Why We Love Church Visits
It’s a normal Sunday morning at your average church in Portland. You sit in your church pew or chair to get ready and join in vibrant worship with your local church community. Possibly, you are watching the service live online. After a couple of worship songs, one of the pastors leads the congregation in prayer and brings up someone from FAITHFUL FRIENDS. The name sounds familiar, but you aren’t sure why. A staff member from Faithful Friends introduces a stirring video about how someone from your church, just like you, responded to the call to become a mentor.
Curtis sharing at Red Sea Church in St. Johns, North Portland
Call it the Holy Spirit, or call it inspiration. You ask yourself: “Wait, could I find the time to meet up with a kid every week? Am I open to see how God could change my life through my experience coming alongside a 6 to 9-year-old?”
Chon and a mentor share at Parklane CRC
After the sermon and some more worship songs, you see the Faithful Friends sign in the foyer. You think to yourself: “Why not?” You jot down your name & email on a piece of paper and take one of the colorful brochures to look over later.
This describes the main goal Faithful Friends aims for with church visits: sharing about the need for mentors, and finding those volunteers from the church community.
We work alongside the local church because we deeply value the Body of Christ and (despite what the media and culture tells us) believe it is the hope of the world. And a beacon of light on a hill.
Christ calls the church outwardly to share life in the name of the “good news.” We consider it a humbling adventure to share this calling with local churches and to see men and women from these communities be mentors present with children who need extra support.
The whole process begins with a single meeting, possibly with a lead pastor, a missions pastor or both. We want to take some time to share how God is working with the church and how the Spirit is leading their mission to their local communities. We have met with churches that have over 8,000 people and some that have only 15. In our eyes, no one church is any more significant in worship and service to the Lord. After one meeting, or several, a church may decide to partner with Faithful Friends, or shelve it for a possibly better future time.
Partnership with Faithful Friends, first and foremost, means we will continue to pray for and support one another with enthusiasm and advocacy. From there, many churches provide additional opportunities to share in more prominent ways about this mentoring ministry and existing opportunities. Some churches provide volunteers to serve at special events and fundraisers. Many churches participate even further by supporting this important mentoring work financially. They prayerfully consider how they can steward their own finances to support children in the community. Many church leaders also assist by participating in events and by encouraging church members to become donors.
Our most critical space and time for sharing with churches are in a typical Sunday morning worship service. Over 65% of our inquiries come from these opportunities. In 2023, we shared at fourteen different churches, either at worship on a Sunday morning or at another special church event.
If you are a church leader or someone who wants to explore ways to get your church involved in the future, reach out to me at Curtis.holm@faithfulfriendspdx.org.