Reaching out to the business community

This morning I heard from a bivocational church that told me of their plans for a block party for local businesses to be held in the spring.  There are approximately two dozen businesses in their small community, and the church is having an event specifically planned for their owners and employees.  I think this is a great way to do outreach and provide ministry to an often overlooked group of people.

For 15 years I was the owner of a small business.  It was not uncommon for people to come with their hands out wanting donations for one cause or another.  As much as possible I tried to give to most of these causes.  It was good publicity and the right thing to do.  But, not once in those years did anyone ever come into my office asking if there was anything they could do for me.  No church or Christian ever came in asking if they could pray for me or my employees.  No one invited me to any activity that did not involve trying to sell me something.

I have often thought about that and determined that if I returned to pastoral ministry that might be a group of people I would intentionally reach out to.  Business owners face a multitude of stresses and pressures, especially in today's economy.  While some are believers and involved in their local churches, many others do not.  Many of these businesses are open on Sundays, so even if they wanted to attend church services they would not be able to do so.  Who ministers to these people?  The answer is not many.  I just think this could be a great ministry opportunity for a church to reach out to people who are often overlooked.

At this time I don't know what all is planned at the upcoming block party this church is hosting, but there are numerous things that can be done.  It could be something as simple as providing a meal and some words of appreciation for all these businesses do for the community.  Churches that want to do more could offer some video training on leadership principles that are especially appropriate for business leaders.  At one time John Maxwell had an annual live video conference designed for business, government, and religious leaders.  I attended one of these day-long events held at a local church and left there encouraged and refreshed.  A Christian business person could be invited to come and speak on how he or she has developed a business influenced by his or her Christian beliefs and values.

None of these suggestions would cost much money.  The church that hosted the Maxwell video conference I attended sold tickets to offset their costs, and it was still less expensive than if I had driven to a conference center somewhere to attend the event.  At very little cost to your church you could become known as the church that reaches out to the business leaders of your community.  A block party could be followed up by asking for appointments to meet individually with the leaders for prayer or to just talk about some of the challenges they are facing.  I see tremendous ministry opportunities available to the church that reaches out to the business community in their neighborhood.  Could this be your church?