Contact: Jon Hirst, The Well, 719-362-5235, jhirst@dotheword.org
ORANGE COUNTY, Calif., March 8 /Christian Newswire/ -- The federal government is beginning Census 2010 in an effort to determine the needs of communities around the nation, which will affect the spending of more than $400 billion in federal funds. House church leader Ken Eastburn is challenging Christians to not let the government beat them to the punch, "What a shame it would be if the government could get to know the needs of our communities better than us! The census shouldn't be a substitute for our responsibility to know and love our neighbors."
Census forms are being mailed this month and will consist of just 10 questions. These questions will help determine how more than $400 billion in federal funds will be distributed to places like hospitals, schools, senior centers, etc. Households that do not return the form may expect to receive an in-person visit from a census taker.
"If someone were to get a knock on their door from a census taker before a Christian in their community, the local church is not doing its job," says Eastburn, "We are not responsible for how people respond to our efforts to know and love them, but we are still responsible to try."
Eastburn is a leader with The Well, formerly a traditional Southern Baptist church that transitioned in 2005 to a network of home-based churches in California and Colorado.
He continues, "It is important for the Church to beat the government to the punch. It is not just a matter of becoming the agent of change we all want the Church to be, but about the more important matter of obeying Jesus' command to love our neighbors. How can we love our neighbors if we don't even know them? Nobody should be able to get a better pulse on the community than the local church."
The Well hosts 10-15 members at each of its five locations on a weekly basis. Eastburn and other members post their experiences on a blog maintained by the church, www.leavethebuildingblog.com, with the purpose of interacting with individuals from traditional and house church backgrounds.
