BRITTON, Mich.—On St. Patrick’s Day this year, Britton Bethel Baptist Church held and underwrote a Community Leadership Dinner which became the talk of the town (population 750). More than 50 people attended! The project grew out of a need that the church saw in their community for developing common goals and plans. Community groups each had their separate turfs and didn’t seem to be working well together. So the church decided to offer themselves as a resource for making connections, involving the teens from the school (some were also from Britton Bethel) to plan, invite, serve, and share during the meeting. (Adults have a hard time saying “no” to kids.)
The attempts at relationship building that Britton Bethel has done in the community over the past few years seemed to pay off. The church people have purposefully involved themselves in the community in significant ways, such as opening a food/clothing distribution center and a professional counseling center, and being involved in the local public school.
For the dinner, the church secured Jeff Totten, chapel leader of the Detroit Tigers. He effectively shared from the book of Nehemiah how God had changed his life and how God had led him to create a vibrant community, seeing changes in the lives of baseball players and others.
Then Pastor Wright shared his vision for the community and the part he thought the church should play in civic life. The attendees then broke into groups and talked about future plans and goals to make the community a better place. Some great ideas resulted. Each group had a chance to share: school board, village council, planning commission, fire department, school administration, pastors, and the teens of the community. The meeting then closed in prayer.
It was good not to feel as though some church/state issues were being broken, and the Scriptures were assumed to be a basis for solving real life issues. While a formal salvation invitation wasn’t given, there were ample references to the grace of God changing lives through Jesus Christ.
