Local church looks at new ways to bring people in
Courtesy photo Pastor Mike Terry (bottom right) and his family. Terry is the new pastor at Kellogg Baptist Church and will be starting some new outreach ministries next month, including a free community dinner and an outdoorsman service.
KELLOGG — Finding a niche can be difficult. Whether it’s a hobby, a job or the people you spend time with, finding that place where you feel like you belong can be very hard.
It can be particularly difficult for people attempting to find a church.
Pastor Mike Terry is trying to change that notion.
Terry is the new pastor at the recently re-christened Kellogg Baptist Church and he is looking to shake things up.
From name changes to how his new congregation focuses — Terry is looking to make his church “a perfect place for imperfect people.”
“This church had been so internally focused, we’re gonna go from that kind of thinking to outreach thinking,” he added. “So we began looking at what we could do with just a dozen or two people.”
They believe that they have come up with a few great ideas that will be very exciting to the Silver Valley, while also providing another place where people will hopefully find their niche.
Their first idea will be a free community dinner that will be served every Wednesday and then will be followed by a church service.
The church service is really where Terry plans to strike gold locally, as it will be a service geared toward the people of the Valley who enjoy and embrace outdoor living.
The idea for an outdoor church came from a friend of Terry’s, who came up with it after growing frustrated with declining weekend attendance due to people using that time to enjoy their outdoor activities.
“He told me that if we are trying to reach unchurched people, then we need to be meeting them where they’re at,” Terry said. “So I would go and attend his outdoor church at least once a month for two years and I wanted to study his model and see how effective it was.”
The services as mentioned will be mid-week and will celebrate the outdoor activities that people love and live.
“From hunting and fishing to bicycling and touring, hiking, skiing and running,” Terry said. “I’m not going to come into the Valley to try and increase a church population on Sunday morning. Let’s do something that’s just a little bit different.”
The community dinner and outdoorsman church will begin on Sept. 12, with dinner at 6 p.m. and the service to follow at 6:30 p.m. at Kellogg Baptist Church.
Kellogg Baptist Church, located at 507 W. Brown St., will still hold their regular Sunday morning services at 11 a.m.