Trend: Community Developers Form Association

The recent formation of the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) reflects the growing acceptance of a somewhat new style of thinking on how the church should meet its obligation to the poor. In essence, the community-development concept stresses providing the poor a way out of the cycle of poverty instead of giving a handout.

Said William “Bud” Ipema, president of the Chicago-based MidAmerica Leadership Foundation, “In a sense, [the concept] is as old as Christ’s inauguration of his ministry in Luke 4:18–19. But in this century we have seen a separation of community and church interests.”

A Closer Look at the Poor

Dolphus Weary is president of Mendenhall Ministries in Mendenhall, Mississippi, a model of rural Christian community development. The ministry was founded in 1962 by John Perkins as Voice of Calvary, and took on its current name in 1981. Weary spoke with CHRISTIANITY TODAY about some of the issues and goals facing community-development ministries.

What are the major challenges facing ministries such as yours?

The biggest one is to get people to think harder about the poor in this country. A lot of people think it’s okay to build a hospital or a clinic or a school in a foreign country. But when we start talking about doing it here, it’s a foreign thought.

Why is that?

It probably has to do with the American mentality that says we have all the answers, and we are the ones trying to correct the problems in the rest of the world. We don’t want to confess that we have problems right in our own back yard. This mentality has permeated the Christian community. We are sometimes embarrassed when we hear about other countries sending missionaries to America.

What can be done about this?

All that can be done is to re-educate people, to challenge them to rethink the situation, and to do something about it. It’s a slow process, but it is happening. The formation of the [Christian Community Development] association represents recognition of the problem and the will to do something.

What do you know now about forming a community-development ministry that you wish you had known when you got started?

We started as a Christian organization, not closely linked with a church. I strongly advise churches in communities to become involved in community-development ministries. At the very least, ministries should be identified with a church. The church needs to own the vision of reaching out and loving communities wholistically.

This way, you have a whole community of people committed to the cause, not just a few. And this ensures there will always be a spiritual dimension to the ministry. Christian organizations in dealing with practical problems can lose perspective. The church enables you to maintain the central focus of carrying the gospel everywhere.

Certainly there are success stories. But what is the success rate? Don’t the majority of people who frequent ministries to the poor end up back on the street?

Maybe so. So let’s look at minorities rather than majorities. And measure change in inches, not feet. We have had over 200 young people come through our leadership-development ministry. Ninety percent of them have gone on to be successful. By that I mean people who went to college or to trade school and now have meaningful employment who otherwise probably would have gone nowhere.

As far as those touched by community-development ministries, what is considered successful? Ten percent? Fifteen? All I know is that I’ve gone to board meetings of community-development ministries. And some of the people serving on those boards were drug addicts or bums on the street six years ago. People do change.

Ipema identified two different contemporary models of church development: the “regional church” model, which draws people out of the communities in which they live to a common worship experience; and the community-development concept, which seeks to bring the church to the communities.

According to Ipema, most community-development ministries have sprung up in the last decade or so. He noted that the increase in leadership foundations across the nation (there are now 16) documents the trend. These foundations, usually urban based, support in various ways churches attempting to minister in their own communities.

Those involved in community development generally credit John Perkins with pioneering the first contemporary model from an evangelical perspective. Perkins in 1962 began Voice of Calvary in Jackson, Mississippi. For Perkins, who was elected chairman of the board of CCDA at its founding conference in Chicago, the association represents the fulfillment of a 30-year goal. He said, “We’re not forming the CCDA to patronize the poor, organize a protest, or go over the facts of poverty again. We’re not trying to help the poor get more out of welfare, but to put an end to welfare.”

According to its statement, the association’s essential purpose is to “mobilize spiritual and physical resources in and for communities of need through the Church.” Cynder Baptista, senior administrator of CCDA, noted that the association regards evangelism and social work as inseparable.

Baptista said community development ministries attempt to enable individuals and families become self-sufficient by providing whatever is needed—education, child care, legal advice, job training, counseling—all within the context of biblical values.

The CCDA’s activities will include producing a newsletter, sponsoring seminars, and establishing regional training centers for classroom education and practical experience in community development ministry. In part, this will enable various ministries to exchange practical advice in such areas as how to establish a children’s ministry, to deal sensitively with potentially dangerous people, to determine when the ministry is being exploited, and how to enlist suburban churches in the effort.

More than 150 ministries, including churches, are in the process of joining the CCDA, said Baptista. Membership is also open to individuals, educational institutions, and supporting organizations that are not themselves active in ministry to the poor.

By Randy Frame.

Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here.