Reimagining Church Outreach

Partnership Paradigms for Social Change

Dr. Sherita K. Parks

• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781685175818
• eBook ISBN: 9781685175825
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Cultural & Social Anthropology
• Index: Social Sciences

Are you a frustrated church or nonprofit leader with years of experience and yet fail to see real change in the lives of those you serve? Do you find yourself discontent with the status quo of how things are done but cannot seem to figure out what changes will really make the difference? Are your staff, partners, and volunteers feeling burnt out and disinterested in the work they once loved? Have your donors lost interest in your vision and failed to see any return on their investment?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, this book is for you. You will learn why your efforts have only afforded you the thrill of seeing immediate, short-term gains. You will learn why many of your efforts fail and how to successfully reset yourself and your leaders to reimagine the way you have always done things. You will understand why your mental models serve as catalytic precursors for transformative social change to occur.

Sherita has a Kairos word for the Body of Christ concerning the failures of outreach and a collaborative and Servant Leadership approach to a solution. Her well-researched, biblically-based manuscript demonstrates that challenges and failures are systemic, and thus the strategy for a transformative solution must collaboratively address the systems.

Sherita addresses the biblical social role of the Church, church leadership, and Body of Christ and demonstrates how Servant Leadership is necessary for bringing about community and social transformation. "Long gone are the days where we could depend on the government to solve all of society's ills. Instead, we, as Christians, must recognize our responsibility to identify and participate in solving the many complex problems of our world." She even presents a case study demonstrating how lives transformed through discipleship can naturally flow into transforming an entire community. This furthers the credibility of the ideas and solutions presented in the manuscript.

The manuscript is framed from a belief of the author: "I believe God is calling His bride to join Him in higher endeavors that not only fill the belly but transform lives by guiding them out of bondage into the freedom of life in Christ Jesus."

Dr. Diane Wiater

Regent University

Dedication

To my husband, James, who somehow always knows what to say, how to pray, and most importantly, what to feed me. I am forever grateful and blessed to have you in my corner, pushing me to go further.

In memory of my father, Reverend Alvin R. Knight, my forever inspiration. And to my beautiful mother, who imparted to me her love for one of God’s greatest creations, music, and people.

Lastly, to my sisters, Amy and Sabrina; my besties, Tracy and Vernicia; and all the organizations who have allowed me to serve and sharpen my giftings for the glory of God.

Preface

As our world’s problems intensify in complexity, we find ourselves in desperate need of leaders with integrity, compassion, and wisdom to envision multidisciplinary approaches to systems change. It is the leader’s responsibility to inspire and help others see the interconnections of the system’s parts and how they help or harm our approach to solving complex problems. Leaders must be able to move beyond feeling the burden to see the possibilities for positive change. We need Christian leaders who hear what God is speaking in this season and will facilitate with the body of Christ to learn and find new ways to unify and develop the assets of marginalized communities so that sustainable transformation can occur. These leaders must have a purpose and focus on changing the current trajectory of society. In his book The Necessary Revolution, Peter Senge asserts that “the more daunting the change necessary, the more sophisticated the collaboration skills must be of those leading the change.”1 Acquiring the right mental model is also important as we pursue lasting change. You may be asking, so what exactly are mental models? The Waters Center for Systems Thinking defines mental models as “the assumptions and beliefs people develop from their experience over time.”2 Because mental models influence how we interpret the world around us, it is important to build a relationship with those we seek to help so that our own experience over time with them will shape our approach to outreach and foster the type of social progress that brings lasting revival among God’s creation. Hackman and Johnson tell us that the ever-shifting demands and complexity of our world today require leaders to change their mental models toward systems thinking and collaboration.3

Divisions among races, ministries, local churches, pastors, political parties, and denominations hinder optimal functionality for churches, especially those seeking to be used as God’s bridge toward social change. This, along with the seemingly never-ending growth of our world’s technology, inequities, global expansion, social dysfunction, judicial demand for change, and political unrest, prompts people to demand a different type of leader and organizational structure. Unfortunately, many leaders do not see the interconnectedness of the systems around them, nor do they understand how singularly focused church outreach efforts unknowingly do more harm than good.

A great disservice is done when we attempt to tackle problems with a partial view of available resources. The Bible speaks of the importance of co-laboring with a living-systems mindset. God designed his kingdom system to be inclusive and diverse. First Corinthians 12:18–26 reads:

But in fact, God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

Often, we fail to see or understand the relevance of including those we serve in the community because we do not fully see them as Christ does. People quickly identify marginalized communities’ needs, but unlike God, we see the glass half empty whereas He sees it half full. We fail to see the human assets, nor do we see the underlying systems that keep these communities marginalized. Some argue, including the author, that Christians don’t look for the many gifts that God has placed within others; we only see deficits, pain, and needs. We often provide charity to alleviate the problem’s symptoms while leaving the root cause untouched. Like the Gentiles, God created us with purpose, belonging, potential, and hope for the future. In Hosea 2:23, the Gentiles received the following prophesy: “I will sow her for Myself in the land I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion, And I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people!’; And they will say, ‘You are my God!’”

The church must be willing to ask the difficult, yet purposeful, questions that bring about Holy Spirit led reflection, collaboration, and lasting solutions. Is the church genuinely providing a service that does not bring harm to those they help? Does our servanthood to the needy bring lasting change that grows and multiplies after we are long gone? Does our giving enable the needy to prosper, or does it create a climate that cripples them? Does God expect us to give without a strategy? Do we have to know a person to understand what they truly need?

The Word tells us that God wants to see His kingdom come on earth, as it is in heaven. This book will argue that most of the church is ill-equipped to serve with a mindset that understands systems and how they work for or against us in our efforts to do good. We will also show how leaders fail to recognize how those systems are interconnected and can sometimes harm the very people with whom we desire to form partnerships. So, while we do “good works,” a different standard is required to see the transformation and revival we need in the world today. This transformation requires vision, resources, collaboration, the inclusion of the “other,” diversity, love, and a new leade...

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