history

Course 301 - History of Urban Missions

jarboe — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 14:24:03 -0500

Course 301 - History of Urban Missions (3 credits)

J. Anthony Lukas: Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families

EvanDonovan — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 15:02:51 -0500

The climax of this humane account of 10 years in Boston that began with news of Martin Luther King's assassination, is a watershed moment in the city's modern history--the 1974 racist riots that followed the court-ordered busing of kids to integrate the schools. To bring understanding to that moment, Lukas, a former New York Times journalist, focuses on two working-class families, headed by an Irish-American widow and an African-American mother, and on the middle-class family of a white liberal couple. Lukas goes beyond stereotypes, carefully grounding each perspective in its historical roots, whether in the antebellum South, or famine-era Ireland.

Changing Youth Behavior - One Day at a Time

EvanDonovan — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 13:19:25 -0500

Illustrates how developing a positive self-image and cultural identity can help improve youth behavior.

Dr. John Perkins: The Past, Present & Future: CCDA 2004 Audio

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 08:16:50 -0500

Dr. John Perkins presents on the past, present, and future of the CCDA movement at CCDA 2004.

Mark Noll: America's God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln

EvanDonovan — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 15:05:11 -0500

Religious life in early America is often equated with the fire-and-brimstone Puritanism best embodied by the theology of Cotton Mather. Yet, by the nineteenth century, American theology had shifted dramatically away from the severe European traditions directly descended from the Protestant Reformation, of which Puritanism was in the United States the most influential. In its place arose a singularly American set of beliefs. In America's God, Mark Noll has written a biography of this new American ethos. In the 125 years preceding the outbreak of the Civil War, theology played an extraordinarily important role in American public and private life. Its evolution had a profound impact on America's self-definition.

Mark Noll: One Nation Under God: Christian Faith and Political Action in America

EvanDonovan — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 15:05:07 -0500

Norris Magnuson: Salvation in the Slums: Evangelical Social Work 1865-1920

EvanDonovan — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 12:05:25 -0500

Arthur Bonner: Enacted Christianity: Evangelical Rescue Missions in the United States and Canada

EvanDonovan — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 12:04:22 -0500

A Historical Perspective

EvanDonovan — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 17:09:40 -0500

A Historical Perspective

Two hundred years ago, as books became available to the masses, there was a major drive for literacy and churches and faith-based institutions were the major force behind that drive. Even the term "Sunday School" originally referred to literacy classes that were taught by Christians using the Bible, and only more recently has the term been more applied to classes focused only on religious teaching. The first Sunday School was established at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in 1780 by Robert Raikes in his home to teach street children in London how to read.

TechMission History

EvanDonovan — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 10:00:21 -0500

History of TechMission

TechMission, then called the Association of Christian Community Computer Centers (AC4), was first established when a group of leaders of Christian computer centers saw the need for increased collaboration and support. Staff from Christian computer centers across the USA were involved in the early discussions and process of founding AC4 - including Rudy Carrasco from Harambee in Pasadena; Marcus Thorne of Lawndale in Chicago; and Angel Halstead, Kevin Chien and Andrew Sears from the PREP Computer Center of Bruce Wall Ministries (BWM). In addition, the AC4 advisory board helped provide guidance to the organization.

AC4 was launched out of the PREP Community Computer Center, which was a partnership of Bruce Wall Ministries (BWM) in Dorchester, MA and the Cambridge Vineyard Christian Fellowship and Dorchester Temple Baptist Church. From 2000-2002, BWM acted as the fiscal agent and provided support. AC4 initially had only 50 ministries on our list of Christian computer centers with only 20 as members. Around 30 ministries attended the first AC4 conference in May 2001. AC4 now has over 500 member churches and Christian organizations.

TechMission became a separate non-profit entity in 2002. The next year, following the success of the AC4 program, it launched the TechMission Boston Program which provides full-time interns to serve in after-school, teen, and adult technology education programs, as well as providing the curriculum and software benefits of AC4 membership. In 2004, TechMission Boston received AmeriCorps backing which enabled it to expand to Los Angeles. The program, now known as TechMission Corps, now sends out interns to organizations in Boston, Los Angeles, Denver, New York City, and Chicago.

In 2005, a Department of Justice grant enabled TechMission to start its Safe Families Program, which promotes online safety through providing free training and web-filtering software. The TechMission Volunteer Network was launched the following year. In 2007, TechMission introduced UrbanMinistry.org, which is an effort to use "Web 2.0" technologies to further promote collaboration and resource-sharing between Christian community development ministries. Finally, in January of 2008, TechMission acquired City Vision College, an accredited online institution designed to equip urban ministry workers to manage and develop their ministries.

TechMission draws much of its ministry philosophy from the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) and was started based on the needs identified in discussion with CCDA members. CCDA emphasizes three key principles as a part of their ministry philosophy: racial reconciliation, indigenous leadership and economic development. TechMission and CCDA have been in partnership for the past several years; currently, TechMission provides hosting for the CCDA website as well as assisting in membership management.

Year	Budget	Staff at HQ**	Staff at Sites**
2002*	$136,354	4	0
2003	$306,438	7	1
2004	$597,881	8	7
2005	$840,245	12	20
2006	$1,015,524	16	20
2007	$1,191,483	17	30
2008	$1,301,295	19	35