The Rev. Christopher Johnson, Social and Economic Justice Officer of the Episcopal Church, recently wrote an article about Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) for the August edition of the Office of Black Ministries newsletter. He has kindly allowed us to repost it here to share some additional information about ABCD and the ways in which the Office of Black Ministries is utilizing ABCD for community organizing and development. Many thanks, Chris!
Classical approaches to community program development have long been rooted in needs based assessments. There is a subtle, undermining characteristic latent in this development approach as the community addresses its problem solving from a place of deficit rather than from a posture of capacity. That focus further undermines the human dignity of members in our local communities as their needs and dependency on others are reinforced. Instead, the ABCD training encourages the expression of the giftedness and capacity of the communities to affect positive change.
Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) reinforces our baptismal commitment to respect the dignity of every human being as it celebrates the capacity that already exists in a community as its problem solving is targeted at healing a broken and wounded world. In this respect the community is not dependent upon outsiders and agencies to do more for them than they have need for. As one workshop facilitator, Mike Green, wrote in his workbook, When People Care Enough to Act, ABCD, “provides a powerful approach to developing a wider circle of people to address important problems and to realize ambitious goals by discovering and mobilizing the resources that are already present in the community.”
Partnership with the Office of Black Ministries made possible the initiation of practical training as the Sudanese community gathered in Phoenix in December 2010. During their time together Sudanese leaders were invited to share their own stories of journey and faith. A particularly poignant comment was made by a Sudanese brother who shared that never before had he been invited to a gathering among non-Sudanese community members where the Sudanese community was listened to. He said, “This is the first time in 10 years someone said, “I’m here to listen’.” There is a lack of communication between the American churches and the migrant. Up to that point, they had only been told what they needed to do. In other words, a message of disempowerment was being reinforced as a condition of citizenship in this country. There was no attempt to draw out the gifts that served as the font of life and dignity for the refugee. This gathering in Phoenix reinforced powerfully that the voice of the Sudanese refugee has much to contribute to the mutual wellbeing of the United States as a host community.
In further collaborations with the Office of Black Ministries, we expect that committed groups of people from the Black community will learn to apply the tools of ABCD as a group for local community organizing and development. Faith formation is the foundation upon which participants will be invited to reflect theologically at each gathering to discern how God is inviting the congregation to bear witness to its love of neighbor as itself. Faith formation may thrive out of the congregation’s willingness to engage and invite its neighbors into deeper relationship for the sake of building up the wellbeing of the community. As the prophet Jeremiah wrote, “Seek the welfare (shalom) of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray for to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare (shalom) you will find your welfare (shalom)” (29:7).
The real formation in faith is for the ABCD practitioner to experience the transforming work of the Holy Spirit in his or her own life while learning to strengthen links between the practice of loving God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength and loving their neighbors as themselves. Since Jesus proclaimed these to be the two greatest commandments upon which all the law and the prophets rested, this is a most worthy pursuit for Christian formation. We invite congregations to consider exploring how ABCD workshops can strengthen their community’s capacity to act on behalf of the values it cares most about.
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