Emphasis Preaching Journal

As Pastor Kris Smith had worked to reach out to the community in her first pastorate, she discovered how difficult it was to get people to come. In her community there were many different types of people - Appalachian whites, blue-collar whites, African-Americans, Cambodians, a variety of mentally ill in group homes. It was quite a challenge. To make matters more difficult, the congregation was almost all older, middle-class whites and most of them no longer lived in the community.