Faith-Based Community Development

Introduction

Connecting neighborhoods and faith communities to meet community needs.

Overview

Includes resource groups for faith-based organizing and development and local faith communities doing community development.

Page Index

  • Key Issues
  • Common Problems and Solutions
  • Successful Strategies
  • Annotated Web Resources
  • Topic Library
  • Sub-Topics and Vendors


    • Key Issues Related to this Topic

  • Faith communities are often leaders in community development. The roots of Community Development work throughout the United States and around the world have often sprouted from faith-based communities. Churches, Synagogues and Temples have traditionally provided a focal point for community life, and still do for many residents living in urban neighborhoods.

  • Faith communities are a major neighborhood asset. In addition to using the buildings of religious institutions for neighborhood meetings and offices, many neighborhood groups are also co-sponsoring youth mentoring, family support, housing rehabilitation and economic development projects with faith-based organizations. Churches, Synagogues and Temples are also initiating community development projects within their local neighborhoods. The House of Hope Presbyterian Church created a $4.5 million dollar fund dedicated to affordable housing in the Summit-University neighborhood. Members of several Latino churches & parishes in Minneapolis worked with Interfaith Action, Whittier CDC and Project for Pride in Living to develop the Mercado Central, a small business incubator located at Bloomington and Lake in South Minneapolis.

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    Common Problems and Solutions

  • Neighborhood partnerships with faith-based groups need not cause church/state concerns. Neighborhood associations want to welcome the gifts and talents of all residents, regardless of belief or religion. Neighborhood groups also need to maintain clear distinctions when managing public funds to not pay for religious instruction. With these moderate precautions, many neighborhood groups are forming strong partnerships with the faith communities in their area to meet community goals.

  • Religious organizations often need to build their capacity before they can succesfully start doing community development work.

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    Successful Strategies

  • Connect with new immigrants through churches, synagogues, temples and mosques. New immigrant communities maintain a strong affiliation with their religious traditions, with their place of worship being a natural focus for their self-help efforts here in Minnesota.

  • Infuse a “sense of the spirit” in your work that can include people of all beliefs. Some organizations listed in the Resource Guide under faith-based organizing are not primarily religious organizations, but are organizations which seek to bring a sense shared spirituality to community development efforts. The Institute for Cultural Affairs and Health Realization training groups seek to ignite a profound respect for the dignity of the human spirit within each community resident.

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    Annotated WebLinks

  • Overview of faith-based community development
    Federal Reserve Bank   06/15/04
    An overview introduction to faith-based community development

  • National resource for faith-based community development
    HUD- Center for Community and Interfaith Partnerships   06/15/04
    Support to local religious organizations interested in community development

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    Library

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    Vendors by Sub-Topic

    Faith communities doing community development  
        Casa de Esperanza
        Catholic Charities/ Archdiocese of St. Paul/ Minneapolis
        Hawthorne Ministerial Alliance
        Kwanzaa Community Fellowship Church
        Mount Olive Lutheran Church
        Park Ave. Methodist Church/ Cornerstone Ministries
        Project for Pride in Living
        Salvation Army
        Salvation Army ( Minneapolis- Parkview )
        St. Stephens Programs
        Temple Baptist Church
        Urban Ventures Leadership Foundation
        Walker Community Church, United Methodist
        Zion Lutheran Church


    Resource groups for faith-based organizing and development  
        Black Ministerial Alliance
        Catholic Charities/ Archdiocese of St. Paul/ Minneapolis
        Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches
        Habitat for Humanity of the Twin Cities
        HUD- Center for Community and Interfaith Partnerships
        ISAIAH
        Jewish Community Action
        Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota
        Metro Interfaith Coalition on Affordable Housing
        Sourjorners Magazine
        Stairstep Initiative
        Wilder Foundation- Services to Organizations


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