Community development is a socially creative, spiritually rewarding arena for fulfilling the justice component of Covenant Discipleship. Community what? Community development often called community economic development, or CED: a process more than a product. CED happens when people (usually in a poor neighborhood) and their friends assess local assets, multiply them if possible, and use what they have and can leverage to meet urgent needs. Of course, the greatest asset of any community is the people, their lives, abilities, and potential.

Community development means affordable housing, jobs with futures, safe streets, adequate services, and reliable local businesses with fair prices. CED is one way of putting into practice the wisdom of Micah 6: "Love mercy, do justice, and walk humbly with your God."

The ministry of community development is expanding, attracting individuals and religious institutions (including congregations) seeking to do more than distribute food, clothing, and emergency rent money. In the housing area, Habitat for Humanity is one option, but other forms are also possible and may have greater capacity. For example, members of St. Mark United Methodist Church, Northport, AL, in one year renovated 32 homes and built 15 new ones by collaborating with a community organization and the city government. They used money from churches, a foundation, and the government true community development.

Job-Related Opportunities
Helping people find meaningful work that pays a living wage is another form of CED that offers opportunities for servant discipleship. Welfare-to-work presents many opportunities for Christians to volunteer their time and abilities to help persons move from public assistance into jobs with benefits and possibilities for advancement. As the first phase of welfare reform nears an end (in 2002), individual and team mentors are in great demand across the U.S. Mentoring is quite apart from the job training programs run by religious or, faith-based groups under government contracts.

Public money is often involved in CED, but not always.

Church members in Tarrant County, TX; San Diego and Shasta Counties, CA; Mecklenberg County, NC; Ottawa County, MI; and parts of Mississippi and Maryland have played key roles in welfare-to-work mentoring programs. People receiving job training or just starting out at a new job can request mentors (usually teams) to help them deal with work-related issues, families crises, and transportation.

Jobs Partnership, begun in Raleigh, NC, and now in 15 or more states, offers a way for Christians to help build productive lives and communities. This program, which is not strictly welfare-to-work, pairs church groups and local businesses in a training/mentoring approach that has a high rate of success.

Men and women who enroll receive 12 weeks of two kinds of training. The first, provided by Christian volunteers, deals with attitudes about life, family, self, and God. The second is more traditional job readiness training conducted at a community college. Participants are called "neighbors."

Graduation leads to a jobs center which lists openings in companies that believe in the program. Only jobs paying above minimum wage, with benefits and futures, are accepted. "Neighbors" compete for the jobs.

A successful applicant gets an on-the-job "buddy" to help make the adjustment to the particular work environment. A team of church-related mentors is available for life-situation issues.

The job retention rate in Raleigh is 91% over a 3-year period. Equipping someone to get and keep a job is an act of justice.

Youth Mentoring
Another form of ministry that serves both justice and community development is youth mentoring. This may help a young person stay in school and eventually get a good job. The more important objective is to give children and teenagers an opportunity to discover their assets and potential, to think of themselves as valuable sons and daughters of God, and to realize that Christian persons and churches care about them. It is grossly unjust to leave young people ignorant of the spiritual and material care of the Christian fellowship.

Many church-related and secular mentoring programs need volunteers for after-school, weekend, and summer sessions. The same is true of literacy programs for both young people and new immigrants. The United Methodist Bishops' Initiative on Children and Poverty has spawned dozens of opportunities for church members to volunteer in mentoring and literacy work. Local programs can be identified through district or annual conference offices.

Shalom Opportunities
Community economic development is one of four components of Communities of Shalom, a United Methodist ministry that promotes communities and congregations working together to rebuild and renew community life. Local churches of all sizes and locations work collaboratively with other denominations, residents, businesses, and organizations to provide training, technical assistance, and support in leveraging human and financial resources. The three other emphases are community health, improvement of race relations, and strengthening the spiritual lives of persons and congregations. For more information on Shalom and other forms of community development ministries, contact Community Ministries Unit, General Board of Global Ministries, 475 Riverside Dr., New York, NY 10115, 212/870-3711, gbgm-umc.org.

Elliott Wright, a clergy member of the Tennessee Annual Conference, specializes in faith-based community economic development. A consultant and projects director for the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries, the Religious News Service, and the Lilly Endowment, he welcomes your questions and reports on community development ministries. E-mail: ewright@gbgm-umc.org.