In today’s episode, Pastor Chris Brooks returns to unpack three ways a church can impact the communities they serve: Community Service, Community Development, and Community Empowerment.

You can listen to the audio version here. Here is the video version.

Show notes are below:

Three Levels of Community Engagement

1. Community Service
   1. Resource distribution that our communities lack.
   2. Being able to mobilize our people around a meeting a material need.
   3. Really good thing to do—but doesn’t typically move the needle in terms of getting someone from dependency to self-sufficiency.
2. Community Development
   1. Moves from resource distribution to program development – workforce preparation; housing preparation; educational programs like afterschool programs.
   2. Initiatives are designed to fill gaps in the social welfare of the community we are trying to serve.
   3. How does a church move into community development?
      • Survey your congregation to determine what skillsets exist already.
      • Through partnerships. Resist the pressure to feel you have to create every program.
      • Made to Flourish – An assessment that helps you survey your congregation and track where your church is occupationally.
      • Community Assessment Mapping – Helps you determine what organizations already exist in your community.
   4. Community Empowerment
      1. Who owns the programs is different. Raises up indigenous leaders that the leadership of the program is turned over to.
      2. Sees communities as more than mouths that consume, but minds that create.
      3. Invests in and trains up leaders.
   5. How can a church progress from one level to the next?
      1. Be clear upfront about the goals of our community engagement initiatives.
      2. Read the book, When Helping Hurts.
   6. What kind of leadership development does it take to make progress?
      1. Jesus trained twelve guys He was ultimately going to turn the ministry over to.
      2. Goal: Multi-generational leadership.