Join seasoned CCD practitioners to cultivate your understanding of CCD philosophy and expand your community. Bring to the table those hard questions and issues you are wrestling with CCD in your context. Engage and meet new CCDA family to find solutions together. Go deeper with CCD’s 8 Key Components! This series is FREE for members!
Registration
Grab your bundled registration by clicking the Registration button above to attend the 2025 Philosophy & Community series! Bundle registrations help you save on overall cost for the series and are available only through January 7, 2025.
Speaker announcements and individual class registrations are coming in November!
Schedule
January 8, 2025 – 1pm-2pm EST
Christian Community Development affirms the dignity of individuals and collaborates with neighbors to leverage community resources and assets to bring about sustainable change. Too often communities are developed by outsiders that bring in resources without taking into account the people who live in our communities. Christian Community Development 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.
January 15, 2025 – 1pm-2pm EST
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 thy neighbor (Mt 22:37-39). Christian Community Development is committed to seeing people and communities experience God’s shalom. We believe that God wants to restore a right relationship between us, our families and our communities – spiritually, emotionally, physically, economically, and socially. In the words of the Prophet Jeremiah, “we work and pray for the well-being of our city [or neighborhood],” trusting that if the entire community does well and prospers, then we will prosper also.
January 22, 2025 – 1pm-2pm EST
At the heart of Christian Community Development 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. The greatest sustaining power of community development is the community building of a local church. Christian community is based on people living in the community and having a local church to worship together. It is the church where people gather to be rejuvenated and have their personal needs met. The church helps people to understand that each person has gifts and talents and all must utilize those for the greater good of the community. A worshipping church breaks down many of the barriers including racial, educational and cultural barriers that often separate people in communities.
January 29, 2025 – 1pm-2pm EST
Living out the gospel means sharing in the joy, suffering, and pain of my neighbors. Sharing life happens through ministry of presence. In other words, sharing life happens when you practice being an active participant in the community in which you work and serve. This sharing of life can happen whether you are a lifetime resident, a returner to your community or a newcomer to the community. How did Jesus love? “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (Jn 1:14) Jesus relocated. He became one of us. He dwelt among the people and embodied a ministry of presence.
February 5, 2025 – 1pm-2pm EST
Christian Community Development restores, empowers, develops, and creates opportunities for leadership. As CCD practitioners, we desire to help develop citizens of the Beloved community and not just clients of our programs. The core of leadership development is identifying, mentoring, retaining, and getting out of the way of leaders already in our communities. For CCD ministries, developing leaders from the community is a huge priority that requires absolute commitment; the payoff is that our communities will be filled with strong Christian leaders who love their neighbors, and have the skills and abilities to lead our churches, organizations and other institutions that bring sustainable health to our communities.
February 12, 2025 – 1pm-2pm EST
Christian Community Development desires to see Christ’s love and the Church 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 flourish.
February 19, 2025 – 1pm-2pm EST
Christian Community Development focuses on recognizing and creating conducive environments in which we—individuals, churches, and communities—rely on the power of the Holy Spirit, understand our own gifts and resources, and work together with our neighbors in their gifts and resources for the development of our community. Often times, Christian ministry, particularly in marginalized and low-status communities, creates dependency. The Bible teaches empowerment, not dependency. All people have inherited dignity by being created in the image of God. Many times, charity demeans a person and strips him or her of dignity. 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.
February 26, 2024 – 1pm-2pm EST
Redistribution means creating equal access to resources, power, and opportunity for all humanity. When God’s people commit to living in marginalized and low-status communities, seek to be good neighbors, exemplify what it means to be a follower of Christ, work for justice for the entire community and utilize resources to address the problems of the community alongside their neighbors, then redistribution is being practiced. A lifestyle of redistribution confronts the unjust distribution of our economic, social, educational, and relational resources. It breaks down our systems of poverty & oppression and decreases the economic disparity in our communities. As a result, our communities are able to flourish with the resources they need to do so.
FAQ
How do I register for classes?
Register for classes with a bundle or individually at ccda.org/events
What is included in the Philosophy & Community series?
- Eight classes of 1 hour sessions of facilitated learning and community building
- Go deeper and learn about CCD’s 8 Key Components
- The opportunity to bring to the table those hard questions and issues you are wrestling with CCD in your community
- Engage and meet new CCDA family to find solutions together
Who is this course for?
Anyone interested in going deeper in their CCD Philosophy understanding and expanding their CCDA family and community.
Other questions?
Contact Mary Beth at marybeth@ccda.org
Not a member? Join the CCDA Family
Membership has always been a way for us to accomplish our mission and vision. We want you to succeed in your work, so we created a structure that will sustain our work of strengthening individuals and organizations just like you. We are constantly striving to update and scale the resources available to our members so that you have the tools you need to complete the good work to which God has called you.