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The Village Church Reaches Diverse Community
By Sharon Mager
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The Village members do neighborhood cleanup in spite of the rain.
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The Village Church, Hampden, is still a baby, just launched in Sept. 2008, but its pastor Dan Hyun said the new work is already running and walking.
Church members recently invited several bands in for a concert to raise money to provide food for hungry people in the neighborhood. Those bands brought their friends and followers to the church, providing immediate outreach opportunities. Members have also been partnering with the local community center to clean up litter and they’re working to rebuild a nearby playground that burned. While lending a helping hand, members are working side by side with their neighbors.
The church is trying hard to get to know their neighborhood and to be known. And as the church moves out into the community, they’re finding locals moving into the church.
“More and more people from the community are joining us to see what The Village is doing. I think it reflects a spiritual dryness that’s been here for a long time,” Hyun said.
Hyun said people are also drawn by the genuineness of Village.
“We’re not a big lights and smoke show.” Hyun said he’s just preaching and being true to the Word. Broken people are coming, responding to the love of the church and to the pure gospel.
People are skeptical, Hyun said, which is why he said he’s “going more for depth than breadth”.
“Hampden is going through a lot of economic challenges. People coming in are reflecting that as well,” the young church planter reflected. “Almost every family here has been touched with problems with addiction and brokenness.”
The church’s vision was to reach the 20 to 30-year-olds and while that’s still the target, God is making the church diverse ethnically, socio-economically, and generationally.
The Village Church is a plant of Grace Life Church, Baltimore, in partnership with Northwest Church, Reisterstown, MD.
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