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
Be the Force! Millennials & Boomers Working Together by Dave Geenens
[one_fourth last="no" spacing="yes" center_content="no" hide_on_mobile="no" background_color="" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" background_position="left top" hover_type="none" link="" border_position="all" border_size="0px" border_color="" border_style="" padding="" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" animation_type="" animation_direction="" animation_speed="0.1" animation_offset="" class="" id=""] [/one_fourth][three_fourth last="yes" spacing="yes" center_content="no" hide_on_mobile="no" background_color="" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" background_position="left top" hover_type="none" link="" border_position="all" border_size="0px" border_color="" border_style="" padding="" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" animation_type="" animation_direction="" animation_speed="0.1" animation_offset="" class="" id=""] Be the Force! Millennials & Boomers Working Together by Dave Geenens As a volunteer high school football coach, I used the physics equation for force to help our under-sized linemen embrace the work and process required to defeat larger opposing linemen. The formula is: force = mass x acceleration (or [...]
Redemptive Entanglement by Keith Jaspers & Tom Bassford
Redemptive Entanglement: Having Both a Mind and a Heart for the Poor by Keith Jaspers with Introduction by Tom Bassford Introduction: The seeds of what we do through Significant Matters surfaced nearly thirty years ago on the heels of a trip to Venezuela. Twenty-five of us spent 10 days working on a building project with a church/school. We all felt stretched and a sense of satisfaction that we had entered another world and brought the resources of our world to bear upon theirs in a meaningful way. But something wasn’t right. I didn’t know it at the time but [...]
Prove It!
[one_fourth last="no" spacing="yes" center_content="no" hide_on_mobile="no" background_color="" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" background_position="left top" hover_type="none" link="" border_position="all" border_size="0px" border_color="" border_style="" padding="" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" animation_type="" animation_direction="" animation_speed="0.1" animation_offset="" class="" id=""] [/one_fourth][three_fourth last="yes" spacing="yes" center_content="no" hide_on_mobile="no" background_color="" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" background_position="left top" hover_type="none" link="" border_position="all" border_size="0px" border_color="" border_style="" padding="" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" animation_type="" animation_direction="" animation_speed="0.1" animation_offset="" class="" id=""] Prove It! by Dr. Florence Muindi with Introduction by Tom Bassford Introduction “Are we as good as our marketing?” Are we really creating sustainable change or are we just simply wrapping new versions of relief and betterment in the language of “sustainable transformation” and selling that to donors to raise [...]
SATtalks – A Safe Place to be Vulnerable
[one_fourth last="no" spacing="yes" center_content="no" hide_on_mobile="no" background_color="" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" background_position="left top" hover_type="none" link="" border_position="all" border_size="0px" border_color="" border_style="" padding="" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" animation_type="" animation_direction="" animation_speed="0.1" animation_offset="" class="" id=""] [/one_fourth][three_fourth last="yes" spacing="yes" center_content="no" hide_on_mobile="no" background_color="" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" background_position="left top" hover_type="none" link="" border_position="all" border_size="0px" border_color="" border_style="" padding="" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" animation_type="" animation_direction="" animation_speed="0.1" animation_offset="" class="" id=""] SATtalks – A Safe Place to Be Vulnerable SATtalks is a two-day event. It’s also a website with over 20 videos (soon to be 30) from leading practitioners who are doing church missions differently. But more than all of that SATtalks is a conversation between like-minded people trying to honestly [...]
HOPE is for More Than the Hereafter
[one_fourth last="no" spacing="yes" center_content="no" hide_on_mobile="no" background_color="" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" background_position="left top" hover_type="none" link="" border_position="all" border_size="0px" border_color="" border_style="" padding="" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" animation_type="" animation_direction="" animation_speed="0.1" animation_offset="" class="" id=""] [/one_fourth][three_fourth last="yes" spacing="yes" center_content="no" hide_on_mobile="no" background_color="" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" background_position="left top" hover_type="none" link="" border_position="all" border_size="0px" border_color="" border_style="" padding="" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" animation_type="" animation_direction="" animation_speed="0.1" animation_offset="" class="" id=""] HOPE is for More Than the Hereafter By Tom Bassford Jim Clifton, Chairman and CEO of Gallup wrote these words in his 2011 book, “The Coming Jobs War”: The primary will of the world is no longer about peace or freedom or even democracy; it is not about having a family, [...]
Breaking Free of Paternalism: Part 2
[one_fourth last="no" spacing="no" center_content="no" hide_on_mobile="no" background_color="" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" background_position="left top" hover_type="none" link="" border_position="all" border_size="10px" border_color="" border_style="solid" padding="" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" animation_type="0" animation_direction="down" animation_speed="0.1" animation_offset="" class="" id=""] [/one_fourth][three_fourth last="yes" spacing="yes" center_content="no" hide_on_mobile="no" background_color="" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" background_position="left top" hover_type="none" link="" border_position="all" border_size="0px" border_color="" border_style="" padding="" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" animation_type="" animation_direction="" animation_speed="0.1" animation_offset="" class="" id=""] Breaking Free of Paternalism: Part 2 We have a problem with the way we have been trying to help people in the context of poverty. It has created dependencies and helped erode the dignity that all of us need in order to function as the capable people God means for [...]
