Forum Activity for @sharon-west

Sharon West
@sharon-west
10/01/15 06:23:05PM
4 posts

What is your current ABCD context and what is your interest in connecting faith communities to ABCD?


ABCD and Faith Communities

Hello Wendy,

You are way out of my league. We have only two churches that we did workshops at and have found the churches to be very receptive but the individual leaders to be very apprehensive. They seem to feel that doing anything that is out of the ordinary is too much. They can't seem to get pass "what we did in the past" I have read about some successful churches but have not experienced this yet. We also started a webinar series only to have three church leaders to attend the first one and the attendance dropped to one on the second webinar. So pat your self on the back you are doing a grand.

Here is something I think would interest you:

Thinking about ABCD in faith community building, I appreciate the pastoral work of Mike Mather and DeAmon Harges. They have worked as pastoral ministers from Broadway United Methodist Church, in urban Indianapolis. Two videos describe their fruitful approach and interesting results:

1.) http://bit.ly/1O5ec46 (YouTube): Making the invisible visible |DeAmon Harges | TEDxIndianapolis (0:10:30)

2.) http://www.abundantcommunity.com/home/authors/parms/1/which/mike_ma... (Abundant Community website) Follow link tovideo of Mike describing ABCD engagement uncovering "Adelita's Gift" (0:04:29). This ABCD pastoral accompaniment resulted in self-employment growing into a developed small business. This is also know as "Smart Network Weaving."

Such ABCD for self-employment and small-business development is also illustrated in Ohio in the work of Appalachian Community Economic Networks (AceNet). See a third, longer video:

a.) AceNet's former Dir. June Holley, in akeynote conference address to the Center for Small Towns (YouTube, 0:30:56) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V86KoCtLmo

b.) June's Network Weaving Handbook describes this community development approach: http://www.networkweaver.com

Also here is a discussion on Connect/Share>Conversations:

Are any of your ABCD practicing groups members or affiliated with ccda.org member organizations?

Are there churches that operate 501 (c) (3) "Community Development Corporations" as a part of 'Urban Ministry'?

Dear D Michale Blackie,

Thank you for your interest in my subject matter - ABCD for Pastorals.

None of our ABCD practicing groups members or affiliated with ccda.org member organizations.

However, I am keen to learn about this partnership for future collaboration in promoting ABCD and other development endeavors.

Regards,

Greetings Brother ABCD Practitioner!

Thank you for your response. There's a treasure of information about CCDA on their website, ccda.org and many, many books (ebooks as well) about using ABCD in "Christian" communities. CCDA practices the elements of ABCD as well.

The foundations of CCDA come from the work of (Dr.) John M. Perkins, and his living and pastoring in the poorest Americans at the time in the state of Mississippi. (In the 1960's era).

Here, In Philadelphia (PA, USA) A group in the city aligned with the Mennonite Church runs a successful community center and programs. http://occcda.org

I hope you and others find this helpful.

Serving In The City,

D. Michael Blackie, Organizer/Facilitator

ONE Feltonville

Follow on Twitter: @GoWestYoungMan1 #ONEFeltonville #ABCD

However, you have inspired me to get back on the horse and keep trying Churches need ABCD training.

Sharon West
@sharon-west
10/01/15 11:54:20AM
4 posts

What is your current ABCD context and what is your interest in connecting faith communities to ABCD?


ABCD and Faith Communities

Children of God Body of Christ has been sometimes successful but other times very unsuccessful. What is it you want to know? Do you want to share stories? Do you have ideas you want to kick around?

Sharon West
@sharon-west
10/01/15 11:32:48AM
4 posts

What is "community engagement"?


Open Discussions

Community engagement, I guess I am old school, but community engagement means getting your community to come together for a specific purpose. I was dealing with a community that was very dysfunctional. They had governmental services but they had lost there pride in themselves as well as there community. They did not believe they could change. I wanted to change their perspective of themselves and their community. Our organization brought in a Circus for four days and then a carnival for four days as a fund raiser. They were shocked that anyone would do this for them, and that anyone trusted their community to handle this without violence. They were shocked to see they could fund raise as well as any other community. I was engaging the community to give them a since of pride and unity. My next step was to now engage them in a discussion on what they would like to see change in their community.

Sharon West
@sharon-west
05/15/15 06:33:28PM
4 posts

Grassroots organizing


ABCD and Community Organizing/Engagement

Matt I agree, grassroots organizing gives that community it's only chance to survive and thrive. Business is and can be helpful in sustaining a community (Money is the answer to all things) but it is not the only answer. Business if not guided by the community can dictate who should and should not be in those community houses. Thus destroying the fabric of that community for a better economical base for business. Thus not helping the community just changing who lives within that community. This just moves people who aren't desirable to those businesses, to other areas that will soon need help.

However, grassroots organizations have more of a desire to sustain that community by helping everyone help him/her self, by a long lists of helps. Thus not just helping them economically but socially and maybe even health wise. This will in the long run help those same businesses, in a way that will be helpful to everyone.

Sharon West
@sharon-west
10/06/15 12:44:29PM
4 posts

When the Internet generation thinks ABCD is a dinosaur?


ABCD - Getting Started/Challenges

As I go through these discussions I am seeing a disturbing thread. When I first read "Building communities From the Inside Out" by Kretzmann and McKnight, in my Masters program of Urban and Regional Planning, I thought it's main objective was to REBUILD communities! They felt that if we focus on THE PEOPLE and their skills and assets we didn't have to keep focusing on failed programs. However, it seems many people are working on whole and well communities or using young people, who lost the whole idea, of bringing people together to help them realize they have something to give back, and they have something to rebuild there communities with, their gifts. These younger people live in the internet community so this is where they want to take ABCD. I know ABCD has to grow and evolve for others to participate but the computer community is well alive and whole, and many of the communities and many of the people here, seem to be financially doing fine. I don't think this is an age gap this seems to be an objective gap. It seems many have lost their objective.

This has been my one and only bone I had to pick with the book from the beginning. ABCD seems to not realize that it does better in communities with some money. (which is what I am seeing more and more) Communities that depend on social programs can use ABCD too but you can't even think about gifts if you are hungry or homeless.(Which is what happens without social programs.) Instead of a glass half full you would have an empty glass.

Saying all that, I can't see a need for a mandatory data base for citizens who may not even have a computer or the internet. However, if you are talking about communities that have some money but not much, then yes, let them have a mandatory data base and any other thing that middle class people need to come together.

It's too early and I am sounding too hostile for a nice friendly discussion sorry!

Sharon West
@sharon-west
10/01/15 11:11:48AM
4 posts

Community organizing vs. Community Development?


ABCD and Community Organizing/Engagement

Hello everyone I have been dealing with ABCD before there was an abcd in action. I think there is a difference in organizer and developer. An organizer gathers the different aspects of the community together to work on a project. A community developer lays out a plan to change a community and then goes about doing it. So a developer can organize but he/she has to do so much more. After the plan and the organization of the plan (people who will help carry-out the plan) the developer has to find ways to fund the development and then execute the plan.

Example: Community organizer canvases the community to survey what the community feels it needs to change. They get together and meet. The community wants a vacant house gone and wants a garden but does not know how to get a garden. Community developer plans a garden on a vacant lot. He/she plans to remove the vacant building. The plan is to tear down the building and plant a garden. However, it has to be submitted to the community to be agreed upon, they agree. The developer finds a way to fund the tearing down of the building and the funds for the garden seeds. They all go about changing the vacant lot into a garden.