FedEx and Fellowship Bible Church

I had the privilege of meeting “FedEx” of the Men of Praise Motorcycle Ministry last night. We talked about life, ministry, and blogging.

One of the things he told me about really excited me, especially in light of the book I am writing, Close Your Church for Good.

He told me of the church he is part of and some of the things he does with his Motorcyle Ministry.

The church is Fellowship Bible Church with Pastor Raleigh Gresham. From what I heard, this church “gets it.”

For example, the city recently passed a “no camping” ordinance to restrict the number of homeless people who were camping in city parks and vacant lots. So the church, which owns some acreage, started letting people camp out on their property–no strings attached.

Awesome!

I also learned that behind the church is a low-income housing development. A former pastor had erected a fence between the church and the housing development. But when the current pastor arrived, one of the things he did is tear down the fence, and in its place, put in a sidewalk. Then he went over to the housing development and invited the families and kids to come to use the church’s outdoor basketball courts whenever they wanted. Again, no strings attached. There was no, “You can use them IF you start attending the church.”

That is church.

Also, for many years the church had wanted to start a college ministry at a nearby college. Nevermind the fact that numerous other churches in the community already had well-established college ministries. But when the pastor arrived, he noticed that across the street from the church there was a community correction center and half-way house. Nobody was doing much there, so the church started going over there to get to know the guys and help them transition back into socity.

Very cool.

One last example: The church partners with other ministries to feed the hungry in local parks, provide coats to people who don’t have them, works with prostitutes and drug addicts, and lets other community groups (even other religious groups) use the church building.

I was so excited to hear about these sorts of things, becuase I believe that this is the kind of church we are called to be. This is the kind of church I would love to be part of, and the kind of church I hope to see more and more of around the world. It’s not about how much money you have, or whether you have a building or not, or any of that, but what you do in your community with what you have. Does the church and staff and money exist for you, or does it exist to show love, grace, and mercy to the people in your neighborhood?