Broadway Christian Church in Mesa, Ariz., routinely attracts nonbelievers, according to Associate Pastor John Klundt.
“We get a lot of stories from people who haven’t gone to church, people searching for the first time,” he says. “We’re a church that meets people right where they are and accepts people just as they are.”
Klundt says one newcomer became so excited about the church’s 31-week series on the Bible, “The Story,” that she consumed all of the materials related to it in just two weeks.
“She caught up on the whole story, watched every sermon we had and got excited about growing in her faith and her relationship with God in general,” he says.
Broadway’s community-driven philosophy attracts people to the church, which not only organizes food and clothing ministries but ministries for the homeless and recovering addicts, Klundt says.
The church also created a hope wall made up of light bulbs that represent worshipers who’ve given their lives to Christ.
Outreach in Mesa can be tricky because the community includes a large population of retirees, transplants from colder states who pass the winters in Mesa and a sizeable Latino population, according to Klundt. Residents come from all socioeconomic backgrounds.
“Demographically, we’re really in a very mixed area,” he says. “I think that’s a big reason why our community outreach ministries are so critical, and so important.”
While the church has steadily grown, Klundt says the challenge of outreach “is always working at not leaning inward but trying to think about the people that aren’t at your campus, that haven’t walked into your doors, that aren’t in a small group.”
Klundt asserts that reaching out to newcomers from a variety of backgrounds requires the pastoral staff to be both inwardly and outwardly focused. This builds tension that requires sacrifice and commitment on the staff’s part. Seeing that lost people come to know Jesus involves a multitiered approach that includes the congregants, the staff and the leadership.
“It’s just a continual challenge being reminded and focused and not thinking we’ve reached our capacity,” Klundt says.
BROADWAY CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Mesa, Ariz.
Senior Pastor: John Enabnit
Twitter: @BCCMesa
Website: BCCMesa.com
Founded: 1978
Affiliation: Independent Christian Churches
Locations: 1
A 2015 OUTREACH 100 CHURCH
Attendance: 1,648
Growth in 2014: +271 (20%)
Fastest-Growing: 58
