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
Discovering Dignity by Phil Hissom | Polis Institute
Phil spent his early career designing solutions to complex social problems around environmental issues. He also hails from a ministry family that has been laboring with the poor for four generations in Charleston, West Virginia. Using his back ground in research and design along with a healthy understanding of poverty he decided to turn his attention to addressing concentrated poverty, homelessness, and other affronts to human dignity. In his SATtalk, Phil shares personal reflections and professional insights from ten years of community building work in distressed Orlando Florida neighborhoods. His efforts have involved operating in multiple worlds of vastly different [...]
The Champion is not Goliath by Quinn Schipper | OIKOS
Quinn is an ordained minister of 33 years with experience both overseas and in America in cross-denominational networking and multi-sector collaborations. He is the founder and president of OIKOS Network, a ministry to unite the Body of Christ. Since 2008, he has helped form and lead a multi-sector initiative in Stillwater, Oklahoma called Stillwater CARES which resulted in a collaborative of 30 churches and 28 organizations cooperating to find community-based solutions to break cycles of poverty. Hear why the church can be a logical choice to lead such a multi-sector endeavor. More About SATtalks
Catalysts for Transforming Lives and Communities by Mike Simon | Simon Solutions |
Over the last 40 years, Mike has served in executive leadership roles for churches, charitable organizations and for-profit businesses. He has also served as a consultant for city transformation movements and has invested years of research into emerging trends, best practices, and innovative ways for transforming the helping and referral systems in communities. In this SATtalk Mike describes the real opportunity that exists for churches willing to be a catalyst for collaboration in their community. The Church’s compassion, combined with innovative technology, education, and best practices can break the stronghold of poverty in America and restore hope to people's lives. [...]
Communities Charting Their Own Future by Grace Dyrness | Urban Initiatives
Grace is Senior Researcher for The Institute for Transnational Research and Development in Pasadena, California. She works extensively with grass roots non-governmental and faith-based organizations around the world where she uses advocacy planning and participatory approaches to engage people in communities in order to envision their own future and chart a path towards it. How do we as a Church know that we are creating a sustainable future for people we serve living in impoverished communities? Participatory Action Research is one important way to evaluate our impact by engaging community members to gather and analyze data that can open up [...]
Economic Missionaries by Don Larson | The Sunshine Nut Co.
Former Hershey exec, Don Larson says, “Find an idea that you’re willing to die for…and then start to really live.” After selling his possessions and moving to Mozambique to open a cashew company with a strong social mission, Don almost lost his life. That event and a deep sense that God has called him to this work has galvanized him to be even more resolute in building a company that helps transform the lives of his workers and those in his community. The solution to many of the world’s problems is jobs. The Sunshine Nut Co. was founded on the [...]
Mutual Transformation by Lynette Fields | St Luke’s United Methodist Church
For 20 years Lynette has served as Executive Director of Missions for St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Orlando, Florida. For the past 8 years she has been leading the church through a fundamental shift in the way they do missions. "We've been on a journey for the last 8 years reflecting on our relationships within our mission ministries, asking hard questions, and shifting our filter through which we view service. We are shifting from focusing on the volunteer experience to listening to the community; from being busy to becoming more effective; and from addressing issues to engaging people in specific [...]
