by Christian Community Development Association has existed for nearly 40 years, seeking to empower, equip, and inspire Christians to work toward the flourishing of their neighborhoods. People from all over the U.S. and the world have joined this association and are partnering with God and their neighbors to seek shalom together.
At the heart of Christian Community Development is the CCD Philosophy. CCDA founders and pioneers Wayne (Coach) Gordon and John Perkins share about the philosophy in their book Making Neighborhoods Whole.
The philosophy known as Christian community development was not developed in a classroom. These biblical, practical principles evolved from years of living and working among the poor. John first developed this philosophy in Mississippi; since that time over a thousand communities around the United States and abroad have benefited from the concept.
Christian community development has eight essential components that have evolved over forty years. The first three are based on John’s three R’s of community development: relocation, reconciliation and redistribution. The rest have been developed by many Christians working together and dialoguing extensively to find ways to rebuild poor neighborhoods. (p.45)
The CCD Philosophy
These eight key components work together and build upon one another to help our neighborhoods flourish.
Reconciliation
Reconciliation is the essence of shalom—restoring relationships where nothing is missing and nothing is broken.
Jesus said that the essence of Christianity could be summed up in two inseparable commandments: Love God, and love your neighbor (Mt 22:37-39). CCD practitioners are committed to seeing people and communities experience God’s shalom.
Redistribution
Redistribution means creating equal access to resources, power, and opportunity for all people.
A lifestyle of redistribution confronts the unjust distribution of economic, social, educational, and relational resources. It reduces economic disparity in our communities and, as a result, our communities are able to flourish with the resources they need.
Relocation
Living out the gospel means sharing in the joy, suffering, and pain of our neighbors. Sharing life happens through the ministry of presence.
Sharing life happens when we practice being active participants in the community in which we live, work, and serve. This can happen whether we are a lifetime resident, a returner to our community, or a newcomer to the community.
Leadership Development
The core of leadership development is identifying, mentoring, retaining, and getting out of the way of leaders already in our communities. Christian Community Development restores, empowers, develops, and creates opportunities for leadership.
Empowerment
The principle of empowerment affirms a person’s God-given dignity and allows that person to use their giftings to contribute to the flourishing of the community.
CCD focuses on recognizing and creating conducive environments in which we rely on the power of the Holy Spirit, understand our own gifts and resources, and work together with our neighbors for the development of our community.
Church-Based
At the heart of CCD is the church, the body of Christ, fully engaged in the process of transformation.
The church is uniquely equipped to affirm the dignity, gifts, and skills of individuals and communities. CCD sees taking action as the role of the church in working toward the development of its community.
Listening to the Community
Christian Community Development affirms the dignity of individuals and collaborates with neighbors to leverage community resources to bring about sustainable change.
CCD practitioners are committed to listening to their neighbors and hearing their dreams, ideas, and thoughts. By actively listening, we can identify community assets, opportunities, and needs and then cultivate, implement, and benefit from a shared vision for our community.
Wholistic Approach
Christian Community Development desires to see Christ’s love integrated into every aspect of life, engaging in the spiritual, social, economic, political, cultural, emotional, physical, moral, educational, and family dynamics of an individual and community in order to bring about community flourishing.
The CCD Philosophy in Practice
For decades, Christian Community Development practitioners have been applying these eight components to their lives and communities. The CCD philosophy isn’t a rigid set of structures or a magic formula. Instead, the CCD philosophy is a framework that was developed by people dedicated to loving God and their neighbors.
We hope you are encouraged and inspired to take a next step in applying these components in your life. And together, let’s see our communities flourish!
The Christian Community Development (CCD) philosophy is not a concept developed in a classroom, or formulated by people foreign to marginalized and low-status communities. Rather, CCDA pioneer, Dr. John Perkins, first developed this philosophy while working with his neighbors in Mississippi.
With God and Our Neighbors is a short devotional that connects Scripture with reflections from CCD practitioners. We are grateful to everyone who contributed to this and hope that you are inspired as you live out the eight key components of the CCD philosophy in your neighborhood.
