Everyone Needs Good Neighbourhood Churches

When I was growing up in the U.K., one of the most popular shows on TV was an Australian soap opera called “Neighbours.” It followed the ups and downs of people who lived on Ramsay Street in a fictional suburb of Melbourne, Australia. It had a very catchy theme tune that began with the line “Neighbours, everybody needs good neighbours … ” One reason for the show’s popularity was that as you watched, you began to care about the lives of the characters. It was like you became part of their community.

Now, even if you have never seen the show, I suspect that you would agree with the sentiment that everybody needs good neighbours. Our neighbours can have an enormous impact on our lives. Bad neighbours can not only make our lives miserable, but they can even devalue house prices! Good neighbours, on the other hand, can make our lives so much easier by helping share day to day tasks and being there to support us.

In GCI, we are encouraging all our congregations to think of themselves as “neighbourhood churches,” i.e., as churches that are part of, and a blessing to, their local neighbourhood. If everybody needs good neighbours, how much more do they need good neighbourhood churches!

Our congregations being neighbourhood churches is one of the ways in which we participate, as the Body of Christ, in the mission of God. In Jesus’ first resurrection appearance to the disciples in the Gospel of John, he tells them that “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you” (John 20:21 ESV).

Jesus did not wait for us to come to him. Instead, in fulfilment of the Father’s will, he came to us. As the Church, the Body of Christ in the world, we likewise are not called to wait for people to come to us, but we are sent to be his image-bearers in our neighbourhoods. It is not a question of who our neighbour is, but rather whose neighbour are we.

Jesus put this another way in his Sermon on the Mount.

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16 ESV

Our light, which is the light of Jesus shining in us, is not meant to be hidden away. We are to be a beacon of hope in the darkness so that through us our neighbourhood can see Christ. As we explore this concept of being a neighbourhood church together, here are some key questions:

• • In what ways might our light be hidden from our local neighbourhoods? What can we do to help our light be seen?
  • What does being sent (as a congregation) look like in your neighbourhood?
  • In the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), how would the actions of the Priest, the Levite, and the Samaritan reflect on their communities? How do our actions as a congregation reflect on us?

Gavin Henderson, Superintendent of Europe
Market Harborough, England

P.S. I have intentionally used the British and Australian spellings for neighbour and neighbourhood instead of the American spelling (neighbor, neighborhood). This is because the TV show uses this spelling but also for theological reasons — “U” were always meant to be part of the neighbourhood!