We are no longer organizing community impact efforts, and are bringing the Encounter Church ministry to a close. Click here to read more. |
UPCOMING COMMUNITY EFFORTS
We challenge you to join with us in a monthly gathered effort to change the face of Helena one life at a time. We challenge you to help us fund some of these Community Impact efforts by giving financially to the work Encounter is doing. And finally, we challenge you to sacrifice, to give freely of yourself, and to truly "Be The Change" in Helena.
Summer Fun & Concert in the Park | Tue Jul 12 @ 5pm
We're inviting the Helena community to a day of Summer Fun at Memorial Park. We're hosting Kids Inflatables and the Rock Climbing Wall. Plus we'll provide free cotton candy, popcorn, and snow cones. Finally there will be some awesome live music from local Helena bands. We would love to have you come down and be part of the SERVE Team for this event. Setup starts at 3pm. Contact us here to get involved.
Rock Wall at Alive@Five | Wed Jul 20 @ 5pm
Come climb the Encounter Rock Wall for FREE at Alive@Five. Better yet, be part of the volunteer SERVE team as we serve our community at Alive@Five. It's an awesome opportunity to serve our community and to be a church FOR Helena, not just IN Helena. Alive@Five this week will be at Womens Park near Fuller and Lawrence.Recent Efforts:
Serving at the Spring Art Walk | Friday, May 20 @ 5:30-9pm | CapitalFRET
Rock Wall at Alive@Five | Friday, June 15 @ 5-9pm | Womens Park
Tootsie Pops at Alive@Five | Friday, June 8 @ 5-9pm | Fountain by ExplorationWorks
Rock Wall at Alive@Five | Friday, July 20 @ 5-9pm | Womens Park
Read More:
What does it mean to engage culture?
Who does Encounter partner with?
Giving Ourselves Away
At Encounter, we believe that we are most like Jesus when we serve others by giving ourselves away. We can give of our time, our talents, our treasure, but most importantly we must give of ourselves. Giving that does not cost us in some way is not a true sacrifice.
When we stop seeing people as evangelistic targets, when we stop expecting something in return for helping them — it is only then that we can serve people and meet the needs in our community the way Jesus did.
We feel this is one way to be a burning bush — something that catches the attention of a city so they can not only hear the voice of God, but also encounter firsthand His crazy love through us.WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO ENGAGE CULTURE?
Building these types of relationships with individuals and our community is something we call "Engaging Our Culture" and is one of the vital relationships of our strategy to impact Helena. We know that once people come in contact with Jesus, they are forever changed. We are not just doing community service, we are serving our community. And that is a big difference. When we serve our community we are pursuing the transformation of a community.
Engaging Culture by building true relationships with others is a lifestyle, not an event. It is something we do in our homes, workplaces, classrooms, pubs, tattoo parlors, and more. We must first live out this lifestyle as individuals, but we also know that there is great value in gathered efforts as well. And that is what Encounter's Community Impact efforts are all about.
WHO DOES ENCOUNTER PARTNER WITH?
Our Community Impact relies partly upon an intentional and coordinated effort of service with others in order to accomplish something significant to change peoples' lives in a positive way. We want to see Encounter Church not as a place we only attend on the weekend, but something we ARE throughout the week.We have come to understand that we are not "bringing Jesus to people," but that that Jesus is already alive and active in our culture and we want to join Him in what He is doing.
While Encounter does initiate some community impact efforts of our own, we are very interested in partnering with other organizations that are already successfully meeting needs in our community. And then we can join in and help make an even deeper impact.
Some of the community organizations we have already served or partnered with are the Helena YWCA, Youth Connections, Helena School System, Elkhorn Rehabilitation Center, St. Peter's Medical Center, Staples, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana. We are continually looking to strategically expand such partnerships.
For a listing of all articles about current and previous Community Impact Efforts, click here.
