Why on Earth would we want a dog park?
Many moons ago I was a youth minister at a church in Ohio. They had zero advertising budget. The minister pretty much only went calling on the sick and elderly. To my knowledge they had no outreach program. Yet the church had enough new people coming in on a regular basis that it outpaced those who moved, died, or left the church. How did this happen? Mostly it was because the town was in a valley and had one main road running through with lots of side streets. If you were going about anywhere, you drove down that road. The church building was nice, attractive, newer, and located right on that road, prominently displayed just as you came into town. Anybody moving there saw that church first. Everyone knew where it was. We had visitors more weeks than we didn’t.
Our church building here in Marion is located on a side street far from where most people go. It sits a bit back from the road. Coming from the North the houses stick out further so you don’t even see the building until you are going past. I can’t tell you how many people I talk to who have no idea where our church is. Even when I say “You know where the old Jones Jr. High is? (Yes.) It’s right next to that.” Many of them still have no idea there is a church here. Often, they think I’m talking about the JW’s across the street!!! For some reason we are kind of invisible.
When the Elders and Deacons were brainstorming about how to more effectively reach out into our community to draw people to this church the Sattleys came back with little Sam’s idea of having a dog park. At first, I didn’t get the idea. “What does a dog park have to do with church?” I thought. But then it occurred to me; “The single best way to get people to come to this church is to have it firmly in their minds where it IS! Also, to associate that thought with good things.” It is one thing to have a vague half-formed idea in your mind about “Oh, yeah, I guess there is some church over there on Pennsylvania Street somewhere.” It is another thing to know just exactly where it is, what it looks like, and to have been in the parking lot several times because “That’s where we go to take our dogs to the park!”
It’s also a really easy way to get your friends to come over to the church’s location. “Hey, get your dog and come with me to our dog park, we’ll have a good time.” “Dog park? Where is it?” “Oh, it’s on our church’s property. We put it there as a way to serve and reach out to the community.” You won’t even need to have something to give them so they know where to come to church later, because they will have already been here! Not to mention that they will then share with their friends where they can go to take their dogs to a park. So, will a dog park be the “silver bullet” that brings people in and grows the church? No. God and God’s people will be what grows the church. The park will just be one tool in our belts to help get the job done!