Study buddies and shared spaces have been the two absolute gems that we accidentally landed on top of. It was a little bit of trust, a little bit of innovation, and a whole lot of willingness to just get out there and try. In this episode, we get into discussion how we can best serve families in our churches by creating a space for common community hall and how we can extend help to another church congregation by sharing our church spaces and resources with them.

How you can best serve the families in your churches, who have students who are usually going to a classroom in order to learn? There could be a way that your church deploys a version of study hall.

Study Buddies

[03:11] – We hear from children’s pastor that there are cohorts of students that are coming together with tutors at certain parents’ homes.

[03:50] – People learn better in groups and are able to focus better when there’s a larger trajectory of people going in the same direction. It’s so difficult when you’re all by yourself, you have to have a massive amount of self-discipline when you’re by yourself to make any sort of progress, especially when learning something new

[04:58] – In one of the spaces at church, we have opened up a study hall or common community room for kids to come study together. The first week had over 20 students that came to do homework, on zoom calls. We have provided basic snacks and church WiFi.

[06:29] – Parents are so appreciative because their kids are connected to other students in the same high school.

[06:35] – Students are mentally in a better place because they’re seeing other students not isolated. There’s a community aspect that’s built in and they’re getting connection points with our student ministry pastor.

[06:46] – The best residual outcome of building a common community room is the kids end up coming to study hall to do homework. They’re an easy addition to our weekend service when it comes to volunteering.

[08:22] – It is a great way to serve the younger generation in our church. As well as the parents who absolutely need this help in this season.

[13:15] – If you have enough space at your church, outside of your traditional youth programming on Wednesday night or Sunday morning, use it so you could have a space where you could just meet a need in a very real way.

Shared Spaces

[15:04] – Some of our closest friends from our own church who meet in a setup and teardown, regular rotation at local schools have not been able to come back to meet, even if they wanted to. The best they’ve been able to do is illegally go to a park and meet in a large quantity of people without permits, which is kind of a neighborhood hazard.

[15:41] – They are also those who have been doing such a great job, meeting in their homes. But every person’s home has a capacity.

[16:04] – One of the coolest things we have done recently is share our space with another church.

[16:41] – Even if we had people from our church that that actually loved what their church did, I’d be so happy and so thankful that they found a place where they felt like they belonged. This is Aloha church, who meets at Claremont High School in within five miles of our of Torrey Pines church.

[18:00] – Aloha Church has probably half the size of our church. When their lawn service comes together with the same size as us, it’s a big deal. To see that community reinvigorated to see multi generations come back together, and it’s not our church, is a good heart check to see God at work way beyond the threshold of our property, beyond the bricks of our of our buildings, and beyond the perimeters of our program.

[19:42] – Aloha Church has made a cash donation to our church. One church donating to another church is rare. When the small church donates to the bigger church, there’s a lesson to be learned there.

[20:52] – There are very few churches that are willing to share their spaces and resources in order to see another church, get a leg up. If you do share, maybe something comes of it. You get a deeper relationship. There’s a donation, there’s something that is given back to you and if there won’t be, that’s okay.

[21:46] – You may have had a season where when you shared, it came back to bite you. But don’t let your failures of the past or experiences of the past, dictate your generosity in this moment or in the future. What you experienced in the past may not be the narrative today. There are so many churches that are on their last leg. And there are so many churches that are hoping that another church reaches out to give them one last lap.

[22:30] – If you’ve got a church, and you’ve never shared your space, maybe this is the season where you are open to that idea.

[22:56] – You can also be that church in a school and maybe you need to start a conversation with a church that you’ve had a lot of resent towards. Maybe, you’ve not done the due diligence to start a relationship with. This could be the prime opportunity to say humbly that you are in need – we have a congregation, we have people, we just need a place to see their faces. This may be the beginning of a great relationship.

[23:56] – What ways can you innovate? Where could you serve a need? Maybe it’s shared space with another church or another ministry? Maybe it’s you making a phone call to the local church that you’ve not yet met, but you know, exists. Reach out and ask them how you can help. Let that be the beginning of a new relationship that could change your town or could change your city or community.