Churches, the public sector and big philanthropy are all trying to solve the same problems, but are not in contact with each other. They need to understand how to turn strangers into unlikely allies.
Bryan Franklin moved back to the U.S., still working for the evangelical basketball for peace nonprofit, and through a grant from a big shoe company, started opening up new urban areas for them. Then Michael Brown was killed in Ferguson.
“We want to help the congregation learn that we don’t need to automatically go back to the building to be a church again. The leaders need to paint that picture.”
The questions the current global pandemic is raising for all of us, like “who is my neighbor”, “what is my surplus”, and “what is money good for”, are the same questions churches on the brink of shutting their doors are also forced to ask.
Beloved Asheville is part of a peer group launched by Faith and Finance of practitioners working on church assets in transition. Their low cost model, using homeless sweat equity could perhaps be replicated if people understand how to listen to, believe in and find the resources to use the gifts of people effected by the problem.
Pastor Sharon was called about a year ago to shepherd a struggling urban congregation. She quickly established trust with the elders, preached excellent sermons to which the congregation enthusiastically responded, even helped stabilize a yearly… Read More »Why should faith leaders join Faith+Finance?