A Most Difficult Concept for Christians

Leading to the joys and fruits of authentic, relational ministry

One of my favorite resources for Communities of Shalom is the book titled, Building a People of Power by Robert Linthicum.   Within the book, Linthicum gives a great introduction to a key concept that churches need to apply if they are serious about working for the common good of their community and seeking the shalom of the neighborhood where they worship.

This concept is often referred to as the Iron Rule:  Never do for others what they can do for


Members and neighbors from Trinity UMC

themselves.  Or put another way, the people who are best able to deal with a problem are the people most affected by the problem.

Linthicum writes, “I have discovered in more than 50 years of ministry that this concept is the single most difficult insight for Christians to grasp and apply in their ministry.” 

Why is it so difficult? 

One way to answer is to consider that there are three general ways in which a church responds to its neighborhood.  They either have ministry in a community, for/to a community or with a community.

• A church in a community does not see itself as being part of that neighborhood.  This is a church with its building in a neighborhood but with no relationships with the neighbors and other stakeholders.  Most of the members commute to the church, and all activities are designed to serve the membership.
• A church for a community develops programs to serve people outside the walls of the church.  Often this church is motivated through its faith teachings to help people less fortunate, even if they do not attend the church.  Sometimes a church who is doing programs for the community is motivated because it is a shrinking congregation who hopes that reconnecting to the neighborhood might help it grow.  There is great potential in this approach and this approach has a flaw.  The flaw is that, more often than not, the church decides what is best for the community.  Well-intentioned church-folk develop programs to help or fix the people outside the church.  The people outside the church are viewed as deficient and unable to solve their own problems. 
• A church with a community respects and perceives the people of the community as people with great wisdom and potential.  The church does not develop programs for people, but instead partners with the people in dealing with their own issues and pursuing their own aspirations for their community.  A church with the community participates in the community’s struggles and dreams, allowing both to shape the church.

Primera Iglesia Metodista prepares for asset mapping

Being a church in ministry with the community is difficult to do because it goes against our problem-solving tendencies.  It means we may have to give up our timetables and operate at the community’s (sometimes slower) pace.  It might even mean that we have to allow our church to be influenced by the community! 

Once a church embraces the notion of being in ministry with the community, the real journey (and work) of change and transformation begins…for the community and the church.  The activities of the church move away from relief and quick fixes to lasting and sustainable community transformation. The reward are the joys and fruits of authentic, relational ministry.

Imagining the fruits of ministry with

This summer, Center for Transforming Communities has used this framework to help five churches in Nashville imagine ways that the church can grow in its relationship with the community.  We have been exploring the principles and tools of Asset Based Community Development as one approach to doing ministry with the neighborhood.

If you or your church would like to learn more about doing ministry with your neighborhood, I hope you will contact us at info@ctcmidsouth.org. 

-Amy Moritz, Director of Center for Transforming Communities.

Photos courtesy of Nate Paulk, Trinity UMC in Nashville, TN.  Nashville trainings sponsored by the Turner Center at Vanderbilt.

Linking the hopes of communities, cities and society

Revitalizing a cross section of the United States through co-operation

It’s completely reasonable to step back and view the Memphis neighborhood of Binghampton as a microcosm of the United States as a whole.

It’s as diverse a community as you can find anywhere; a place where refugees from war-torn nations in Africa try to find footing in a new land of opportunity; a place where affluence and poverty cross paths on the street; a place where faith fuels hope, even in the midst of struggle.

Barbara Vann's Interview

 

At the center of this cross-section of American society is The Commons on Merton, where the ministries and non-profit organizations working to enhance the community converge in a shared space — an old United Methodist Church building once reserved for one congregation and one linear vision.

The Center for Transforming Communities has brought together a range of partners within the building to sustain its operations and combine efforts to build a new future for the neighborhood, the city and society itself.

Barbara Vann sees great possibility in The Commons, and she’s watched it evolve through the transformation of the building itself from that single-congregation church to a building that glows with a sense of co-operative community that shines into the neighborhood.

“What I’ve noticed is the way the ethos of the co-operation of the building use moves out into the community,” says Barbara, a lay leader with the Binghampton United Methodist church.

When she thinks about the co-operation among the partner organizations, she talks of the gears of change turning through their overlapping purposes and how everyone connected to these groups begins to move past thinking individually to thinking collectively.

“Maybe it will move us past thinking about our homes as our home,” Barbara says.

Home is the community.

When asked for a practical example of this in action, she recalls an inspirational chain of prayers and hopes linking together the diverse populations of the neighborhood — that microcosm of the United States.

Some time ago a group from The Commons visited Caritas Village a few blocks away, another place where community members gather and share common vision for community enhancement.

“We asked the community people to write their prayer requests on a slip of paper, and we made these paper slips into a big chain,” Barbara recalls.

“As a parade they brought that chain from Caritas Village up the street . . . and into the building where it was placed on a tree — it still sits there today.”

People saw this chain travel the streets, many knowing it contained the prayers of so many individuals, now combined as one single collection of hopes and dreams.

“I saw the tide shift,” Barbara says, allowing herself to imagine a similar chain linking the hopes of society itself.

This is representative of the The Commons in her mind and an example of the many possibilities that emerge when people work together towards community transformation.

By Kristian Partington, Axiom News
Photo Courtesey of Focusforthegood.org