Christian Stronghold Baptist Church: Nafsu bagi Holistic Ministry

Christian Stronghold Baptist Church: Nafsu bagi Holistic Ministry

Christian Stronghold menyediakan contoh gereja holistis yang berjalinan kata dan perbuatan lewat jenis kementerian. Senior pastor dan pendiri Rev Willie Richardson menyesalkan bahwa sebegitu banyak gereja terobsesi oleh pertanyaan servis menyediakan lawan menghemat jiwa. "We yang sedang melayani di kota tidak bisa memikul nyambung di bahwa debate," dia mengatakan, "because orang kami ialah dying." Di jawaban sampai keperluan rohani dan sosial yang mendesak, gereja bercampur lipat ganda evangelism strategi dengan pengabdian ke melayani himpunan.

Di Christian Stronghold Baptist Church, kata Rev Richardson, "Everything kami melakukan evangelistic outreach di alam. Setiap kesempatan kami mempunyai, kami saksi ke people." kementerian servis Bermacam-macam menyambung orang ke gereja sekitar berbagai "felt needs," terdapat di keperluan untuk makanan dan kesehatan hingga hasrat untuk melakukan lebih baik di sekolah sampai aspirasi untuk memiliki rumah. Sedangkan ada jasa yang tak terpisahkan dalam memenuhi kebutuhan lahiriah di nama Yesus, kata Rev Richardson, memberi makan dan sembuh adalah hanya sebagian di antara Yesus yang mana memperagakan. Orang yang sudah menyebabkan keperluan fisik mereka dipenuhi tanpa gamblang evangelistic menemukan "came untuk makan pemancing selera dan tidak pernah mendapat sisa menu." tidak menyatakan ini bahwa setiap orang yang datang ke gereja untuk pertolongan dipaksa untuk mendengarkan khotbah. Secara ideal, tetapi, perbuatan menyediakan servis adalah sebagian proses yang lebih besar di hubungan yang mana terbentuk, anggota gereja mempunyai kesempatan ke verbalize injil, dan buatan penerima hubungan antara kebutuhan sosial yang dipenuhi, keperluan rohani mereka yang akar, dan harapan injil bagi jiwa yang lebih baik.

The youth group, for example, sponsored a free car wash. While some youth washed the cars, others talked to the owners about Christ. In a program that helps new home-owners obtain a mortgage, recipients hear about God's plan for their lives as part of the process of financial counseling. Counselors encourage new homeowners to give God the credit for this life-changing blessing: "It is because of the Lord, and because of the Lord's people, that you are able to move into this house." At church-sponsored health fairs, doctors integrate spiritual and medical advice, telling hypertension patients not only about exercise and proper nutrition, but also "that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and that you have a responsibility to be a steward of it," explains an associate pastor. "We don't want [doctors] to bombard the participant with Scripture, but we want them to know that they do have accountability to the Lord in how they treat and respond to their bodies."

Another example of a holistic service ministry is a GED preparation program, started as a response to welfare reform. The director of outreach and evangelism, describes how the ministry incorporates a spiritual dimension:

When they step in the door, we give them the gospel. . . . We open up with prayer, and every opportunity we have we witness to people. . . . Our purpose is to help them with their education. With that in mind, when the opportunity arises, we turn the conversation to Christ. . . . We have opportunities within the lesson plan to discuss the way God would have them handle the situation. . . . You have to rely on the Holy Spirit to bring back into remembrance all you have studied. If you rely on God to help you, it makes it much easier.

About half of the GED students are not from the church; some were recruited for the class through the ad placed in the church-published community newspaper. Students are invited, but not required, to attend church services. One year about a third of the non-members in the class ended up joining the church.

Not every social ministry has an overt evangelistic component. In some ministries the faith-sharing occurs through informal witnessing by church staff and volunteers. The church's Youth Self-Esteem Ministry, for example, works with at-risk boys from the local elementary school. The program is not explicitly Christian because of its connection with the public school, but God's love is displayed in the caring relationships staff develop with the boys. "I take them to my home on weekends, and I ask them, ‘Why do you think I do this?'" recounts the director. "I tell them, ‘I do this because I love you.' They don't know what that means, so I have to demonstrate it."

Christian Stronghold believes that spiritual transformation is the cornerstone to developing the capacity of individuals, and that empowered individuals then become the key to transforming the community. Reaching African American males with the message of salvation is a particular mission focus. Associate pastor Kenneth Staley describes the vision for ministering to "people that are burdened and beat down":

To give them hope, to give them direction for their lives. To help them to understand that God wants them to be all that He created them to be, and that . . . because they're of a lower economic standard does not mean that they have to remain there; that there's pride in being Black; that they're supposed to have a positive self esteem in Jesus Christ because they're a new creation in Him; and that as they submit their lives to God and as He shows them their gifts, talents and abilities, they're going to rise above that economic condition they are in.

Noting that men are in the minority in many African American churches, Christian Stronghold launched a "Win 1,000 Men To Christ" campaign which brought many men into the Kingdom of God-and increased the number of female church members as well! A core component of this outreach is the "Glory and Honor Groups," or care groups for men, which mingle church members and spiritual seekers. The format combines fellowship, Bible study, and education, giving particular attention to social and health issues pertinent to African American men. The care groups encourage network evangelism by offering a friendly environment where men can invite other men for support and counsel.

While its social ministries focus on individuals and families, Christian Stronghold has also invested in community development. Christian Stronghold helped organize and support the Nehemiah project, a coalition of churches which built or rehabbed 128 homes, and launched the Phoenix Project to renovate 300 abandoned city-owned homes for resale to lower and moderate income families. Other projects have involved negotiations to bring a decent supermarket into the neighborhood, a job placement collaborative, and plans for a new recreational center. The church also created a Community Action Council "to be the salt and light from a biblical perspective" in response to moral and political issues affecting its membership. The Council has undertaken a wide range of actions, including planning a health fair; "adopting" the local elementary school; lobbying to upgrade a public bus stop near the church; and blocking the liquor license of a nearby business. Such initiatives respond to the disconnect between neighborhood conditions and what God desires for the people of West Philadelphia.

Christian Stronghold views community development as a way to overcome the obstacles of racism and poverty that prevent people from full empowerment, as well as the spiritual forces that keep people in despair. As a testimony to God's goodness, community development and advocacy also have evangelistic implications. Hosting Town Watch meetings and other community events creates evangelistic opportunities by bringing non-members into the church and facilitating interactions with church members. Speaking out on political issues from a Biblical perspective offers a moral and spiritual example to public officials. Just as meeting a felt need makes it more likely that a needy person will be open to an evangelistic message, displaying a commitment to community development helps to create openness on the part of those who share a concern for the community. Church leaders can point to members who have joined Christian Stronghold because they appreciated the church's involvement in the community.

Christian Stronghold's dedication to a holistic vision is one major factor behind the church's explosive growth. Average adult Sunday morning attendance is about 1700-about half of whom had never belonged to a church before Christian Stronghold.

[Adapted from Churches That Make a Difference, chapter 5].