Tony Campolo, a well-known Christian sociologist, tells the story of visiting a church in Oakland where kids from a group called Mission Year had been working as young urban ministers. They had done a survey of the community to identify the resources in the community (such as employment centers, elder care, etc.) and went out two by two with a church member to the blocks right around the church. They introduced themselves and asked, “Are there some things we could pray together for?” The kids got some doors slammed in their faces and some ‘No’s,’ but also others who shared a worry about a son kicked out of school, a husband out of work, an aunt living upstairs unable to get out because of disabilities. They prayed together, and when they left the kids noted each concern on a card. That afternoon when they assembled back at the church, they sought to make connections between the needs of people and the available resources. When Tony arrived and asked people in the neighborhood for directions to the church, they said,

“Oh, you mean that church that prays with you.”

Jay van Groningen, in Communities First identifies the various ways in which churches exist in an under-resourced community: as a church in the community [a Fortress], a church to the community [a Savior], and a church with the community [a Partner]. Let’s look at the characteristics of each:

Church “in” the community [Fortress]

• Does not desire to influence the community
• Does not desire the community members to influence it
• Invests efforts and resources on members
• May be described as a “fortress” holding the outside world back
• Takes up space in the neighborhood: many members commute to services and leave again; church does not pay taxes and is a net drain on the neighborhood

Church “to” the community [Savior]

• Desires to bless/contribute to the community on its own terms
• Spends some resources (generally small) in the community
• Limited access/involvement of community stakeholders in plans
• Serves the community in ways it prefers, with outcomes it prefers, and overlooks gifts and talents of community
• Takes up space in the community, performs services, does not pay taxes and is in some sense a neutral influence

Church “with” the community [Partner]

• Desires to influence the community, and community stakeholders to influence the church
• Spends significant resources (time, talent, goods) in the community
• Uses a participatory (community and church) planning process combining desires and outcomes of both
• Unleashes gifts, skills and resources already present in the community
• Is a convener, partner, responder to the community
• Net plus to community; doesn’t pay taxes

How could you help more of your members or fellow congregants get excited about a new way of looking at, engaging in, and acting out God’s call to love our neighbors as ourselves? Here are some small group exercises to use:

#1: Going deeper, look at your church/organization and its relationship to the community. Which of the above church descriptions fit your situation? Why? Or is there a better description for your church? What do you desire the relationship with the community to be? What does the leadership, the congregation, desire the relationship to be? Report your findings.

#2: Share how you think people who live in the neighborhood of your church would identify your church. How would they describe it? How would you like your church to be described? Do a brief report, and if possible, note it on a chart using large pads in the front of the room.

God's Vision for Community

Pay close attention now: I’m creating new heavens and a new earth. All the earlier troubles, chaos and pain are things of the past to be forgotten. Look ahead with joy, anticipate what I’m creating: I’ll create Jerusalem as sheer joy, create my people as pure delight. I’ll take joy in Jerusalem, take delight in my people. No more sounds of weeping in the city, no cries of anguish. No more babies dying in the cradle, or old people who don’t enjoy a full life-time; one hundred birthdays will be considered normal–anything less will seem like cheat. They’ll build houses and move in. They’ll plant fields and eat what they grow. No more building a house that some outsider takes over, no more planting fields that some enemy confiscates. For my people will be long-lived as trees, my chosen ones will have satisfaction in their work. They won’t work and have nothing come of it, they won’t have children snatched out from under them. For they themselves are plantings blessed by God, with their children and grandchildren likewise God-blessed. Before they’ve finished speaking, I’ll have heard. Isaiah 65:17-24 (Message)

#3: What in God’s vision for our communities stands out for you? Share with each other. How is this vision an example of empowerment? What do you think God’s vision is for your community? The community’s vision for itself? How could we find out what the community’s vision is?

Excerpted from Empowerment: A Key Component of Christian Community Development, by Dr. Mary Nelson. Available to pre-order through CCDA, $25 (pre-order until December 1, 2009).
Contact Stephanie@ccda.org.