Serving Local Schools: Bring Christ's Compassion to the Core of Your Community

The heartbeat of every local community is found in its local schools. Yet many Christians have little to no connection with school leaders, and few churches have an active ministry presence. If you want to effectively reach your community, you must take the time to invest in school administrators, teachers, and families. Not having a relationship just isn’t an option. Many schools today are facing budget crises’ and financial shortfalls or declining enrollment. School leaders and teachers are more open than ever before to partnering with parents, neighbors, and churches in a sustainable way. This book shares stories and examples of how schools and churches can work together for the common good of students and the community. You’ll gain a better understanding of the laws defining the line of separation between church and state, and you will learn how to best approach school leaders with creative ideas for working together. Serving Local Schools provides biblical support and practical resources to equip individuals and churches to meet the needs of local schools while faithfully witnessing to the good news found in Jesus Christ.

Table of Contents:
Chapter One: Why Schools? The core of any city is discovered through the school district. This chapter emphasizes the power behind building a relationship with the district and expresses this avenue of ministry as a conduit for meeting the greatest needs within any city. By sharing the story of Colossae and how they have seen the fruit from their approach, this chapter encourages leaders to pursue cultivating this relationship. Chapter Two: Premise Building The first step in getting involved with the school district is to gain an understanding of the needs that filter in and out of the schools. But to start appropriately and with the right motivation, a biblical premise must serve as the foundation for which this relationship is built. This chapter dives into the Gospel of Luke and Paul’s letter to Titus in order to express the reasons why this relationship is vital for any church to pursue. Chapter Three: Trust Building Building trust with school district officials is critical to success. These relationships require patience and discernment. This chapter begins by telling a story of a meeting with the HR director of the school district, and how through honest conversation of why the church wanted to be involved in the district, doors began to open in greater ways than could have been expected. This chapter then focuses on why choosing to pay the price of time is imminent as you proceed. It will look at how to choose your battles wisely, offer yourself as a resource and why we are to be quick to learn and to lay all assumptions aside before beginning. Chapter Four: Church and State Balancing Act Separation of Church and State makes navigating the relationship between the school district and the church tricky. Without proper knowledge on rules and laws, the relationship can end before it even has a chance to take off. This chapter lays out where these boundaries are drawn and how to respect these lines while in no way compromising our commitment to the Gospel. Chapter Five: Mobilizing the Church With the crop plentiful and the workers few, all leaders should expect to see more needs then they feel can be met. But this chapter focuses on how to maximize the most resources out of a church to meet these needs. From small group leaders to parents, this chapter practically lays out how to motivate from within the church to outpour effectively. It also shows the importance of doing one thing well as the beginning point for any leader. Chapter Six: Meaningful Campus Connection Creating lasting connections within the schools takes effort and time. Because of the extensive time it requires, pursuing the right relationships and opportunities from the beginning is crucial. A common mistake made is leaders feeling the need to recreate the wheel of ministry and opportunities. This chapter focuses on how to be perceptive of the needs that are right in front of you and the importance of getting behind what is already being established. With insight on how to schedule meetings with the right people and guidance on how to carefully pursue the principals of schools, this chapter gives 4 practical steps to begin moving forward. Chapter Seven: Understanding District Connections Every school district is funded through taxes, but is also driven by programs that have been financed through grants. These programs vary from after school programs to the districts Resource Center. Taking advantage of these sorts of things is critical to understanding the overall vision and structure of the district as a whole. This chapter shows readers what to look for, how to engage relationally in the most helpful ways and how to posture themselves in the least intimidating manner. Chapter Eight: Balances To Keep In Mind Leaders can quickly get out of balance by over committing or having unrealistic expectations. This chapter brings to light the balance between ministry and reality. This chapter highlights two key relationships at a schoo

About the Author :
Chuck Bomar has been in church-based ministry for over 25 years and serves as a consultant to leaders involved in starting, scaling, and multiplying churches. Chuck also believes local schools represent the ethnic and socio-economic diversity of a community and advises churches that seek strategic relationships with their local school districts. He and his wife, Barbara, have three beautiful daughters: Karis, Hope, and Sayla.