In our era we are facing a tremendous problem. The most important ingredient for community transformation is leadership. Yet most ministries do not have an intentional process to grow leaders. Solid leadership within an urban ministry organization is critical for sustainability. In this course, Alvin Sanders will address the challenges of developing indigenous urban leaders. […]
Some pains stay with us and do not get healed. These pains can be physical, mental, spiritual, or emotional. Such chronic pains may take a lifetime to address. Despite our desire to resolve pain quickly, we eventually realize that we may have to find a way to live with chronic pains. Joyce del Rosario teaches […]
Pollution, climate change, and environmental injustice represent existential threats to our communities and to the gospel. These growing threats disproportionately impact low-income neighborhoods and communities of color throughout the United States. Environmental injustice still receives relatively little attention from Christians, however. Kyle Meyaard-Schaap teaches us that one of the greatest ways to demonstrate love for […]
The work of reconciliation begins by understanding that all of humanity has been created in the image of God. Furthermore, being made in the image of God means that humanity has the responsibility to care for God’s creation. Harper helps us recognize this responsibility and teaches us that when we declare war on our neighbors […]
Amy Williams reminds Christians to think soberly about their position in the work of Christian community development. As Christian community developers, we acknowledge that we are joining in work that God started before our arrival and that God will continue after our departure. As a result, we reject the tendency to see people as personal […]
Too often, our efforts to promote reconciliation in our local community starts with conversations about the types of programs we should begin. Pastor Jin Kim reminds us that the ministry of reconciliation begins with simply viewing others as being made in the image of God. Additionally, the ministry of reconciliation requires each of us to […]
The push for data informed decision making can feel overwhelming to teachers, students, administrators, and parents alike. Sometimes, it feels as if the administrative requirements around data collection and reporting get in the way of our primary mission, educating and caring for children. Sunny Sue Chang Jonas teaches us that data should be viewed as […]
In this sermon Adriana Mondragon-Hill shares a portion of her story as an immigrant to the United States. She describes the shame and guilt she once felt. For a long time her self-image was low because of the many disparaging comments she received from others. A turning point in her life occurred while she was […]
Psalm 1 encourages us to be as trees planted by streams of water because they yield their fruit in season, and their leaves do not wither. Enid Almanzar reminds us that these benefits are conditional on the tree being rooted near living water and not toxic and tainted water. Similarly, as CCD practitioners we must […]
For generations individuals have banded together to fight against the broken and inequitable systems of their day. Unfortunately, those systems continue to rebuild themselves into new systems that are as evil and insidious as the torn down system they replace. Soong-Chan Rah teaches us that these systems of evil continue to re-emerge because we have […]
John Wesley’s 18th century evangelistic movement developed more than 200,000 committed Christ-followers who changed the face of England and transformed the world. Wesley’s disciple-making methods are often mimicked but rarely understood. They are too often mistaken for simple church-growth methods rather than a Biblical model for holistic transformation. In this course, Dr. Kwesi Kamau guides […]
The primary mission of every Christian is to love God and to love neighbors. Unfortunately, many seminaries ignore training church leaders on how to guide their congregations in engaging their local community. In this course, Zac Martin helps to fill this training gap by teaching church leaders how to guide their congregation in fulfilling this […]
