Are you a geographic church?

Bob Whitesel Feb. 18, 2021

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Exactly who should your church be going out to serve? Usually, there are two options that can be discovered by asking two questions:

Question 1: "Has God equipped your church to minister to people in a geographic community?"

If you answered yes, you might be a Geographic Church. Geo- means "of an area." This is a church whose ministry has been directed toward people in a geographic area (often those who live nearby). These churches meet the needs of people in one or more geographic communities. Examples: a neighborhood church, a village church, a rural church, a church in a housing development, a downtown church, etc.

Question 2: "Has God equipped your church to minister to people like us? If you answered yes, you might be a Demographic Church. Demo- means "of a people." This Demographic Church is a church whose ministry has been directed toward a people group (e.g., those who share common characteristics). These churches meet the needs of one or more sections of the population that share common characteristics, such as age, ethnicity, socioeconomics, common interests, etc.[ii] Examples: generational churches, ethnic churches, aging traditional churches, blue-collar churches, middle-class churches, café churches, college churches, etc.

Your road to uncommon church life begins with understanding if you are a church equipped to meet the needs of a specific geographic area, or if you are equipped to minister to one or more demographic sections of the population. Both geographic and demographic churches are legitimate, and both are needed. And, the process begins by observing your surroundings, your history and how God has moved in your church's history.[iii]

Are you a Geographic Church?

Some churches are primarily equipped by God to reach a geographic area such as a neighborhood, a borough, a small town, a rural area, a township, a neighborhood, a school district, a suburb, an urban district, etc. Geographic churches often have a long history of ministering in a specific area. And, if the culture of the geographic area changes, because the geographic church is called to that locale, the geographic church will stay put but change with that culture.

Geographic Churches—Advantages

Geographic churches will stay put and change as the cultures around it change. If the cultural makeup of a community changes, a geographic church will change to reflect those changes. Rather than moving out of an area if the culture changes, the geographic church is a chameleon, staying put and changing its appearance to reflect its changing environment.

Geographic churches can reach out to several cultures at the same time. A geographic church in an urban area might be comprised of a Mexican congregation, an Asian congregation and a young professional's congregation.

There is power in multicultural geographic churches.Because a geographic church wants to mirror the changing mosaic of its locale, geographic churches often seek to create a partnership of multiple sub-congregations, reflecting the proportions of these cultures in the community. These churches are discovering the power of partnership, for while some community residents may be leaving the area, geographic churches are reaching out to emerging groups who are moving into the area and taking their place.

Geographic churches may be the majority of churches today.Most churches today may be geographically limited, and thus are best able to reach out to their geographic communities.

You might be a Geographic Church if:

__ You have a burden to reach a geographicarea for Christ.

__ Needs in a geographic area (e.g., a neighborhood, etc.) dictate your ministry.

__ Your pastor feels called to your geographic community.

__ Your pastor has stayed (or is planning to stay) for a long time in the church's area.

__ Most of the church staff live in the church's area.

__ Most of the staff have long histories in the church's area.

__ Your church owns permanent facilities in the area.

__ In the past five years you have built new facilities in the area.

__ In the past five years you have renovated or updated facilities.

__ Your location is hemmed in by geographic features that sometimes thwart visitors from finding you, such as:

• A valley, hill or river
• A small town surrounded by farmland
• A neighborhood with its own identity.

__ Your church is in a small town.

__ Your church is in a neighborhood that has a specific identity.

__ You church is in an urban area of a city.

__ Your church name reflects the geographic area you are called to reach, such as:

• Smithville Church
• Pine Lake Church
• First (i.e., downtown) Church
• Harris Avenue Church, etc.

When you tally up the checkmarks above, you will begin to see a congregational trajectory. In part 2 of this article, you will find questions to discover if you are a Demographic Church.

Excerpted from Cure for the Common Church: God's Plan for Church Health (Wesleyan Publishing House, 2012).

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Bob Whitesel (D.Min., Ph.D.) is a foresight coach, professor, and award-winning author of 14 books. For over 30 years, he has guided leaders and churches to pivot and engage what’s next. He holds two earned doctorates from Fuller Theological Seminary and teaches on leadership foresight, church health, and organizational change. His website is www.ChurchForesight.com. Learn More »

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