Called to Transformation

Working Together for Lasting ChangeEpiscopal ChurchCalled to Transformation

An Asset-Based Approach to Engaging Church and Community

is centered around the belief that individuals, groups, and communities have the gifts they need to address the needs they see around them. 1 Corinthians 12 tells us that each of us are given different gifts to serve the community and we are all a part of the body of Christ working together. Learn more…

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  • Legacy Toolkit
    • About
      • The Model
      • Values
      • Defining the Terms
      • Opportunities and Challenges
      • Communication
        • Communication Resources
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    • Build a Foundation
      • Initiative Leadership
      • Calling a Team
    • Plan
      • Developing Your Plan
      • Theological Grounding
        • Theological Grounding Resources
        • Scripture Resources
    • Discern
      • Gifts Discernment Resources
      • Designing and Facilitating Your Gifts Discernment Workshop
      • Discernment With Our Neighbors
    • Map Assets
      • Individual Asset Map
      • Congregation Asset Map
      • Community Asset Map
      • Mapping Physical Assets
      • Asset Mapping Resources
    • Take Action
      • Discovering Your Dreams or Visions
      • Taking Action Resources
      • Evaluate

The Episcopal Church Introduction

A Word from The Rev. Canon Mark Stevenson, Domestic Poverty Missioner for The Episcopal Church

E Mark StevensonPrior to my work in the Justice and Advocacy Ministries Office of the Episcopal Church, I spent eight years on a bishop’s staff working with congregations of all sizes in the effort to strengthen congregational vitality. Whether it was strategic planning, capital campaign preparation or rector transition profiling, the common starting point was often some sort of needs-assessment. That is, what are the opportunities that God has put before or around us that the congregation might embrace as a ministry? Once the needs were identified, folks would decide whether or not a ministry could be started to address them. In some cases, the church members would agree that they had no way to tackle a particular problem; in some cases, a program would be launched that would die out after a short period of time; and in some cases, an initiative would begin that became a vital part of the life of the community. This last scenario was always the goal, of course, but there often seemed to be a certain hit-and-miss nature to it all.

I have come to discover that there is another way to approach ministry development within a congregation, one that does not begin with an assessment of the needs that surround a community, but with the assets – God-given human skills, passions and resources – that are possessed by the people of the community themselves. Such assets are possessed not just by parishioners, but by the collection of persons that make up the wider community in which a church finds itself. God has given treasure of one form or another to everyone. It is not the case that the needs of a community are unimportant, but that God provides what is necessary in any given situation even if we don’t see it at first. Letting people give their treasures away creates a sense of vitality in a community of faith that is truly transformative.

The ideas, tools, stories and processes that have been gathered here are offered to help us discover what is that God has gifted us to do, and to then to give those gifts away to the glory of God and the betterment of us all.

Learn more about this Project

This program represents the intersection of mission and passion embraced by its collaborators and has a shared vision for how this work is important in the life of our communities. Read more from our collaborators about this project:
  • Episcopal Relief and Development
  • Domestic Poverty Office of the Episcopal Church

We also give special thanks to the team at The Beecken Center of the School of Theology at the University of the South who helped facilitate this process and pilot the training.

This program represents the intersection of mission and passion embraced by The Episcopal Church and Episcopal Relief & Development. ©2021 Episcopal Relief & Development and The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, The Episcopal Church, 815 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10017


episcopalchurch.org

www.episcopalrelief.org

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Special thanks to The Beecken Center who helped facilitate this process and pilot the training.
beeckencenter.sewanee.edu

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