Faith-Based Organizing

A Congregational Planning Resource for Addressing Poverty

Charles Fredrickson, Violetta Lien, Herbert E. Palmer

• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781506470153
• eBook ISBN: 9781506472751
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Church

Faith-Based Organizing: A Congregational Planning Resource for Addressing Poverty was prepared specifically for pastors and lay leaders who want to invite their whole congregations to engage in faith-based community organizing to address poverty and its root causes. This practical resource will help them grow in their understanding and motivate them into action. It will also be useful for denominational and judicatory leaders who feel called to lead the church in mission.

The authors share the fruits of what they discovered--through both their successes and errors--about community life inside and outside the church. They make a strong case that people of faith can address and overcome poverty, because they have what is needed to do so. They identify the available resources in the local church and offer tools for building relationships with leaders in a local community where there are people in poverty. They invite congregations to initiate local partnerships that include a congregation, people in poverty, and community leaders to advocate for change that can overcome poverty.

This book presents a faith-based effort seeking to identify what sustains poverty and to organize people to work together to overcome its root causes. The result is collaborative relationships that change systems contributing to poverty. Within this process, new leadership will emerge, relationships will be enriched, and congregations will experience renewed love for people by undergoing transformation.

Includes helpful information on racism and the culture of poverty, as well as numerous forms and activities that can be used by local congregations and planning teams.

I

Congregational Transformation

When a congregation moves from charity to advocacy, everything changes.

Introduction

Poverty is a long-standing wound upon human society. It is time to heal this wound. Through effective partnerships forged in local contexts, faith communities can and should address and overcome many of the root causes of poverty.

The first-century church in Jerusalem believed poverty could be effectively addressed among the people who were part of the faith community: “They would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need” (Acts 2:45). The first-century church had a strategy to care for one another. Although they lived in a different time and context, they recognized the needs of their people required a communal response. Their example can inspire similar ministry in every generation. The church today can adopt a more comprehensive vision by building community partnerships to overcome the root causes of poverty.

Ever since its early beginnings, the church has been charitable by consistently heeding the biblical call to feed the hungry, provide shelter for refugees, visit the sick and imprisoned, and clothe the naked. Even before the time of the church, prophets, speaking on behalf of God, called the community of Israel and those in power to work for justice in response to poverty. Even so, after thousands of years, people in our time still live in poverty.

Charity is necessary. Communities need a safety net to feed, clothe, and house people with inadequate resources. Thank God for the love of people, including those in the church who have for centuries provided such a safety net! Emergency services, however, are not a way out of poverty. Charity does not resolve the root causes of poverty, nor does it empower people caught in the vicious cycle of poverty. What systems sustain or even perpetuate poverty? Why does poverty persist even where congregations are part of a community?

Congregation-Initiated Community-Based Advocacy (CICBA) is a faith-based effort seeking to identify what sustains poverty and organize people to work together to overcome its root causes. This resource is the fruit of a pilot project in the Southwestern Texas (SWT) Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

CICBA has a vision for actively addressing and reducing poverty in Texas, one community at a time. There are congregations in communities across the state. We wondered, What if these congregations were to become familiar with the root causes of poverty in their communities? What if they were to build relationships with people in poverty and form community partnerships to identify local causes of poverty? What if such collaborative groups were to advocate for change with the goal of reducing poverty?

People of faith can address and overcome poverty, because they have what is needed to do so. In what follows, we identify available resources in the church. We also offer tools for building relationships with leaders in a local community where there are people in poverty. We invite congregations to initiate local partnerships that include a congregation, people in poverty, and community leaders to advocate for change that can overcome poverty.

In this resource, we share the fruits of what we have discovered—through both our successes and our errors—about community life inside and outside the church. We describe our work with honesty because we want to convey, as openly as possible, what we have learned. We want congregations to be motivated and effective in addressing and reducing poverty in their communities. We are very hopeful because of what we have seen emerge in congregations in southwestern Texas through intentional and collaborative relationships.

The end results of the CICBA process described in this resource are collaborative relationships established between people in a congregation, people in poverty, and other people or institutions invested in the welfare of a local community who successfully work together to change systems contributing to poverty.

The basic foundations for the CICBA process include

• • recentering one’s faith,
• • building broad relationships,
• • adopting a strategy to move from charity to advocacy,
• • developing awareness of systems that perpetuate poverty, and
• • equipping people with tools for advocacy.

Within this process, new leadership will emerge, relationships will be enriched, and congregations will experience renewed love for people in their community as they undergo a transformation.

Although the CICBA pilot began in Texas, we are keenly aware that poverty exists throughout our country. We believe what we are sharing can be helpful to any faith community willing to address the root causes of poverty. Thus we have prepared it specifically for pastors and lay leaders who want to invite their congregations to engage in faith-based community organizing. This resource will help them grow in their understanding and motivate them into action. It will also be useful for denominational and judicatory leaders who feel called to lead the church in mission.

So why should it matter? A parallel conversation says people in poverty are responsible for taking care of themselves. If that is your sentiment, we are asking you to take the time to read through this resource with an open mind. We hope what we are sharing will stir up a keen sensitivity to why overcoming poverty matters so that you will discover a different outlook toward systems that perpetuate poverty.

We believe addressing and overcoming poverty matters to God. God has a vision for the human community—one that often uses the imagery of a feast in which people from all nations gather around a table where there is enough for all. Another image of God’s future is one of peace. When people live in peace with one another, all have enough.

For anyone interested in exploring theological and biblical foundations for God’s call to advocacy with people in poverty, the CICBA task force highly recommends Faith-Rooted Organizing: Mobilizing the Church in Service to the World.1

Overcoming poverty matters because we share a common humanity with all people. We refer to one another in ways that incorporate experience, culture, education, race, gender identity, and the accumulation of resources. These ways often pinpoint how different or separate people are. The truth is, we are all beloved children of God. We all share a place in God’s creation, and we are united in our humanity.

It matters because we seek to be a society that is invested in the common good, where people have equal access to what gives life and wholeness. In such a society, everyone benefits.

Understanding “why it matters” is just as important as knowing “how to move forward.” It is as essential to spend the time necessary with this resource to understand the “why” as it is to jump into organizing people to work for justice.

Congregation-Initiated Community-Based Advocacy (CICBA)

CICBA was a pilot. A few people came together, believing they were Spirit-led to act on a shared passion. From the very beginning, they embarked on a plan of action.

CICBA invited congregations from different settings and of different sizes. The criteria used to select congregations for the pilot included

1. 1. a history of serving in the community,
2. 2. the pastor’s call to lead the congregation as a public church, and
3. 3. the willingness of a congregation’s leadership to accept CICBA as a partner.

The CICBA task force had the opportunity to work alongside twelve congregations that were grouped in three successive clusters over a period of five years. We called these clusters “generations.” As the task force worked with each successive generation, the workshop preparation was expanded. The workshops, with added content, were expanded over time, but the vision we began with remained. This resource includes an outline of the workshops as a tool for utilizing them in various local contexts. It has been a blessing to know and accompany people from a variety of congregations in this work. We share some of their stories in this document.

CICBA was an experiment with ideas. While none of the ideas is original, they are part of a new process that invites congregations to embark on a path wherein they feel called to love the neighbor and become invested in healing the devastating effects of poverty.

Were We Successful?

How many congregations actually moved from charity to advocacy and saw tangible results in overcoming poverty in their context? All of the pilot congregations embraced the transformation from charity to advocacy, and they all began a process to organize people in the congregation to become more familiar with the community in which their church is located. To date, however, a couple of the pilot congregations have taken steps with their community to advocate together for change. At the same time, all of them in some way have been changed by moving toward advocacy. We do not know how long it takes for a complete transformation. In the case of individuals, consider how long it took for Saul of Tarsus. After he was converted to the Way, it was another twelve years before he emerged ready to assume his calling. The transformation of communities involves a complex engagement with culture, teaching, and power. How long does that take? We have not figured that out. Congregations certainly have tools, passion, and receptivity for transformation. We believe they will continue to grow toward advocacy related to poverty.

The CICBA pilot tested a vision. It has been receptive to change in light of new learnings. The pilot was not a “program” that followed steps and measured results. Instead, the approach was to try things out in a mode of being a public church. In that, we are bold to say we were successful. We have still much to learn about building a consensus in a congregation, developing community partnerships, and taking ownership of the work of advocacy. We hope others will benefit from and build upon the work of CICBA. If so, it will be another successful outcome of the pilot.

The Content of This Resource

This resource has three parts. Part 1 details what is essential for congregations to move from charity to advocacy. Part 2 provides essays and resources for (a) the scope of the CICBA process, (b) developing awareness of deeper issues, and (c) advocacy. Part 3 includes three appendixes that provide summary reports of the CICBA five-year initiative, a glossary, and a bibliography of key resources.

Part 1: Congregational Transformation

Chapter 1: “The Mission of the Congregation.” The mission of the church is to love the world and work for peace. Poverty is a clear symptom that humanity has not loved the world. This chapter identifies areas requiring attention if a congregation wants to move toward a posture of advocacy to overcome poverty in its community.

Chapter 2: “Laying the Groundwork.” Listening is essential for mission and precedes taking action. This chapter develops an understanding and some implications of “three great listenings”—listening to God, listening in a congregation, and listening to a community.

Chapter 3: “Relationships.” Building relationships is important and necessary for advocacy. This chapter provides a blueprint for building relationships and explains why one-to-one relational meetings are essential and how to use them in advocacy.

Chapter 4: “CICBA Training Process.” This is a practical and descriptive examination of elements in the CICBA process and related training. This chapter describes considerations for congregations who are planning to train using the key hands-on tools provided in part 2.

Part 2: Key Supportive Resources

This section includes content essential for the CICBA process. The pilot task force discovered that it was necessary to discuss institutional racism and the culture of poverty. Congregations that are serious about understanding poverty must pay attention to some painful realities in American society.

The important role of pastoral leadership became apparent to the CICBA task force as congregations lived into their transformation. “An Open Letter to Pastoral Leaders,” chapter 5, encourages pastors to claim a call to courageous leadership in what just might be the most important time in a congregation’s history.

Finally, a number of valuable tools used in the training workshops are available in this section. These hands-on resources support the elements listed in chapter 4, “CICBA Training Process.”

Part 3: Appendixes

An independent researcher, Audra Bacon, was retained by the task force to interview and evaluate responses of c...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Part I: Congregational Transformation
• Part II: Key Supportive Resources
• Acknowledgments
• Part III: Appendixes
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• About the Authors