FaithInAction

Biblical principles of Christian compassion and transformational community ministry:

Ronald Sider, Good News, Good Works: Uniting the Church to Heal a Lost and Broken World (Zondervan, 1993).

Tim Keller, Ministries of Mercy: The Call of the Jericho Road (P&R Publishing, 1989).

Robert Linthicum, Transforming Power: Biblical Strategies for Making a Difference in Your Community (InterVarsity, 2003).

Robert Lupton, And You Call Yourself a Christian: Toward Responsible Charity (CCDA, 2006).

George McKinney and William Kritlow, Cross the Line: Reclaiming the Inner City for God (Nelson, 1997).

Bob Moffitt with Karla Tesch, If Jesus Were Mayor: How Your Local Church Can Transform Your Community (Harvest Publishing, 2004).

Bryant Myers, Walking with the Poor: Principles and Practices of Transformational Development (Orbis Books, 1999).

John Perkins, ed. Restoring At-Risk Communities: Doing It Together and Doing It Right (Baker Books, 1995).

Heidi Unruh and Phil Olson, What is Holistic Ministry? Video (Word & Deed Network, 2003).

Jay Van Groningen, Communities First (CRWRC, 2005).

Planning and mobilizing church-based community ministry:

Willie Richardson, Reclaiming the Urban Family: How to Mobilize the Church as a Family Center (Zondervan, 1996).

Ray Bakke and Sam Roberts, The Expanded Mission of Center City Churches (International Urban Associates, 1998).

Victor Claman and David Butler with Jessica Boyatt, Acting on Your Faith: Congregations Making a Difference, A Guide to Success in Service and Social Action (Insights, 1994).

Carl Dudley, Community Ministry: New Challenges, Proven Steps to Faith-Based Initiatives (Alban Institute, 2002).

Robert M. Franklin, Another Day's Journey: Black Churches Confronting the American Crisis (Fortress Press, 1997).

Dennis Jacobsen, Doing Justice: Congregations and Community Organizing (Fortress Press, 2001).

Jan Johnson, Growing Compassionate Kids: Helping Kids See Beyond Their Back Yard (Upper Room Books, 2001).

Robert Logan and Larry Short, Mobilizing Compassion: Moving People into Ministry (Revell, 1994).

Kenneth Miller and Mary Wilson, The Church That Cares: Identifying and Responding to Needs in Your Community (Judson, 1985).

Rick Rusaw and Eric Swanson, The Externally Focused Church (Group, 2004).

Amy Sherman, Restorers of Hope (Crossway Books, 1997).

Amy Sherman, The ABCs of Community Ministry: A Curriculum for Congregations (Hudson Institute, 2001).

Ronald Sider, Phil Olson, and Heidi Unruh, Churches That Make a Difference: Reaching Your Community with Good News and Good Works (Baker, 2002).

Steve Sjogren, ed. Seeing Beyond Church Walls: Action Plans for Touching Your Community (Group, 2002).

Luther Snow, The Power of Asset Mapping: How Your Congregation Can Act on Its Gifts (Alban, 2004).

Phil Tom and Sally Johnson, Handbook for Urban Church Ministries (Metro Mission, 1996).

Heidi Unruh, Phil Olson, and Ronald Sider, Becoming a Church That Makes a Difference: Ventures in Holistic Ministry CD-ROM (Word & Deed Network, 2006).

Bible study resources on holistic ministry

Justice Now! (Christian Community Development Association, 1992).

Carolyn Nystrom, Loving the World (InterVarsity Press, 1992).

Amy Sherman, Sharing God's Heart for the Poor: Meditations for Worship, Prayer & Service (Trinity Presbyterian Church, 1999).

Ronald Sider, ed. For They Shall Be Fed: Readings and Prayers for a Just World (W. Publishing Group, 1997).

Reg Parks, Compassion by Command video curriculum (Here's Life Inner City, 2002).

Transformational church leadership:

Jim Herrington, Mike Bonem, and James Furr, Leading Congregational Change (Jossey-Bass, 2000).

Robert Lewis and Wayne Cordeiro, Culture Shift: Transforming Your Church from the Inside Out (Jossey-Bass, 2005).

Randy Pope, The Intentional Church: Moving From Church Success to Community Transformation (Moody Publishers, 2006).

Gilbert Rendle, Leading Change in the Congregation (The Alban Institute, 1998).

Best practices ministry profiles:

Robert Carle and Louis Decaro, Jr., Signs of Hope in the City: Ministries of Community Renewal (Judson, 1997).

Barbara Elliott, Street Saints: Renewing America's Cities (Templeton Foundation Press, 2004).

Nile Harper, Urban Churches, Vital Signs: Beyond Charity Toward Justice (Eerdmans, 1999).

Ronald J. Sider, Cup of Water, Bread of Life (Zondervan, 1994).

Samuel G. Freedman, Upon this Rock: The Miracles of a Black Church (HarperCollins, 1993).

Web resources for church-based compassion ministry:

Alban Institute, www.alban.org

Breakthrough Partners, www.breakthroughpartners.org

Center for Family and Community Ministry, www.baylor.edu/CFCM

Center for Renewal, www.centerforrenewal.org

Center on Faith in Communities, www.centeronfic.org

Children's Defense Fund, www.childrensdefense.org

Christian Community Development Association, www.ccda.org

Christians Supporting Community Organizing, www.cscoweb.org

City Reaching, www.cityreaching.com

Congregational Resource Guide, www.congregationalresources.org

Disciple Nations Alliance, www.disciplenations.org

Evangelicals for Social Action, www.esa-online.org

Faith in Action, www.putyourfaithinaction.org

Family & Children Faith Coalition, www.factfl.org

FASTEN Network, www.fastennetwork.org

Harvest, www.harvestfoundation.org

Leadership Network, www.leadnet.org

Loving Our Communities to Christ, www.missionamerica.org

Word & Deed Network, www.network935.org

Outreach, Inc., www.outreach.com

Partners In Urban Transformation, www.piut.org

Seminary Consortium for Urban Pastoral Education, www.scupe.org

TechMission, www.christianvolunteering.org and www.urbanministry.org

World Relief, www.worldrelief.org

World Vision, www.worldvision.org

Zondervan Publishing, www.zondervan.com

Models of city-wide church-based community service events

CareFest, carefestusa.com

CityServe, aes-egc.org/cityserve

ShareFest, sharefest.org

Unite!, uniteus.followers.net

E-mail newsletters on the church's response to local / global concerns

City Voices, roger@cityvoices.com

EBread, www.bread.org

EPistle, epistle@esa-online.org

Evangelism News and City Reaching, info@missionamerica.org

National Pastors Prayer Network, updates@nppn.org

Sojo Mail, sojomail@sojo.net

World Vision eNews, www.worldvision.org/churches

World Vision Advocacy, www.seekjustice.org

Learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan. (Isaiah 1:17)

God is inviting your church to “learn to do good.” What can you and your church do to help people achieve their potential and experience God’s good design for their lives? No one church can do everything . . . but each church is called to do something. Whether you are exploring Faith in Action service projects, an ongoing community outreach program, or international missions, the following exercise can help you identify ministry options that are relevant, practical, and timely for your context.

If your congregation has caught the flame of being used by Christ in service to others, the conclusion of the Faith in Action curriculum doesn’t mean you stop living out your faith. The ministry project may be over, but your journey of transformational ministry is just beginning.

What are the next steps for your congregation? Your Faith in Action training and service experience may inspire your church to …

Your church is on a Faith in Action journey to "BE the church" in ministry to neighbors near and far. There are many potential paths you could pursue toward that goal. Which of the following action areas would most help your church expand its involvement in effective outreach? Take into consideration the current status of your church's external ministry (see the tool "Assessing Your Church's Community Involvement"), Try to identify two or three key priorities. Then follow up on the next page.

This exercise helps you assess how your church is engaging the community. An accurate picture of the church's strengths, weaknesses, and goals for outreach is useful in helping the church enlarge its capacity to serve its neighbors (see "Building on Faith in Action: Diagnostic Tool").

Survey Directions

This tool provides an overview of the congregation’s availability, interest, and resources for service. This information can be useful as part of the process of exploring ongoing ministry options after the Faith in Action campaign.

The survey can be adapted to solicit feedback on specific ministry proposals. You can also ask for a more detailed inventory of skills and availability related to a particular ministry (for example, home repair or tutoring).

One suggestion is to hand out the survey immediately following or during a worship service (doing it during the offering time would underscore the concept of offering our time and talents to God through ministry), and allow time for people to fill them out and turn them in. They can also be completed during the Sunday school hour, or distributed to participants at the last Faith in Action small group.

Recruit individuals to organize the information after the forms are collected, and write a report that summarizes the findings. Use the survey to create a database of volunteer information which can be updated as needed.

Adapted with permission from Becoming a Church That Makes a Difference CD-ROM, by Heidi Unruh and Phil Olson (Word & Deed Network, 2006), www.esa-online.org.

Faith in Action is designed to enhance your church’s community relations. As a complement to service projects, your church can strengthen this connection by building bridges of relationship and belonging.

Building Bridges of Relationship

In strong communities, people know one another and help one another out in neighborly ways. The key to building relationships is bringing people together around things that everyone enjoys or cares about. Following are some ideas for community-wide activities that can help your congregation get to know your neighbors better, affirm their gifts, and celebrate life together. Building bridges of relationship can be fun!

This survey provides your church with a tool to gather information about your neighborhood and community. Conducting a survey can be invaluable if your church is unfamiliar with the community whether you are planning Faith in Action projects, considering ongoing ministry opportunities, or simply looking for ways to get to know your neighbors better.

Surveys are best conducted door-to-door by pairs of church members. This creates opportunities for your congregation to develop relationships and name recognition in the process. A survey can make a lasting impression–on those who conduct the survey and on those they visit. If most church members are not from the neighborhood, considering pairing a church member with a local resident who knows the people in the community. This helps to build trust and credibility.

You also can adapt surveys for use with those served by Faith in Action projects. For example, if your church helps serve a meal at a soup kitchen, invite (don’t require) participation from those who partake in the meal, as well as from regular soup kitchen volunteers. Not only do you get the benefit of the information, you also communicate a message of caring: “Your opinions and ideas matter to us!”

Although the primary purpose of the survey is not evangelistic, you can be sensitive to the spiritual and personal needs of the people you contact. If people have immediate needs, you can ask how the church might be able to help. If you offer prayer or aid, however, be sure you follow up and keep your promises! Enlist volunteers to pray for the needs revealed through the survey.

After finishing each survey, you can give participants an invitation card to join upcoming Faith in Action events. While the purpose of conducting the survey is to gather information, not to attract people to your church, survey participants may ask about your church. To help answer these questions, be sure to have a brochure or flyer that features your church programs and worship services that you can share with them. After each survey is completed, follow up with a thank-you note to residents who completed the survey to show your appreciation for their time. This gives you another opportunity to invite people’s participation in Faith in Action.

On the next page is a sample survey. The questions are open-ended, with space for survey-takers to write in people’s responses. You can adapt or add questions as appropriate. For example, you can list several possible initiatives that are being considered by the church and ask people which ones they think are best suited to their current needs. If you already have a service project in mind, you can change question #3 to ask: “Our church is considering doing …… in this neighborhood. Do you have any suggestions for how you’d like to see us do this?”

Adapted with permission from Becoming a Church That Makes a Difference CD-ROM, by Heidi Unruh and Phil Olson (Word & Deed Network, 2006), www.esa-online.org.