by A Life That Helped Shape the Christian Community Development Movement
There are not enough words to express our appreciation for Dr. John M. Perkins and the ways he helped birth, shape, encourage, fight for, and love the CCDA community.
Dr. Perkins was not only a teacher of Christian Community Development; he was one of the people who lived it first. Long before the philosophy had a name or an association, he was practicing the kind of incarnational ministry that would come to shape the movement: loving neighbors, building ministries in marginalized communities, and proclaiming a Gospel that brings reconciliation, justice, and restoration.
Dr. Perkins was born in 1930 to a sharecropper family in New Hebron, Mississippi. His life was marked by both suffering and profound faith. After experiencing significant family challenges in his early years of life and growing up as a Black man in the pre-Civil Rights era South, he deeply understood what it meant to live at the margins. In 1957, Dr. Perkins met Jesus, and that encounter changed the direction of his life. Just a few years later, he returned to Mississippi, the very place he once vowed never to return, to share the good news of Jesus and to walk alongside people and communities facing poverty and injustice.
From those early years forward, Dr. Perkins embodied the costly discipleship he often preached. His commitment to the Gospel and to civil rights led to harassment, imprisonment, and brutal beatings. This suffering not only affected him, but his family as well. Despite this, they continued to proclaim that Jesus is already found at the margins, and that reconciliation and justice are inseparable from the message of Christ.
Together with his wife (Dr. Vera Mae Perkins), their family, and many friends in CCDA, he helped establish numerous ministries that continue to serve communities today. These organizations reflected his deep conviction that the Gospel addresses the whole person and the whole community.
The Beginnings of CCDA
In 1989, Dr. Perkins joined with a group of Christian leaders who shared a common commitment: to live out the love of Christ in marginalized communities, not from a distance, but in proximity, and as neighbors. They believed that Jesus was already at work in their neighborhoods, that their neighbors had strengths and gifts that the Body of Christ needed, and that collectively, we could know a fuller picture of God and the Body of Christ.
From those conversations and convictions, the Christian Community Development Association was born.
From the beginning, CCDA was never the work of one person. It was and is a collective mission and practice carried by many founders, practitioners, pastors, and community leaders across the country. Yet it is impossible to tell the story of CCDA without acknowledging the profound influence of Dr. Perkins. His life gave language, credibility, and prophetic clarity to what many were already sensing: that the Church must move toward the margins and embody the reconciling love of Christ in tangible ways.
For decades, Dr. Perkins gave himself generously to this association. He preached, taught, mentored, challenged, and encouraged countless leaders who would go on to start churches, community development organizations, health clinics, schools, and neighborhood ministries across the nation and around the world. Many within CCDA can trace their own calling to a conversation, a sermon, a book, or a quiet word of encouragement from him.
He was a prophetic voice long before such conversations were widely welcomed. Dr. Perkins called the Church to pursue racial reconciliation, to stand with the poor, and to proclaim a Gospel that transforms hearts, relationships, and systems. He reminded us that Christian Community Development is not simply a strategy—it is a way of life rooted in following Jesus.
The Legacy of Dr. Perkins
Dr. Perkins received many honors, including numerous honorary doctorates and national recognition, yet still remained deeply grounded in local ministry and faithful relationships. His life was marked not only by bold public witness but also by deep friendships and a quiet, steady commitment to walking alongside others. Many of us remember moments of feeling seen and known by Dr. Perkins—that somehow he believed in us… and that we, too, could love our neighbors on the margins.
His legacy will continue through the ministries he helped shape: through the work of the John & Vera Mae Perkins Foundation, CCDA, and the countless people, leaders, and communities shaped by his example. Undoubtedly, CCDA continues today to seek shalom for our neighbors and communities, building on a shared vision that Dr. Perkins and his family helped nurture within this movement.
Within CCDA, his influence lives on every time a church and organization is a good neighbor in their community, every time a community leader chooses reconciliation over division, every time a person witnesses Jesus at the margins and testifies about it, and every time believers commit themselves to the slow, faithful work of loving their neighborhood.
We give thanks for Dr. Perkins’ life—for his courage, his faithfulness, and his enduring witness to the reconciling power of Jesus Christ.
May we continue the work with the same humility, conviction, and hope that marked his life.
Honoring Dr. Perkins’ Legacy
In lieu of flowers, the Perkins family invites those who have been impacted by Dr. Perkins’ life and ministry to honor his legacy by supporting the ongoing work of the John & Vera Mae Perkins Foundation.
For many years, Dr. Perkins poured his life into raising up the next generation of leaders who would pursue justice, embody reconciliation, and proclaim the hope of Christ in their communities. Continuing that work is one of the most meaningful ways we can honor his life.
We especially encourage those who have been blessed by his teaching, mentorship, or friendship to consider making a gift in his memory.
To contribute, please visit jvmpf.org/donate and select “John M. Perkins Memorial.”
Remembering Dr. John Perkins Together
We are gathering stories, memories, and reflections from across the CCDA community as we honor the life and legacy of Dr. John M. Perkins. Dr. Perkins shaped countless lives, ministries, and communities, and we want to create space for our association to remember, give thanks, and reflect on the impact of his witness together.
If you have a story, memory, photo, video, or brief reflection you would like to share, we invite you to submit it through this form. These submissions will help us celebrate Dr. Perkins’ life and the movement he helped nurture. Some reflections may also be shared with the Perkins family as part of honoring his life. Thank you for helping us remember and give thanks for the gift of Dr. Perkins’ life and leadership.
Dr. Perkins Memorial Service
The Homegoing Celebration will take place on Saturday, March 21, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. CT. The service will be livestreamed.
