Church of the Promise

Reconciliation is the essence of shalom—restoring relationships where nothing is missing and nothing is broken.

Jesus said that the essence of Christianity could be summed up in two inseparable commandments: Love God, and love thy neighbor (Mt 22:37-39). Christian Community Development is committed to seeing people and communities experience God’s shalom. We believe that God wants to restore a right relationship between us, our families and our communities – spiritually, emotionally, physically, economically, and socially. In the words of the Prophet Jeremiah, “we work and pray for the well-being of our city [or neighborhood],” trusting that if the entire community does well and prospers, then we will prosper also.

A relationship with Christ is a part of Christian Community Development. It is recognized that the answer is not just a job or a decent place to live but having a true relationship with Jesus Christ. In addition, the gospel is wholistic. It responds to people as whole people; it does not single out just spiritual or just physical needs and speak to those. Christian Community Development begins with people transformed by the love of God, who then respond to God’s call to share about that love and engage in social action, economic development, and justice. Together, we then holistically engage with Christ in the process of transformation to see our communities flourish.

Living out the gospel means sharing in the joy, suffering, and pain of my neighbors. Sharing life happens through ministry of presence. In other words, sharing life happens when you practice being an active participant in the community in which you work and serve. This sharing of life can happen whether you are a lifetime resident, a returner to your community or a newcomer to the community.

How did Jesus love? “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (Jn 1:14) Jesus relocated. He became one of us. He dwelt among the people and embodied a ministry of presence.

By relocating, we work to develop and invest in our communities without displacing our neighbors. We work for and share the benefits of the community with our neighbors. Relocation transforms “you, them, and theirs” to “we, us, and ours.” Effective ministries nurture communities of believers that have a shared stake in the development of their neighborhoods.

Relocation is community based in the very essence of the word. There are three kinds of people who live in the community. First, “relocators” are people who were not born there but moved into the neighborhood. Second, are the “returners.” These are the people who come back to a community after an extended time living elsewhere. Third, the “remainers” have continued living in the neighborhood without any extended time living somewhere else. Together, “relocators,” “returners,” and “remainers” invest in their shared home in order to see their community flourish.

Redistribution means creating equal access to resources, power, and opportunity for all humanity. When God’s people commit to living in marginalized and low-status communities, seek to be good neighbors, exemplify what it means to be a follower of Christ, work for justice for the entire community and utilize resources to address the problems of the community alongside their neighbors, then redistribution is being practiced.

A lifestyle of redistribution confronts the unjust distribution of our economic, social, educational, and relational resources. It breaks down our systems of poverty & oppression and decreases the economic disparity in our communities. As a result, our communities are able to flourish with the resources they need to do so.

The core of leadership development is identifying, mentoring, retaining, and getting out of the way of leaders already in our communities. Christian Community Development restores, empowers, develops, and creates opportunities for leadership. As CCD practitioners, we desire to help develop citizens of the Beloved community and not just clients of our programs.

At the center of the leadership vacuum in marginalized and low-status communities is leadership and talent attrition. Too often, success is defined as being able to move out of marginalized and low-status communities, rather than remaining there. As a result, these communities may experience major drain on their local leadership talent.

For CCD ministries, developing leaders from the community is a huge priority that requires absolute commitment; the payoff is that our communities will be filled with strong Christian leaders who love their neighbors, and have the skills and abilities to lead our churches, organizations and other institutions that bring sustainable health to our communities.

Christian Community Development focuses on recognizing and creating conducive environments in which we—individuals, churches, and communities—rely on the power of the Holy Spirit, understand our own gifts and resources, and work together with our neighbors in their gifts and resources for the development of our community.

Often times, Christian ministry, particularly in marginalized and low-status communities, creates dependency. The Bible teaches empowerment, not dependency. All people have inherited dignity by being created in the image of God. Many times, charity demeans a person and strips him or her of dignity. The principle of empowerment affirms a person’s God-given dignity and allows that person to use their giftings to contribute to the flourishing of the community.

Christian Community Development desires to see Christ’s love and the Church integrated into every aspect of life—engaging in the spiritual, social, economic, political, cultural, emotional, physical, moral, educational, and family dynamics of an individual and community in order to bring about community flourish.

Christian Community Development affirms the dignity of individuals and collaborates with neighbors to leverage community resources and assets to bring about sustainable change. Too often communities are developed by outsiders that bring in resources without taking into account the people who live in our communities. Christian Community Development practitioners are committed to listening to their neighbors and hearing their dreams, ideas and thoughts. By actively listening, we can identify community assets, opportunities, and needs and then cultivate, implement and benefit from a shared vision for our community. 

When practicing Christian Community Development, it is important not to focus on the weaknesses or needs of a community. Rather, the priority should be the thoughts and dreams of the community itself and what the community members believe should be the focus. Asset-based community development (ABCD) focuses on identifying the assets of a community and then building upon them. When fused together with Christian Community Development, ABCD can have extremely positive results.

In Christian Community Development, it is the community members themselves that decide on areas for growth. After a community has decided where to focus attention, they then collaborate to determine the means with which they themselves can bring about this desired growth. Christian Community Development practitioners ask, what qualities, talents, and abilities does my community have that can help promote community growth? Their focus is on community members seeing themselves as assets and as part of the solution to community challenges.

At the heart of Christian Community Development is the church, the body of Christ, fully engaged in the process of transformation.  The church is uniquely equipped to affirm the dignity, gifts, and skills of individuals and communities. 

One problem today has been that the church is not involved in developing its communities. Often, the church has been an unfriendly neighbor in communities across our country. Churches are guilty of being open only on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights and being almost irrelevant to the needs of the people around them.  Christian Community Development sees taking action as the role of the church in working towards the development of its community.

It is the responsibility of the church to evangelize, disciple and nurture people in the Kingdom. Yet, from the command of Jesus, it is also the responsibility of the church to love their neighbor and their neighborhood. Churches should be seen as lovers of their community and neighborhoods. It is out of the church body that ideas and programs should emerge.

Lastly, probably the greatest sustaining power of community development is the community building of a local church. Christian community is based on people living in the community and having a local church to worship together. It is the church where people gather to be rejuvenated and have their personal needs met. The church helps people to understand that each person has gifts and talents and all must utilize those for the greater good of the community. A worshipping church breaks down many of the barriers including racial, educational and cultural barriers that often separate people in communities.