In the introduction to his book, author Dan Pezet asks, “What does successfully connecting with the community look like for a church in these modern days, and how do we get there?”
That is where Expanding the Expedition Through Community Connection is headed. The final answer will look different for each church. But as we journey together through this book, we will lay out common strategies and exercises to help your church improve its connections.
Even though the end of our journey is still off in the distance, if you look up the trail, you might catch a glimpse. Do you see it? Way down at the end of the trail, I see a church that has found its responsible citizenship within its community. I also see a community that acknowledges the church’s value for spiritual leadership, and the church values its connection to the community.
That is where we are going. There are some rough parts of the trail to get there, and parts will take some hard work. It is a spiritually fulfilling journey, though, as we seek to fulfill a part of the Greatest Commandment that Jesus gave us and often overlook: love our neighbors. At times, our journey on The Great Expedition can take us down remote and undiscovered paths. This segment of the expedition, though, will end up taking us into the heart of your community.
