Addressing Poverty in Salem Through Missional Church Planting

1. Addressing Poverty in Salem Through Missional Church Planting WCIU Capstone Project Craig Smith, student Dr. Matthew Boda, mentor Dr. Peter Larson, capstone advisor

2. Starting With the Baby Boutique Six years of learning • What we have learned • The ministry is the Lord’s • Salem has a desperate need • We are only one small piece of the puzzle • God has and will provided all we need • God is working among the people we serve – they are uniquely open the message of the gospel • We are still only scratching the surface

3. Starting With the Baby Boutique Boutique Primarily Serves • Single mothers – ages from 11 to 40 • Majority are mid to late 20’s • In poverty • Multiple children – some in foster care • Many in recovery from drugs and alcohol • From broken families • Multiple ethnicities – Hispanic, Pacific Islanders, Russian, Anglo

4. Starting With the Baby Boutique The parts that work • Women are referred consistently, 8-10/week • Baby items are being donated constantly • The gospel is being proclaimed • Needs are being met • Women are finding Christ, hope and new friends • Servants are being blessed and growing in faith

5. Starting With the Baby Boutique Testimony of Anne Hunter

6. Starting With the Baby Boutique The parts that need work • Better follow up and discipleship with those who profess Christ • Stable, gospel centered community for new believers • Housing options for new believers coming out of recovery • Long term development assistance to break the cycle of poverty

7. Starting With the Baby Boutique Clear need for community • We are losing significant numbers of those who make professions of faith • Many go back to their former lifestyle • They desperately need community

8. Starting With the Baby Boutique Transitional Housing • No good options for women who are coming out of addiction or have felony convictions • Oxford Houses – the only current option. Salem has 7 houses – up to 52 women. • Not a healthy option for new believers

9. Starting With the Baby Boutique • 6 years of experience has made it clear • The need is great – much more is needed • The door is wide open • God is calling us to meet the need

10. The Vision Reach a virtually unreached people group with the Good News of Jesus Christ

11. The Vision Through a missional church planting ministry

12. The Vision That will:

13. The Vision Focus on community

14. The Vision Plant multiple, small, mobile, connected groups

15. The Vision Mix ages, ethnicities and socio economic groups

16. The Vision Contextualize the ministry – with a focus on development

17. The Vision Ignite a movement – outward focused, sending in nature

18. The Vision Why Church Planting? • The vigorous, continual planting of new congregations is the single most crucial strategy for: • Numerical growth of the body of Christ in any city • The continual corporate renewal and revival of existing churches in a city. • Source – Pastor Tim Keller, Redeemer Presbyterian Church – Church Planter Manual

19. The Vision Planting new churches is the most effective evangelistic methodology known under heaven. C. Peter Wagner

20. The Vision • Church plants best reach new generations and new people groups • Young adults are found in disproportionate numbers in new congregations • New churches can be more flexible – able to accommodate greater diversity. History is not a hindrance to change

21. The Vision • Church plants best reach the un-churched • New believers attract non-believers to church 10-15 times more often than long-time believers • Plants gain 60-80% of their new members from the ranks of the un-churched* • Churches over 15 years old gain 80-90% of new members from transfers* *Source: Lyle Schaller, quoted by McGavran and Hunter in Church Growth: Strategies that Work

22. The Vision • Planting churches has always been the model overseas – why not here?

23. The Vision Alliance for Saturation Church Planting

24. Reaching Those in Poverty • Gospel centered – first and foremost 2Cor. 5:18 • Jesus is the answer to poverty in the third world • Jesus is the answer to poverty in Salem, OR

25. Reaching Those in Poverty • Contextualized - a holistic approach • We must address unique needs of the poor • Goal is to meet needs within the context of a gospel centered ministry

26. Reaching Those in Poverty • Address cultural barriers and class bias • Develop a culture that responds from a Biblical worldview • Model a multi-cultural community – both ethnic and socio-economic

27. Reaching Those in Poverty • Overcome language barriers • Spanish speaking leadership • Spanish teaching and materials • Reach out to the Marshallese

28. Reaching Those in Poverty • Focus on development • Specific ministry focused on housing, asset development and job skills • Take a long term approach

29. Poverty in Greater Salem • 10.3% of American families live in poverty • 28.7% live in poverty – when no husband is present • 37.2% live in poverty – when no husband and have children under 18. • 46.6% live in poverty – if they are also Hispanic

30. Poverty in Greater Salem • 76,000 family households in Marion County • 36,000 have children under 18 • 13,593 (37%) are female led households • 9152 (25.4%) have children under 18 • 22% of the total households are Hispanic

31. Poverty in Greater Salem • Using national average poverty rates • 5652 families in Marion County live in poverty • 3,400 of these are female led households • A disproportionate number of these families are Hispanic

32. Poverty in Greater Salem • 5158 live births in Salem - 2007 • 2177 (42.2%) born to single mothers • This statistic is rising – this the latest year reported. Likely now closer to 50%

33. Poverty in Greater Salem • Oregon has deeply rooted, systemic poverty that is not highly visible. Salem is no exception • 2nd most food insecure state in the nation – only Mississippi is worse • 6.6% of all households have “very low food security” – likely to have to skip meals, go without meals, sometimes for days

34. Poverty in Greater Salem • Salem Keizer School District reports: • 40,481 students. 54% white, 36% Hispanic, 2% Pacific Islanders • 7,203 (18%) enrolled in English language learner programs • 56 languages other than English spoken at home. (Spanish, Russian, Marshallese - top 3)

35. Poverty in Greater Salem • 50% of all S-K students qualify for free or reduced cost lunch program. • To qualify, family of four must earn less than $2,389/month ($28,668 annually).

36. Reaching People in Poverty Our Focus Must Be: • Community • Diversity • Discipleship • Development • Outreach • Sending

37. Biblical Mandate – Serve the Poor Societal View of the Poor • American culture is marked by incredible wealth and a deep fear of poverty • Poor are viewed as unproductive, of a lower class, and who are less than adequate • Non-poor are embarrassed by their poverty

38. Biblical Mandate – Serve the Poor The majority of Americans believe that the single largest cause of poverty is that people simply are not doing enough to help themselves out of their situation. The more affluent the individual, the more likely they are to believe in this way Robert Iceland, poverty researcher

39. Biblical Mandate – Serve the Poor The American Dream - is Just That Capitalism carries within itself the limits of its own horizon, since it has no possible escape from its own golden calves and shatters on the ultimate unsatisfaction of vital human needs …

40. Biblical Mandate – Serve the Poor The development practitioner [all Christians] must understand that the fundamental claim of capitalism, science and technology is a lie Bryant Myers, V.P. World Vision

41. Biblical Mandate – Serve the Poor Biblical view of the poor • Jesus spoke frequently about the poor • “The poor will always be with you” John 12:8 • “Sell everything and give it to the poor” Matt. 19-21 • “But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed” Lk 14:13-14. • Why did Jesus focus on the poor?

42. Biblical Mandate – Serve the Poor • Because we are all wretched and poor! • None seek God, all are worthless, not one of us does good! Romans 3:11-12 • The wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23 • We all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. Ephesians 2:3

43. Biblical Mandate – Serve the Poor Serving the Poor Glorifies God • The poor do not deserve mercy. They deserve death. Yet, God in His mercy gives us life. • When we serve the physically poor – it is a picture of God’s mercy to us • He is glorified when we give our lives to serve the poor. It is a picture of His sacrifice to those who are ultimately poor - all of mankind* *For an in-depth study on this topic see Developing a Biblical Response to the Urban Poor, unpublished paper by Craig Smith – at www.onetreasure.org

44. Biblical Mandate – Serve the Poor The biblical record demonstrates that ultimately, God judges societies by how they treat the people who are most vulnerable. That is how much God cares for the poor. Ron Sider

45. Biblical Mandate – Serve the Poor Applying the Mandate • Three kinds of possible ministry: • Relief – Provision of urgent temporary emergency aid to reduce immediate suffering • Rehabilitation - the process that begins “as soon as the bleeding stops” and which focuses on restoring people and communities to their pre-crisis condition • Development – The process of on-going change that moves all the people involved closer to being in right relationship with God, self, others, and the rest of creation From Corbett and Fikkert – When Helping Hurts

46. Biblical Mandate – Serve the Poor Applying the Mandate • All three are valuable and valid in a given circumstance • We will focus primarily on development

47. Missional Church Planting • Smaller groups encourage community • Our vision is to be: • Small, flexible and connected • Decentralized, flat, focused on mission • Leveraged resources • Focused on training and sending – both local, worldwide

48. Missional Church Planting • Small, flexible, connected • Develop small, neighborhood based communities – starting with Grant/Highland • No plans for permanent facilities – house groups and rented space • Share central ministry for housing, job training and asset development

49. Missional Church Planting • Decentralized, flat, focused on mission • Each new location will have a dedicated leader/teacher. May or may not be paid • Training will occur in context of existing communities

50. Missional Church Planting • Leveraged resources • Community groups will share resources • Each will contribute leaders and participants for development ministries • Community resources developed for job placement and skills training