Christian community development is beautiful work. It is also costly work. It asks us to pay attention to people and places others have overlooked. It calls us to listen deeply, build trust slowly, confront injustice honestly, and stay rooted when quick fixes would be easier. It invites us to …
Celebrations of Empire Are Not New; We Must Choose Who We Will Worship
A local real estate agent put American flags in our yard last week. We found them after a quick trip to the grocery store. My daughter pulled them up after words that communicated a mix of wonder and disgust. Things that I have said and done taught her to do this. She is a living mirror of my …
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Exploring the CCD Philosophy With the Next Generation
For nearly 40 years, CCDA has been loving God and loving our neighbors. During this time, a philosophy emerged that was grounded in the Christian faith and intended to be practical and contextual. The CCD philosophy is not a concept developed in a classroom or formulated by people foreign to …
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When Proximity Is Not Enough: What Listening Is Teaching Me About Belonging
There is a tension I have been carrying: Proximity does not automatically produce belonging. In Christian Community Development (CCD), we are invited to draw near – to move closer to our neighbors, our communities, and the places we serve. But proximity alone is not enough. Without listening, …
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A Thousand Cups of Coffee: How Strangely Normal Encounters Can Shape You For the Coming Kingdom
“Pursuing commitment over convenience, building bridges not just boundaries, and demonstrating tenacity in the face of relational challenges are countercultural preconditions for the life of togetherness Jesus invites us into.” From The Way Back to One Another by Jeff Galley and Phillip …
A Table in the Dark
My fellow pastor and I pass along the gray walls of our county jail and descend to the bottom floor. Each time I cross this threshold—after handing my badge to the attendant and stretching my arms to be patted down—my body still acts like I’m descending into hostile territory. Here, I’m more …
Beyond the Verdict: Finding Hope and Solidarity After “Still Convicted”
For years, I lived in and out of a system that monetized bondage while prioritizing finality over truth. I came to understand that the system was not searching for the truth but rather for what it could prove—or, more accurately, what I could not prove: my innocence. Without making excuses for …
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Counting the Cost of Reentry
I spent about ten years of my life incarcerated. Not all at once, but in pieces: going in, getting out, and going right back in again. That cycle is something people like to talk about in statistics, but living it is different. It’s not just bad decisions or bad luck—it’s the way the system was …
