Communication for the Church/Community

2/20/2014
This report is being generated to discuss the changing communication needs our church has with our community and church demographics.
Summary: 1. Our community, although small, has seen growth of the Hispanic population. Until the past five years, this community has been nearly one hundred percent Caucasion. Many families in the community have lived here for generations and don't understand how to interact with people of differing backgrounds. 2. The traditional way of doing things in this community has always taken precedence. However, if we are to reach the growing minority population, we need to look outside the box. Our organization is all about reaching out and living life with people on there terms. To do this, we must change the way things have always been done in the past. 3. Small town America has changed the way it interacts with people. Just a few years ago, you had to meet with people face to face or over the telephone. Today, the internet has changed, forever, the way that we interact with the world and other cultures.
Introduction: Our community is over 200 years old. We are very proud of the rich heritage of our small town. Tradition holds a great sense of priority for many of this towns citizens. However, in the past five years we have seen tremendous growth of the Hispanic population in our town and the surrounding communities. These new citizens have a very different sense of priorities and traditions. Within our church body, we believe that living our lives on mission with those in our community and beyond is of the upmost importance. However, to reach people who are different than us, we will have to change our way of communication. In the past, people just knew what to expect and how things were done because they were always done this way. With new people in our church body, we must share information that may have previously been understood. Reaching out through social media may be a great way to reach those who are new to the area and our church body. Our church bulletins may be another way to share information on things that have previously been common practice. Also, for us to understand people of other cultures, backgrounds and traditions, we may want to create a small group that focuses on getting to know each other better. We can use this group to share our backgrounds and understand the changes occurring within our community.
Main Body:
Demographic Changes: Increasing Hispanic population, Aging Population, Family size
Traditions: Our community is a very old and respected place. We love living here because of the safety it provides for our children and the traditional way of doing things. Our families have lived on this land for generations. We feel a connection to the past that we may not feel in a larger city with more liberal ideas. Our church, also, shares a deep sense of tradition. Many families have been a part of this church body since the church was first formed. There aren't a lot of announcements made about upcoming events because the community is aware, due to tradition, that certain events take place at certain times of the year. In the past, this has created a sense of commraderie and a connection to those who have gone before us. However, it has been difficult for newcomers in our church body/community to understand what activities were taking place and why they weren't made aware of them. Sometimes this has made new faces in our church feel that they weren't welcome.
Traditionally we have also been a community with larger than average families. It was not uncommon to see many families with 4 to 10 children. As the demographics within the United States has changed, so has our community demographics. The United States has seen a drop in fertility which is reflected in the families in our community. Now, it is rare to see a family that has more than 2 or 3 children. The larger family is no longer needed to keep a farm running. Most people in the community leave for college and then return to raise their smaller family. We now have a population of educated citizens living and working in our community. This change has been reflected in our church body as our youth group has gone from fifty or sixty youth down to approximately fifteen young people.
We have also seen changes in the age of our citizens. As the baby boomers have started to age across America, we have seen them aging in our own community. Over half of the population is now older than fifty. When young people choose to stay in the community it is rare. It is more common to see the young leave and then return in their thirties and forties to raise their children. Obviously, this affects our church body. This means that we have to work harder to attract the younger population. This also means that the death rate in our community is relatively high. The elderly population is dying faster than our current birth rate. We should be focussing on bringing in new faces so that our community doesn't die out.
Changing Community: Our community has changed a great deal in the past five years. Just as we have seen the population of the Hispanic community growing in the greater United States, we see these changes starting to take place in our community. We have seen an influx of families from the Hispanic culture move into the community and try to become members of our church body. This has been a struggle for the traditional families because they aren't accustomed to new faces and new cultures. This has also been a struggle for the new members who don't understand the traditions of the community and may not understand why they haven't felt welcomed. It may have been seen by some of the traditional families that the Hispanic population is trying to push them out. Neither side is trying to push the other out. It has just been hard to change tradition. With a few changes we could show our fellow townspeople that they are welcome here and we want them to be a part of our towns traditions. We would even celebrate learning more about their backgrounds.
Increasing Diversity: Social Media, Focus Group, Youth Focus Group, Technology
The benefits of increased diversity within the church is paramount to our communities continued success. One major factor is that the church will benefit monetarily. A church, is in the end, a business. It takes funds to make a business function properly. The more we increase our attendance through acceptance of people from other cultures or backgrounds, the more we increase the incoming funds. In today's world, you can't reach a lot of people if you aren't able to spend money.
Having a diverse population means that you can attract more people to your services. When a non-church individual can see faces that may look like them, or faces that are not the typical white face, they are more willing to give your church a chance. They don't feel like they will be the outsider trying to break down that Caucasion wall.
Diversity within your church means that there will be more ideas about how to reach out and who to reach out to. You won't be locked into the same way of doing things that you have done for generations. You will have a wider appeal and therefore bring in more people.
Diversity means that you would have more jobs to fill. As you have need for a foreign language speaking pastor, interpreters, Sunday school teachers who speak a foreign language, etc you would fill a role as an employer in the community that would reach out to people who may not otherwise be considered for anything other than menial labor in a small community.
Each of these areas affects the church body by bringing more people in, which increases the money flow, which allows you to employ more people. This, in turn, allows you more opportunity to reach a wider population of people in your surrounding area and beyond. Before you know it, you may be able to reach people far beyond your own community through mission trips. These trips become more successful as you have more money and a better educated population who can speak multiple languages.
Community/Church Changes: With a few easy changes, we can make our town more cohesive and welcoming to those who are new. Using social media is a great way to update our community on what is happening in our town. This would help new faces as well as old faces. Currently, we mainly use the postal service or the telephone to keep people up to date on events that are going on locally. However, if you are not on the phone list or mailing list, you may not receive notice of upcoming events. Everyone would benefit from being up to date on the latest local events. Most people have a computer or internet access through their smart phones. We might even be able to develop new friendships with people who may be housebound. This would be a great way to reach those who might not enter the doors of your church, but might want to know what is happening in the community that they now call home. Offering our phone messages in both English and Spanish would also enhance our communication with each other. This would enable all members of the community to fully understand what is taking place in the place we call home.
Two Stereotypes: Among many Caucasions, there is a stereotype that Hispanics are uneducated. This is completely false. Many people come here from other countries, including Mexico, to better their lives and the lives of their families. Many of these people are highly educated. Changing the way we think of people we do not know well is the first step to accepting new faces into our church body and community. We can not assume that because someone doesn't speak English that they are uneducated. We can not assume that all people who come here from other countries do so to work in our local fields.
Secondly, there is a stereotype that all Hispanics who come here are illegal. This is also false. There are many who are here legally and trying to work within the system. This may inhibit some church members from even wanting to start a relationship with someone that they aren't familiar with. In the end, it shouldn't matter to us how they got here. As a church body, it is our job to be concerned with their soul not how they arrived in the United States. Keeping the focus on the eternal is primary to us making new friendships with the Hispanic population.
Potential Barriers: In order to improve communication, we must overcome the language barrier and the technology barrier. Many of the Hispanics who are moving into our community do not speak English. This isn't necessarily because they don't want to learn, but because they haven't been afforded the opportunity. This can be rectified by providing free English as a Second Language classes to the Hispanic population at the church. Due to the aging population of our community, there are many who do not participate fully in today's technology. Technology is a great way to reach people of diverse backgrounds. With all of the phones and apps that are available for language interpretation and social connection, there isn't a viable excuse to not use this technology. Bringing in a staff member who is up to date on technology and can implement it to reach out to the Hispanic population is a great way to start. This may be seen by focussing on the youth. As they start to reach out through technology, we will be able to see how to implement it successfully in the adult crowd.
Developing a focus group with people whose families have lived here for generations and those who are new to the community will not only help to start new friendships, but will help us understand the differing cultures. What better way is there to get to know each other than face to face. This group could even put together some type of gatherings for the whole community that would help bring others together. They might offer a night of foods and cultural activities that would show us the differing backgrounds that our community now houses. Currently, when our church offers information through mailings, all photo attachments are of Caucasion people being involved in activities. This would need to change to show the current demographics of the community. We want all people in our community to feel that they are a part of the community and the events that are offered. Language may be a barrier to this group since there are several families where the adults only speak Spanish. However, this is an easy fix. We can invite some of the older children to be interpreters. If we take the extra step to show that we are trying to be inclusive, the Hispanic population will respond favorably. Another way to show that we want to reach out to this element of our community is to offer English as a Second Language classes as well as Spanish classes for those who might want to learn to speak a second language. Let's take the extra steps to ensure that all people in this community have the opportunity to participate fully in their home town.
Diversity Skills: Developing diversity skills will be a great way to reach this new challenge our church body is faced with. Zoning in on a focus group or a series of groups that will reach people who are not traditionally a part of our community will require us to do some study. 1. We need to focus on learning about peoples values and belief systems. What makes them who they are? What drives them? What are the characteristics of the group as a whole? Once we find the answers to some of these questions, we will be able to understand our differences and then recognize how we are not so different. 2. Partner with other Hispanic groups. This will enable us to move at a faster pace in reaching those where there is a language barrier. This will also help us not to make as many mistakes when facing the challenges with differing cultural beliefs. 3. Recruiting a Hispanic Assistant pastor. There is no better way to reach a group of people than to make them feel comfortable. One of the best ways to do this is to meet them on their own ground. Bringing on a pastor that is of Hispanic ancestry, speaks the language fluently and understand the cultural differences can make a huge difference in combining the two cultures in our church and community.
With these changes, we can begin to implement the changes of of a bilingual service. We can then focus on the future generation and implement the technology that they are so great at using. In reaching out to this population and meeting them on their own ground, we are making changes that will affect the entire community for the better.
Diversity Skill:
1: Teamwork
One skill that we can develop that will help us in working within a diverse group is teamwork. Teamwork is important because a team is many different parts coming together to accomplish a common goal. When a team functions well, the team can accomplish much more. Teams can often struggle when they are trying to reach a goal because the team is so diverse. When we understand the different talents that each member of the group offers you can use the team members diversity to accomplish more instead of it working against the team. Finding the value in the strengths of other team members is what we want to strive for.
2. Leadership
A second diversity skill that will help our church body is Leadership. A team must have a leader. However, a leader does not necessarily have to be the boss. Often, you see a leader is someone in the group who steps up and takes on the role of peacemaker or scheduler. This is someone who has people skills and can help a group of diverse individuals come together and work as a cohesive group. Placing people in positions of leadership who are willing to work alongside the other team members is also important. A team functions on a superior level when the leader shows through example what type of work ethic is expected. Leadership can also be a shared experience in a group. Finding the balance between individuals skill sets can make for a very effective team.
3. Conflict Management
Having people with differing values can create a variety of diversity issues. Being able to manage conflict within a group or community in an effective way is a very important skill to getting things done successfully and peacefully. Finding a way to manage conflict within our church without falling prey to stereotypes can be done successfully. Within a group or team, there can be a desire for healthy conflict. This is the type of conflict that engages the mind and causes us to brainstorm ideas. This type of conflict can help a team to explore new and exciting ideas. However, managing the negative conflict that can occur when two or more parties have differing opinions or ideas can be a challenge. This skill is extremely important when dealing with a group of people in any circumstance since the more people involved, the more chance for conflict.
Implementing skills:
These skills will need to be implemented in our church and community for us to successfully grow as a peaceful community. As we work together in groups or teams to come up with successful ideas on how to grow our church community and bring more of a family atmosphere with the new additions, we will undoubtedly need to work in groups and teams. This means finding ways to work together as a successful team. Being a team member means getting on board with the message and striving to attain the common goal. On these teams, we will need to see leadership put in place that will be respected. This can be from the staffing of the church, community leaders and leaders from the Hispanic population as well. As these groups begin their work, we may see natural leaders step forward. As with any group, there is always the possibility, and even the probability, that there will be conflict. Finding ways to manage the conflict so that the goal is achieved and peace and harmony prevail is of the greatest importance to working successfully within a group. We need to see leaders and team members work towards conflict management in a responsible way. Group members need to communicate with each other so that feelings are not hurt and the goals of the group are maintained.
Benefits:
The benefits of using these diversity skills within our church groups and community are that there will be a clear line of communication between the community and the church. Once these teams are set in place, there can be a clear idea of who is covering what aspect of church growth. There will be leaders set in place, who will not only guide the groups to achieving community goals, but also leaders who can be accessed when there are questions by lay members. Team members will have a way to manage conflict that occurs from working as a team or with members of the community. The leaders of these groups will be able to ascertain whether the conflict is a positive or a negative within the group and respond accordingly. Ideas may come from a variety of places, but gathering them into a central location will keep things running smoothly. With these skills firmly under our belts, there will be no end to the possibilities within our church and community. Starting a group among the younger generation of school kids to engage in after school activities at the church is also a great way to reach the future generation. This will ensure that down the road when these kids are grown, they will have a better understanding of differing cultures and how to interact with people who are different than them. This group might include arts, sports or purely social gatherings that will allow the children to get to know each other on a personal level. This may entice the parents to be more open to spending time with other parents of the students, as well. Let us not assume that because of the young age of this population, that they won't want to be a part of changing the future of the community. Even our younger generation can see that these changes will benefit all of us in the long run. If we have the meetings for the youth while offering refreshments to the adult population, we might be able to get some of the parents talking and interacting with each other on a social level. Getting to know each other socially can change the way each group sees the other.
Using technology to enhance our knowledge of other cultures is imperative. It is necessary in this day and age to learn to deal with people on a global level. Whether it be through school activities or business, we find that small town America is not so small anymore. You can skype or face time someone who is across the world. Technology has made our world a lot smaller. This needs to be taken into account when we are dealing with our town as a whole. We can't put our heads in the sand and pretend that the bigger world doesn't exist. We, and our children, come face to face with it every single day through the use of technology. We need to make sure that we teach our younger generation how to function successfully outside of our small community. Most people in our community have access to technology in their own homes. However, it may be a hindrance to those who are not able to access this technology. Our church building can open a computer lab during the day that will enable those without access to computers to use our web site and communicate over the internet. This outreach also shows that we care about all members of the community.
Benefits of Implementation: The benefits of implementing these diversity changes into our church and community are vast. Our church and community will begin functioning as a whole body again. We will no longer be two very separate entities. We will bring a larger population into the church resulting in increased funds for reaching more people. As we reach out to the local Hispanic population, it will make us more aware of the needs of those outside of our community who are also in need. We will provide employment for members of the Hispanic population. Jobs mean wealth and stability. We will help a group of people to learn the language and traditions of their new community. We will help those who have lived here their entire lives to grow and be more accepting of change. We will watch the younger generation create a new tradition that includes everyone. In the end the benefits are really about people and making our community a family.
Conclusion: We have a great community. This community is loved by all of its citizens, young and old. If we want to continue to live here in harmony with all of its population, we must find ways to understand the growing Hispanic population and show that our interest in them is real. We need to be open to new ideas and not be totally closed off to new ways of doing things. People move here because of the great people and atmosphere. If we want that growth to continue, we need to make our community inclusive of all of its citizens. We want to implement these changes so that our community as a whole will function smoothly. We want to ensure that the future generations doesn't see themselves as two separate groups living in one community, but as one group of citizens living together as friends. As a church body, being on mission with our community may involve changing the status quo. We can't rely as heavily on the traditional ways of reaching others. In taking on new ways of outreach, we may find that we grow as our community grows.
Recommendations:
1. Reach out to the community through social media. Begin to update the community on events that the townspeople may be interested in through this popular means of connection. Do this, not only in English, but in Spanish so that all members of the community may understand and participate.
2. Allow the new members of the community time to get acquainted with the traditions of the community, while allowing the new members time and a place to share their traditions. This can be through social media, focus groups, parent connections or youth activities. Develop ways for interaction to take place socially so that friendships can begin.
3. Take some of the focus off of the traditional way of doing things and recognize that new doesn't mean bad. Don't try to change things so fast that the older population struggles to adjust. The younger population can learn from the older and vice versa. The world is a big place and our children must grow to survive successfully in that world.
4. Focus on the future by having our student population become leaders through youth activities. This involves the parents as volunteers and causes new interactions to take place. By showing our interest in what is a non-tradition group in this area, you show that you are welcoming this new population. This helps the new group to want to reach out and get involved.