Faces Beyond Sacred Walls

R. Mims B.

Description

Faces Beyond Sacred Walls is not a how-to book as much as it is one for individual and church-corporate self-reflections about their social advocacy role to the community of the poor and oppressed. The author takes the reader on a self-examining journey through the difficult and often painful introspective process for addressing the Church's social advocacy role in response to God's mandate.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: First Edition Design Publishing
• Date de parution: 22 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781937520601
• Langue: English

Extrait

Faces Beyond Sacred Walls
Readdressing the Advocacy Role of the
Church in a Disenfranchised Community

B. R. Mims
Copyright © 2011 by B.R. Mims

ISBN 978-1-937520-60-1
Published by First Edition Design eBook Publishing
February 2012
www.firsteditiondesignpublishing.com


ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be used, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form whatsoever — including electronic, photocopy, recording — without prior written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, from the Holy Bible, New King James Version , Copyright© 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Additional Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version® . NIV® . Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.;
Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003
by Holman Bible Publishers;
Amplified® Bible , Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.;
New Revised Standard Version Bible , Copyright© 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.;
and the Holy Bible, King James Version. KJV. Public Domain.

First Edition
ISBN: 9781936989355
Library of Congress Control Number: 2011944472

Published by
NewBookPublishing.com, a division of Reliance Media, Inc.
2395 Apopka Blvd., #200, Apopka, FL 32703
NewBookPublishing.com
Table of Contents

Preface
Dedication
Chapter 1: Introduction – Beyond Sacred Walls
Testimony Of Walls
Targeting Congregational Roles
Time To Fast And Pray
Chapter 2: Social Advocacy – God’s Mandate
Defining Advocacy
Defining The Mandate
Chapter 3: Early Church Concerns For The Poor
The Witness Of The Early Church
Theology Of The Poor
Chapter 4: In The Beginning –
Advocacy Movement Principle
From Creation To Creature
Founding Principles
Foundational Love
Chapter 5: Theological Claims For Social Engagement
Putting First Things First
Planning Strategies For Advocacy Engagement
Portrait Of Moses’ Transformational Model
Process Of Becoming
Chapter 6: Movement Towards
A Transformational Context
Context Of Poverty
Church’s Answer To Poverty
Christian Transformation Context
Congregational Identity
Chapter 7: Leadership Paradigm Shift
Leadership: Response To Paradigm Shift
Leadership: Adaptive Concept
Leadership: Key To Empowerment
Leadership: Balcony Experience
Chapter 8: Social Advocacy Challenges
Contextual Philosophy Of Ministry
Commuting Church Syndrome
Congregational Isolationism
Changing Demographics
Consequences Of Separatism
Constructive Advocacy Education
Chapter 9: Rethinking Programs Of The Church
Reevaluating Programs Of The Church
Reversing Over-Program Churches
Renewing Social Safety Net Interest
Restraining Social Programs
Chapter 10: Never Expect To Be The Same
Endnotes
Preface
True to nature, the many experiences of my life have served to shape who I am as a person and leader. The people I meet and the crises I endure shape me and give my life meaning and form. After thirteen years of pastoring, and more than thirty years as a minister, I have discovered that people respond and react based on needs. People come to a church because they have needs. However, they are quick to leave when they discover that their needs continue, due to an inability of the church to meet such needs, or a lack of interest by the church in addressing their needs. In a like manner, a church’s approach to the needs of the community may very well determine the viability of that church in the community.
During the thirteen years that I pastored a local church, my focus was on getting the unsaved into a saving relationship with Christ Jesus, and teaching believers how to enter into worship, understand God’s work, develop a disciplined life of prayer and Bible study, and communicate the gospel to this generation. However, as I reflect on those years, the awareness that something vital was missing from my ministry gripped me. I had been so busy working at leading that I had missed the true essence and opportunity of allowing the Lord to provide the lead.
This all began to change in 2002, when I entered the Doctor of Urban Ministry Program at New Brunswick Theological Seminary (New Jersey) where I was forced to think critically about the role and ministry of the church I pastored in a metro-urban context. Then, in 2003, I received military orders to go to Iraq resulting in my rapid transition from position of pastor to military chaplain. Never would I have considered such an assignment to be advantageous or within the will of God for vital ministry reorientation.
The assignment in Iraq gave me an opportunity to step outside of the traditional institution church setting I had been so use to and grown so tired of. Finally, I had time to hear what God had to say to me. For one entire year, I sat captive to Him and listened to what He had to say to me as a Christian, a pastor, a person, and leader of a church in a disenfranchised/marginalized community. That one year helped me come to grips with the fact that my life, and that of the church, required a change if we were to be in the will of God.
Held captive, I was continually drawn to the probing question of the role of the church in the community, and how we [church] should be actively engaged in helping the poor and oppressed to obtain necessities and reasonable quality of life benefits. A great reflection, but I was not prepared for such a task. Moreover, if I was not prepared, could I dare think that the membership I pastored was prepared. As I thought of the task, the more it consumed me that it was not an ordinary mission outreach project, and yet it was according to the Word of God. There was something more to this. I looked at myself and I realized that the many things I had taken for granted, a nice church in an upscale community, cars, clothes, etc., were not the things poor, oppressed marginalized persons looked for in a church. I suppose all they really wanted to know was that the church in their community really cared, and if it did, we had a very poor way of showing it.
Yes, I was glad to have sat for a year and listen at what God had to say to me. What I heard God say began a transformative process affecting the members of the church I served, and myself, for greater work in the community of the poor and oppressed.
While researching the role of the church in the community, I discovered that the greatest need besides evangelism and salvation is membership awareness of the divine role of the church’s social advocacy ministry. Being confident of my research findings, I decided to write a book addressing the role of the church in a disenfranchised community. This is not an original subject matter nor is it an exhaustive study of the subject. My area of concentration for my Doctorate in Urban Ministry, pastoring in an urban context, a year in Iraq, three mission trips to Kenya, and growing up in a marginalized community all prepared me for this undertaking.
First, I determined to write a book in order to call the body of Christ in local churches towards committed service and ministry to the poor and oppressed. I propose that if it is our goal to know Christ and make Him known, then Jesus will reveal Himself to us as we come face-to-face with “the least of these” in ways we will never meet him in a Bible study, prayer meeting, or sermon.
The purpose of this book is a challenge to Christians to dedicate themselves to greater service to the Lord and to experience truly the joy of their salvation. A deeper relationship with God waits for us as we “weave ourselves” (Isaiah 58:10) into the lives of those in economic, physical, and emotional need.
I believe there is a strong connection between “sowing to please the Spirit” and “doing good” (see Galatians 6:7-10). When we serve others with acts of kindness, we experience what both Galatians 6 and John 17:3 call eternal life. Indeed, I suggest that we actually experience and discover a depth in our relationship with Christ Jesus as we encounter Him in the suffering people who cannot repay us.
In the second place, I am interested in this subject because, even as I write, media outlets are announcing the sad news across the nation that the poverty level in America has reached an all-time high (one in six American is living in poverty), and economic recession continues to loom on the horizon of hope for countries around the world. Further observations and studies of people who are on and those who are leaving welfare, war torn veterans, and of low-income senior citizens have found a substantial percentage of them have social services and benefits issues, with few able to realize recourses. I am interested in and bothered by these facts, because in the same context, the church has sat idly by, ignoring its biblical mandate, which has resulted in further oppression of the already oppressed, leading to their resultant suffering.
In the third place, I have tried to make this book practical. The Church, by divine design, has a dual role or mission: evangelism (salvation) and mission (benevolence or poverty relief). In any given context, they may and should complement each other. There should be no conflict between our commitment as disciples to evangelism and poverty relief. They are hand-in-hand. As the proverbial saying goes, in many cases, “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Christian education is the method by which the church comes to an understanding of its needs and roles. Christian education, then, in the local church must include the definition and application of both roles [evangel