ccd...a way of being the Church

I think what was impressed upon me the most at the Christian Community Development Association Conference this year is that not only am I working with others to spark and create a model of Christian Community Development in our community, but I am also working within an established church to create a culture of Christian Community Development within it.

At  the conference, I listened to Noel Castellanos speak of Ezra-Nehemiah partnerships, and how these kind of partnerships are so effective in Christian Community Development.  You've got the priest/pastor (Ezra) who comes into a neighborhood and says, "We've got to plant a church and disciple people, train and equip the saints, reconcile people to God and one another in Jesus Christ."  And you've got the community developers (Nehemiah) who go into the same neighborhood and say, "Oh my goodness, look at the housing, where are the jobs?, there's no park in this neighborhood, and what about education?!"  The two of them leading and working together are a powerful combination.  But there are very few models of this happening in communities throughout the U.S.

I think that what is largely happening in many American churches is that the Ezras are working hard to train the saints in individual faith and character development....marriage and parent training, financial coaching, overcoming addiction, getting into the Word of God, etc... All so needed as we seek to become individually more whole in Christ.  However, Ezras are not spending much time talking about God's heart for the city and our collective call  in the city.  And when they do, our churches tend to be so homogenous that the collective work being done is often a paternalistic effort rather than an effort grounded in mutuality and reconciliation across social and ethnic divides.

Therefore the combined work needed in both my church and city is an only God can kind of journey.  It's a journey that can't be done in a program, in a year, or in isolation.  It's a journey of action, but it's also a journey of reflection and repentance, a journey of seeing  and being the Church differently than the typical American Christianity mindset.

I think that's why I love going to CCDA conferences.  I experience the whole Gospel for the whole world there like nowhere else!