Vital Signs

Congregational-Based Community Organizing - A Resource For Congregational and Community Renewal!

There has been a lot of bad press lately about community organizing work due to a few bad apples being reported.  For some folks, in their minds it seems that anyone who is associated with congregational based community organizing is somewhat evil or corrupt.   If we were to apply this same reasoning to the few bad apples who took the lending industry and our economy down or for the few clergy who have committed serious offense against their congregations, do we dare conclude that all who are associated with the church or lending industry are somewhat corrupt or evil?

The Presbyterian Church (USA) has been engaged with community organizing/congregational-based organizing work for over 50 years.   There are many Presbyterian Church (USA) congregations across the country who are engaged with their local congregation-based community organizations working faithfully to transform their congregations and communities.

One example of this is Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church that is active with Pittsburgh Interfaith Impact Network (PIIN).  Check out this story from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about Grace Memorial Church 's partnership with PIIN to transform and build up their community -

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09244/994597-53.stm

 

 

Building Relationships

The following quote comes from a recent article from the Emerging Leadership initiative - "Out of the Culture:  A Process for Starting New Churches" -

"The first thing you must do to start a church out of the culture is build relationships - it's imperative.  Incarnational ministry has become one of the many labels in the 21st century American church - it's one an out of the culture church would wear proudly because incarnational ministry demands relationship.  The first thing a leader or group of people must do if they hope to make disciples in postmodern, post-Christian groups is build relationships.  These are not casual relationships; these are real life, share life with one another kinds of friendships. Church planters and their teams must pour themselves into people in their neighborhood, at the coffee shop, at work, on their teams or in their clubs.  Where they find open doors, they must forge friendships by opening their homes and intentionally and regularly doing life with the people they meet.  If your friends are not becoming the church you're starting, something is very wrong."

Reaching out with one's community and building relationships with one's neighbors are also key steps with the congregational redevelopment/renewal process.  Having a 1,000 friends on your Facebook or 1,000 followers on your tweeter network do not necessarily build deep and transforming relationships. 

So it is important whether you are doing new church development or church transformation work that you get out of your car, hit the streets and go out and meet and talk with your neighbors!