Transforming a community through collaboration

One of my personal goals for 2006-2007 is to gather churches/organizations from particular geographic areas that have a desire to address issues within their community. Please be in prayer in ways this might be done. Below is something I put together some time ago. Please feel free to leave comments. Jeff

Ways of Engaging with the Community

Community Service

(Stream one of Kokomo Urban Outreach Vision)

Caring services or activities are provided to those who want them; receivers use what is offered, without having been directly involved in shaping or delivering those services.

Positives

• Provides services for those in need
• helps people to cope with their present circumstances
• good in crisis situation
• possibly of working with other organizations where there are common goals
• more opportunity to share Christian faith
• clear identification of who is providing the services

Negatives

• tends to focus on effects rather than root causes of problems
• can create over- dependence on the helper
• can leave the cause of problems unaffected

Community Action (Stream two of Kokomo Urban Outreach Vision)

Collaborates more directly with local individuals, churches and other organizations to plan and deliver a focused caring in some way or to tackle more immediate needs through cooperation.

Positives

• addresses issues that directly effect an identified segment of the population
• organizes many groups to work on issues or provide services
• more responsive to "real" local needs
• helps people work together for lasting improvement of quality of life in the community
  

Negatives

• Sometimes more focused on tasks to be done
• Can be short term that does bring change but often is not followed up adequately
• More difficult to share Christian Faith

Community Transformation (Stream Four of Kokomo Urban Outreach Vision)

Works to organize local people to take responsibly for and act in response to perceived local social needs or issues.

Positives

• Draws agenda from people's immediate experiences and needs, not from the perceptions of need by others
• Helps people discover their own and the community's resources, using discovered resources to address issues at hand
• Enables people to take control over their own lives and to participate in the making of decisions which affect them
• Provides possibility of long term change within the community
• New community leaders can incorporate community service and community action within their new group--serving others in the community
• Helps by focusing on community relationships

Negatives

• Issues can arise around how much of the Christian faith can be shared

Secondary Vision

I envision churches and organizations to cooperate and collaborate with one another to address community issues.

"The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body..."
1 Corinthians 1:12-13

Positive Ideas for Cooperation and Collaboration

Local Churches/organizations

• looks beyond the activity of any one congregation
• consider the church as the whole body of Christ across a city or neighborhood.
• move from information sharing to collaboration and problem solving
  

Potential

• the church is the largest voluntary organization in Kokomo
• the church is full of people who are willing to give up their free time to serve their community
• church members are already involved in a large number of community projects
• there is a great deal of resources available for community outreach, not only people, but finances too

When there is unity among churches

There is improved and renewed relationships with:

• God
• the wider community
• other Christians

Let me know what you think....