Advancing sustainable solutions to material poverty through church missions.
The North American Church is losing ground in attendance, influence, credibility and virtually every other category that really matters. In this day and age, many see the church as the hope of the world only as it “proves” itself in practical ways that touch the everyday needs of everyday people. But that’s not a cry for more traditional forms of charity or the missionary model of the past 200 years. Instead, thoughtful people, from Millennials to Boomers, are looking for churches that have moved from simply doing good things to solving real problems in lasting ways. Churches that invest in this kind of mission work become more helpful in lifting people out of poverty and better partners to ministries on the frontlines. They also become more relevant and credible to their community, more fulfilling to both pastor and people, and more appealing to those on the margins looking for a reason to attend a church.
Our mission is to help churches reframe their missions and charitable work around sustainable solutions and create room for business-minded people who can help that happen. Our annual SATtalks and other resources highlight some of the most innovative churches and faith-based ministries around the world working to move missions in this direction. We do this because the Church needs the stories of early pioneers and innovators to inspire and help us see what could be!
Tom Bassford, Founder/President | Significant Matters & SATtalks
Sr Pastor and Missions Roundtable
The Senior Pastor & Missions Roundtable | 1-4pm Attendees are welcome to attend the Missions 3.0 Workshop in the morning if they would like. This is a roundtable discussion specifically for Senior Pastors focusing on both the challenges and opportunities that come with moving your church beyond helping that hurts. How do we move from just doing good things to solving real problems? How should we reframe expectations for the congregation, champion collaboration, tackle outcomes and cultivate innovation in order to make lasting change? It’s also a discussion about how to make room for the business-minded [...]
Missions 3.0 Workshop
Missions 3.0 Workshop | 9am - 4pm EXCELLENT STRATEGIC THINKING WORKSHOP FOR CHURCHES WITHIN A COMMUNITY / REGION – Churches and individuals are asking, “How do we move beyond helping that hurts?” It is in response to that question that we have been working with churches to chart a new course for missions. We call it Missions 3.0 because it is an “upgrade” to what churches have historically done. It builds on the reality that the church is already the largest mobilizer of charitable dollars and volunteer service in the world and that serving the poor is [...]
Bridges Out of Poverty
Bridges Out of Poverty Training | 9am - 4pm EXCELLENT VOLUNTEER TRAINING TOOL FOR CHURCH or COMMUNITY –Bridges Out of Poverty is an all-day workshop to help volunteers better understand poverty through the lens of economic class and provides concrete tools and strategies to help alleviate poverty. Bridges Out of Poverty is a unique framework that opens a window onto the profound impact living in poverty has on people and families. This workshop will deepen a volunteers understanding of what it is like to live in poverty and the culture that surrounds it. A deeper understanding [...]
The Business-Minded and Missions
The Business-Minded & Missions Roundtable | 1-4pm Attendees are welcome to attend the Missions 3.0 Workshop in the morning if they would like. This is a roundtable discussion for business-minded people trying to figure out how to work with their church’s mission around sustainable solutions. The absence of adequate structures and strategies for sustainable and transformational solutions (Missions 3.0) cause many business-minded people to simply check-out when it comes to the missions’ work of their own church. As a result, they go elsewhere with their gifts, networks and resources and the church loses their efforts [...]
Wealth Creators: The New Missionaries by Bob Lupton | Toxic Charity
Bob Lupton is a Christian community developer and entrepreneur who brings together communities of resource with communities of need. Lupton has invested the past 43 years of his life in inner-city Atlanta where his life’s work has been the rebuilding of urban neighborhoods where families can flourish and children can grow into healthy adults. He has authohred numerous books such as "Toxic Charity" and, most recently, "Charity Detox," challenging the church to face the unintended consequences of its efforts to serve the poor out of poverty. In his SATtalk Bob describes two types of players in our economic system: wealth [...]
Impact Investing and a Theology of Business by Aimee Minnich | Impact Foundation
Aimee Minnich serves as Chief Impact Officer and General Counsel of Impact Foundation. Prior to founding Impact Foundation, she served as President and General Counsel for the National Christian Foundation, Heartland, where she designed and implemented the foundation’s Missional Investing Program to allow the investment of donor-advised funds in social impact companies. In her SATtalk she explores the importance of a renewed theology of work in order to better understand the role of business in the Kingdom of God. This is essential if we are to realize the power of business to serve as winsome witnesses of the Gospel, creatively [...]
