Making Neighborhoods Whole: A Handbook for Christian Community Development - Paperback

by Wayne Gordon (Author), John M. Perkins (Author), Shane Claiborne (Foreword by)

Already with decades of experience speaking prophetically into the charged racial climate of the American south, John Perkins began to see a need for organized thinking and collaborative imagination about how the church engages urban ministry. And so the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) was born, with Wayne Gordon an immediate and enthusiastic participant. Nearly thirty years later CCDA's eight key components of community development still set the bar for how churches, parachurches and nonprofits engage cities with the whole gospel.

• Relocation
• Reconciliation
• Redistribution
• Leadership Development
• Listening to the Community
• Church-Based Development
• A Wholistic Approach to Ministry
• Empowerment

In Making Neighborhoods Whole Perkins and Gordon revisit these eight commitments and how they've played out in real communities, even as they scan the horizon of urban ministry to set a newtone. With profiles of longstanding and emerging community development ministries, they guide a new conversation and empower disciples of Jesus to seek the welfare of their cities to the glory of God.

Author Biography

Wayne "Coach" Gordon is founding pastor of Lawndale Community Church in Chicago, Illinois. In 2011 he was given the William Wilberforce Award by the board of directors of Breakpoint and the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview.

John M. Perkins is the founder of Voice of Calvary Ministries in Mendenhall, Mississippi, Harambee Ministries in Pasadena, California, and the Christian Community Development Association. His books include Let Justice Roll Down, WithJustice for All, and Making Neighborhoods Whole.

Shane Claiborne is a preacher, writer and lover of Jesus. He attended Eastern University, where he studied sociology and youth ministry. Claiborne is cofounder of The Simple Way and is currently a part of The Alternative Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He serves on the board of the Christian Community Development Association. He is the author of The Irresistible Revolution and coauthor of Jesus for President. Catch up with him at thesimpleway.org.