CB&LF will work with churches that are in marginalized communities where resources typically have been disinvested for many years. The Transform Church-Transform Community 2.0 program is a structured learning model that provides the resources, guidance and direction participants will need to effectively reach the communities they serve. Participants will have the opportunity to ask hard questions, talk through problems and concerns with their peers, and objectively assess the strengths and weaknesses of their ministries. Armed with clarity, they will have the tools to position themselves to develop sustainable strategies that their congregations can implement and support. This work is important to CB&LF as one of our primary goals is to assist all churches to thrive within their communities, leaving no one behind. Each congregation that fully engages in the program is expected to achieve two or more of these Spiritual Outcomes: 1) clarification and understanding of the church mission, values, and work in this new environment; 2) an increase in the number of community residents and church members engaged in new church-sponsored or church-involved community-focused activities, events, and workshops; 3) younger and older leaders engaged and encouraged to help move the church and their communities in a positive direction together; 4) strengthened community connections with each church viewed as a hub of resources within their individual communities (e.g., food and clothing pantries or youth programs); 5) increased engagement with not-for-profits, civic, and other religious groups in individual church communities and 6) an increase in church vitality reflected through an array of performance indicators including membership growth, growth in the number and variety of revenue streams, engagement of lay and clergy church leaders in learning and capacity building programs and other performance indicators that are likely to emerge over the course of the program as congregational imagination and activity expands.
Transform Church Transform Community 2.0
Cleveland, OH
National
Melina Higbee