Every congregation has to figure out ways to reach their community in order to connect people to God’s Word. At King of Kings, a mission restart in Willoughby, Ohio, one of our main strategies has been to go off campus to “rub elbows” with people outside our church. There are many more opportunities to serve than most people realize, even right in their own backyard! We regularly send crews to help out at local events. We’ve done things like park the display cars for a car show downtown; help with the Willoughby ArtsFest, by far the largest event in our county; label and hand out free water bottles to thirsty attendees at Last Stop Willoughby, a full day festival that includes an outdoor market and all kinds of activities; and take a Saturday to help with a Miracle League Baseball game for people with special needs. Our goal is to demonstrate that we want to be part of our community and that we’re here to serve. To that end, we’ve also held successful events on our campus. Our recent Family Fall Fest brought around 200 people to us. During Advent, we hold our Christmas Cookie Connection, where we provide all the items needed to decorate Christmas cookies.
This past spring, we hosted a series of free low impact exercise classes for seniors. It became a regular group of mostly non-members who got to know each other a bit and are hoping we host another series in the future. In our disconnected world, people are looking to make safe, comfortable connections.
Going out to where people are living their lives is essential and will always be our main strategy. We only have two WELS churches in the Cleveland Metro area with a population of over 2 million people. That also means that sometimes, just being present and available, makes a difference.
A story that illustrates that point is about an 18 year-old young man named Ashton. He moved in down the street and wanted to get connected to God’s Word. He came to King of Kings all by himself one Sunday morning, kept coming, and has since become a member. Since that first visit, he has brought his mother, father, brother, sister, niece, grandfather, and grandmother at different times. He invited a good friend to attend with him, and that resulted in an adult baptism. Ashton appreciates how welcoming we are, and, most importantly, the message of Christ’s forgiveness that is front and center in everything we do.
Ashton’s story reminds us why we’re here to do what we do. We would love to have a congregation of 150 souls, build a new building to serve more people, and provide many more opportunities to gather around God’s Word and sacrament. God-willing, those things will happen, but along the way, it’s still about reaching people one by one with the good news of the forgiveness of sins and eternal life in Jesus Christ.
Written by Jeff Duquaine, home missionary at King of Kings Lutheran Church in Willoughby, Ohio
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