schools can lead to an ongoing relationships and lead to collaborative efforts for future programs.


In discussing issues facing congregations, one of the main ones was the feeling that only certain facets of the community are engaged and loyal to the congregation. Whether this is the result of the congregation not putting the effort forth to engage the community, or a lack of interest on the part of the community to engage, our layout of how to approach community organizing from start to finish will help reduce a lot of the noise and confusion that can occur when community organizing is just getting its start. It is key to understand that these efforts must be continuous in nature, however- engaging, meeting, hosting events for, and spending time with the community are necessary to building trust, and beneficial community engagement will only come through a dedicated focus on these factors.


Church Programming Map

Here, you will find two versions of the same map, comparing the existence of Community Service programming and Social Justice/Advocacy groups.

LEFT MAP | The map on the left shows the existence of Community Service programs. The darker dots represent churches in which Community Service programs exist, and the lighter dots are churches where Community Service programs do not exist.

RIGHT MAP | The map on the right shows the existence of or the participation in Social Justice or Advocacy Groups. Again, the darker dots represent churches in which Social Justice/Advocacy programs exist, and the lighter dots are churches where Social Justice/Advocacy programs do not exist.

By clicking on one of the dots, you can see the church represented, its location, denomination, and what programs the churches organize.

YES = dark dots/diamonds

NO = light dots/diamonds

By clicking the button below, you can access the Google Sheet of this data to easily reference and search.


Conclusion

Thank you for taking the time to read through this research project! If you have any questions or concerns with any step of this website, please contact  leibl1@stolaf.edu ,  bailey8@stolaf.edu , and/or  cook11@stolaf.edu . Best of luck with your programming endeavors!