In the introduction to his book, author Dan Pezet
asks, “What does successfully connecting with the
community look like for a church in these modern
days, and how do we get there?”
That is where Expanding the Expedition Through
Community Connection is headed. The final
answer will look different for each church. But as
we journey together through this book, we will lay
out common strategies and exercises to help your
church improve its connections.
Even though the end of our journey is still off in
the distance, if you look up the trail, you might
catch a glimpse. Do you see it? Way down at the
end of the trail, I see a church that has found its
responsible citizenship within its community.
I also see a community that acknowledges the
church’s value for spiritual leadership, and the
church values its connection to the community.
That is where we are going. There are some rough
parts of the trail to get there, and parts will
take some hard work. It is a spiritually fulfilling
journey, though, as we seek to fulfill a part of
the Greatest Commandment that Jesus gave us
and often overlook: love our neighbors. At times,
our journey on The Great Expedition can take
us down remote and undiscovered paths. This
segment of the expedition, though, will end up
taking us into the heart of your community.