Community Building
For this pastor, partnerships are priority.
Chuck Warnock
Coming to your church isn't as bad as I thought it would be," said Mary, a local schoolteacher. Both of us laughed because a short time before, Mary would not come to Chatham Baptist Church for worship. But on that day she was helping launch the Chatham Arts Community Music School, a partnership involving our church, a neighboring university, and local artists and educators. Today more than 30 students take violin, piano, cello, guitar, and voice lessons each week at our church because Mary and others like her partnered with us.
But music isn't all we've partnered with others to accomplish in our small town of 1,300. Our church provides a home to the local Boys and Girls Club, which started as a partnership with the Danville Boys and Girls Club and local businesses. Each weekday, 40 to 60 children pile into our church for four hours of mentoring, homework help, and experiences in art, competitive sports, video games, and life-skills classes. These kids had no place to go after school before we opened our church to them. Our efforts inspired the local volunteer fire department to help, too. Last Christmas they threw a gigantic party for more than 85 children, providing gifts for each child.
Our church also collaborates on a monthly teen open-mic night, our version of American Idol without the sarcastic critics. High-schoolers sing, read original poetry, perform dramatic skits, and entertain each other for two hours. This program is well received, and the Virginia Arts Commission awarded "Soundcheck" a small grant in 2007. Soundcheck wasn't our idea; a local artist approached us because of our growing reputation for working with others in the community. Two years later, Soundcheck draws 40 to 80 unchurched teens to our basement each month.
But the really big news is the 16,000-square-foot community center that opened in May this year. Our church took the lead in bringing 18 pastors together to dream of a place for kids and adults in our community. By working together with other churches and civic groups, we got the attention of a large charitable foundation. In July 2006, Chatham Cares, Inc., the nonprofit charity we formed, was awarded a $3 million grant to design, build, and operate a new community center in our town.
We believe partnering with others works. Our philosophy of community building through partnerships involves four steps:
We talk with others. Mary came to our church as a direct result of being brought into a conversation about a new music school. In the past, our church has been guilty of talking to others rather than talking with others.
We sit at the table together. When we talked with others about the Boys and Girls Club, Soundcheck, the community music school, and the community center, we sat as equals at the table with civic leaders, local artists, educators, and governmental leaders. One media representative commented to me, "It's nice to see a church involved with real life." I took that as a great compliment.
We help others make their dreams come true. The Danville Boys and Girls Club wanted to reach out to our community with a local club. We wanted an after-school program for kids. They needed a place to meet and our church provided the space. We helped them succeed and we got what we wanted in exchange.
We are true to ourselves. We're a church, a congregation—the people of God. We're not a civic club, a social services group, or a recreation program. We bring a unique dimension to our community—the dimension of God's love. In all we do, we want the freedom to express our faith respectfully.
Four years ago, we began partnering with others in our community because we couldn't go it alone. We're a small congregation, averaging less than 100 attendees each Sunday. We need the resources, expertise, opinions, and help of others who share our concerns.
As a result of our partnerships, in the past four years we have touched the lives of over 150 families, more than 300 children, and hundreds of community residents. Even if our church had the resources now, we would still partner with those outside our congregation. Along the way, we have made new friends, improved perceptions about our church, and provided meaningful programs within our community. For us, partnering is a priority.
Chuck Warnock pastors Chatham Baptist Church in Chatham, Virginia. He has a BA from Mercer University and an MDiv from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
