How is Area Ministry different than community organizing?
Area Ministry uses many of the insights of community organizing, and Area Ministry teams will receive training in community organizing. But the primary goal of Area Ministry is not to organize the community around some project; it is to be agents of the Good News, to invite people into relationship with God and one another. If my goal were to teach you how to play basketball, I could teach you the rules of the game and some skills for playing, and then I could say well done, and I can leave and move on to my next student. But if my goal is to play basketball with you, I will still teach you the rules and skills for playing, but I will continue to play basketball with you, and I would never leave you. We want to share our vision and experience of the Beloved Community with others. Area Ministry is a way for us to proclaim that the Beloved Community already exists, to see aspects of the Beloved Community outside the church, and to turn everyone’s attention to one another through God.
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