Community Engagement - definitions & principles

So having discussed the theological, biblical and practical basis of community engagement in my earlier posts, here are some ways of defining community engagement - between an outward looking church community or a group of missional-thinking Jesus-followers and their respective local neighbourhoods:
(1) where community needs and aspirations meet spiritual faith and resources;
(2) bringing people together (with transformative intent);
(3) entering the rhythms of community life [this one comes from Alan Hirsch];
(4) "playing away" - engaging with people in their own context [Stuart Murray];
(5) people of good faith partnering with people of goodwill around things of common concern.

Now I can list some of the principles of community engagement that I have discovered in my experience and reading:
(1) love your community, and get to know it well by frequenting the various places of gathering and listening to the voices of the neighbourhood;
(2) there are good, motivated and compassionate people working to help others and build community who may not have any church allegiance who we can form partnerships with;
(3) be adventurous and follow the promptings of God in walking through open doors and (gently) knocking on not yet open doors;
(4) imagine what the local community could look like if comprehensive and cohesive contributions were made by committed people;
(5) be truly local by allowing the local neighbourhood to reflect back into the worship of the church;
(6) pray for people and places - Dave Andrews says that community development cannot have value unless prayer is seen as indispensible and central;
(7) walk humbly, share life gently, build relationships patiently, become co-travellers, engage with the agendas of others while discovering gospel connections;
(8) be ready to make practical contributions - large and small, and fully follow through any commitments made (yet "good deeds" are only truly "good" if they are viewed that way by the recipient in terms of what their needs are);
(9) seek to increasingly involve more people to spread the load;
(10) be completely honest about where you are coming from and have no hidden agendas - Steve Addison promotes "medium-tension" activity i.e. fully connecting while remaining a distinct entity that does not deny or lessen one's central focus;
(11) be willing to lose debates without withdrawing, thus embracing consensus decision-making;
(12) watch for signs of manipulation or being boxed into a corner or pushed towards a party parochial position - promote enjoying people rather than using them;
(13) be in a position to always be available as the peace-maker, conflict resolver and reconciler;
(14) relationships forged during community engagement are of great value in and of themselves, irrespective of other outcomes; 
(15) people who experience God's love in the context of community engagement are already embedded in the culture of mutual service and thus well-positioned to serve others;
(16) have a long term view, and continually consider how God may be active.

Enjoy, not use

Another important point raised in the book that I was reading and commenting on last week - "Living without enemies", is that when working and interacting with people, we should carefully guard against 'using' others to meet our own ends, rather than simply 'enjoying' them for their uniqueness and intrinsic worth. I was reminded of this yesterday at the NOVO coaching course I was at, when in being in the role of a 'coachee', I was coached to consider ways of practically avoiding such behaviour in the context of my enthusiastic efforts toward planting our new church in Tarneit. So here are some possible responses: (1) Get to know people well by being interested in what they are interested in and through asking good questions; (2) Seek to forge mutual friendships, not just working relationships; (3) Pray for people's personal daily needs; (4) Listen carefully to what people want to contribute moreso than telling them what you need; (5) Thank people enthusiastically for whatever they are doing to help others.

The Lord's Manifesto

"The Lord's Prayer" is not just a prayer but also a 'manifesto'. Jesus gave us this prayer not just as a pattern for our prayer life, but also as a pattern for all our life. So when we pray to God the words, "Your Kingdom come; Your Will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" ... we better be able to back this up in our actions! As we pray this, we have bought into bringing this desire to reality!! Some of the specific implications of this broad task are brought to light in Jesus adopting a job description first envisioned by Isaiah (Luke 4:16-21 - with of course Isaiah's reference to "vengeance" strategically removed). Here there is the commitment to transform economic circumstances, bring a new freedom to the oppressed, offer new insight to the blind-folded, and see past debts cancelled to open up new future possibilities. With profit we could also go back to a supreme text in the Hebrew Scriptures, Micah 6:6-8, which puts all triviality aside to centre in on what is central and crucial ... doing justice, loving kindness/mercy, walking humbly. James picks this up in his letter (1:27) with reference to the need to care for widows and orphans. So, may our neighbourhoods and communities and society as a whole be transformed through a working commitment to the Lord's manifesto ... Amen????

Being With

Speaking of 'being with' others, as I did in my previous post, this is exactly what God has always done - been with us. God, who is love, and can only claim to be love through being the relational Trinitarian God of Father (Parent), Son (Saviour) and Holy Spirit, has always been committed to travelling with human beings in their journey through life (and death), including, and possibly especially so, through any experience of suffering. If you doubt this, please give the possibility of opening up to God a thought. This is often quite hard to contemplate on your own, so this is an invitation to find a trusted other (who already knows God personally) to guide you into this. As the old Christian traditional belief rightly holds, God loved his human creations (and the whole world) so much, that God ushered his own Son, the epitome of God's own character, into the human environment, to seek to bring about transformation in both individual and communal life (refer John 3:16-17). Jesus himself, in his earthly life, reached out to all, especially to those who had been oppressed and excluded. This is certainly taking a desire to 'be with' seriously. God continues this very day to be on the Divine mission of connecting with people and inviting a relationship.

"Living Without Enemies"

Over the last couple of days I have been reading a wonderful book on pastoral care and community engagement called "Living Without Enemies" by Samuel Wells & Marcia A Owen. This book brilliantly explores concepts of: working for, working with, being with & being for. Many of us start out with understandable concern over certain community issues or lack of services and want to stand in solidarity with those affected ... 'being for'. Then we might be motivated enough to get involved in ways that practically help those in need ... 'working for'. But if we are wise, and we really want to make some long-term difference, we will offer ourselves to be part of a wider movement of human contributions, and facilitate organic grassroots responses, where the effort itself is part of the solution ... 'working with'. As we do this, then, in times of both despair and joy, we will be best placed to simply be with people - in silent solidarity, while closely listening, and deeply praying ... 'being with'. Surely this is the way to conceive of a church making a positive contribution to local community functioning! So those who see things along these lines - please jump on board. There are obviously many personal concerns out there in the Tarneit and Wyndham neighbourhoods - let's hear about these and embrace some transformational possibilites together.  

Wyndham Growth

Wyndham grows at a person an hour

Wyndham Council’s data shows a new resident moves to the municipality each hour. New research undertaken by the council shows the municipality will grow at a rate 24 people per day during the next 12 months. Further information from the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveals more than 12,000 new residents moved to Wyndham in 2010, equating to almost 9% growth rate between 2009 and 2010. Using this data, Wyndham is calling on State and Federal Governments to step up funding for infrastructure to support this growth.

Source: e-West 10.11.2011.

Prayer for Tarneit

Loving God, I pray for the residential area of Tarneit, where so many people already live, and where so many more families will soon move in - where so much community will be built. I pray that Your Spirit will engage with this area, in order that it will be an even greater place to live, and it will be a suburb in which people from a great variety of backgrounds interact well together in peace. I pray that our church planting efforts will be another source of blessing for Tarneit and its residents, and may many people respond to our invitations to be involved. May there be a groundswell of interest in working together to make Tarneit a good place to be, and where people can freely find their God-given potential and hope-filled future. In Jesus wonderful name I pray, Amen!

Community Engagement & Prayer

As community engagement is part of the mission of God it must be saturated in prayer. Without prayer, disappointment and tiredness would surely reek havoc. One could go on and on about the significance of prayer, but in terms of my particular praying in regard to my current attempts at church planting, I have come to see prayer in this way. We should pray to engage God in changing us so that we can effectively act in bringing about the sort of outcomes God desires for us to be a party to bringing about. As we are so changed and so active, God opens doors.

Community Engagement (part three)

When I turn to the Bible in defence of the church's need to engage with their neighbourhood, my first port of call is Jeremiah chapter 29 specifically verse 7. There God through the voice of the prophet tells his people (from Judah), who have been taken north into exile in the foreign country of Babylon, to "seek the welfare of the city ... and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare". Each person's well-being, whether they gave allegiance to God or not, was tied to the communal well-being within a particular location. So, for instance, in my pastoral or church planting role, I will not only work in the interests of those who follow Jesus, but also, and perhaps primarily, in the interests of the local vicinity in which those I might encounter naturally from day-to-day live (and frequent the same shopping centres, cafes, work places, parks, streets and roads). Daniel, in another 'old testament' book, also took very seriously his civil responsibilities within the context of his overriding commitment to God, without being compromised in any way (please refer to my recent sermon series included on this blogsite). And so I have been attending community and council meetings - even the 'community cabinet' held on 9th Nov, where the PM Julia Gillard and many of her ministers took a variety of very worthy questions from the gathered local citizens. The highlight of this night was the stirring welcome to country brought by Aunty Joy on behalf of the Wurundjeri people. This reminded all of the blessed heritage we have inherited, that if embraced, will allow us to become a great, diverse and multicultural pointer towards the Kingdom of God ... but I digress. Attending such community meetings allows me/us to hear what people are feeling, thinking and saying, or as Alan Hirsch puts it, enter the rhythms of community life. From here we may just sense the way forward in offering a particular unique contribution to local community life. As Steve Chalke and others have written about, we each need to identify and understand the needs and aspirations of our communities, then seek to engage with an appreciation of their culture and language, and bring to this all our faith, hope and resources. 

Community Engagement (part two)

I am currently reading "Intelligent Church" by Steve Chalke. In his chapter on being a generous church (which is part of the way to being an "intelligent church"), Steve talks about the need to be positive about the possibilities and potential of all people, and to approach them with love and goodwill. Too often the church has relied upon fear being a motivating factor for involvement in Christian congregations - fear for what might happen after death, or fear for what might happen if you ignore God and keep on "sinning". However "fear" is not creative, not really motivating, only undermining and oppressive, and does not easily promote one to appreciate how wonderful God is. Some of the more problematical (even brutal) of the passages in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) need to be seen or re-interpreted through the eyes of Jesus ... the great welcomer of "sinners". If we want to know what God is like, it is suggested in the New Testament that we look directly at Jesus. We would still of course have to say that "sin" (i.e. behaviour that is destructive to self and others and God's creation generally) is serious, and it does need addressing, but it is best addressed in the company of others who are also on a journey of transformation (toward, as we like to say, bearing the image of Jesus ... who is our prime example of life-honouring true humanity). And, if we want to embrace the possibilities of the future, we have to express how much God already loves every person. God so loves gracefully and generously - which we should seek to emulate. Chalke quotes theologian Walter Brueggemann who says, "People are not changed by moral exhortation but by transformed imagination". So an "intelligent church" paints a picture in its neighbourhood of what could be ... both in people's individual lives and in their relational interactions! And a generous church sees the good in others and responds with a spirit of kindness and open-handedness (rather than judgement). There is beauty to be found in everyone we meet. 

Community Engagement (part one)

Why would a church want to get involved in its neighbourhood? Many churches over the centuries have regrettably just sought to draw people out of their neighbourhood into the church's own particular agenda. As important as it is to worship God and learn from the Bible, this is not all of what the Christian life should be about. The Jesus-following life, as I like to term it ... to distinguish what I am talking about from mere cultural christianity (where attending church is just the done thing rather than anything personal or transformational), is also about connecting with your neighbours and serving the needs that exist in the local community. From the biblical perspective, this means allowing the light and hope we have through Jesus to shine out from us in very practical and helpful ways. From the human perspective, this means showing solidarity with human needs, for we all have needs of one type or another. Sharing life is what following Jesus is really most about. In this way neighbourhoods and communities, not just individual lives, can be transformed toward better living conditions for all. Yesterday my wife and I read, in our daily devotion, that Jesus has invited us to be part of God's Kingdom (Colossians 1:13), and that part of living with integrity in the "location" of God's kingdom, is living out life-transforming behaviour patterns that clearly reflect such a "spiritual location" ... in our current and great "neighbourhood location". What a daily challenge!