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Community Mission is ordinary people living out the radical message of Jesus. Its about combating poverty and
isolation, bringing hope and transforming your local community. www.communitymission.org.uk
2
Contents
Session Three The Gospel, the whole Gospel and nothing but
the Gospel!
Exploring imbalances in the way we live the gospel
and redressing the balance.
Session Four It’s not what you do, it’s the way that you
do it!
Focusing on empowering as well as serving our
communities.
Feedback form
Community Mission is ordinary people living out the radical message of Jesus. Its about combating poverty and
isolation, bringing hope and transforming your local community. www.communitymission.org.uk
3
Introduction
This study series has helped many Christian congregations and groups to
explore what social action is and to give a biblical basis for getting involved in our
communities. It is designed for small groups but can also be used by individuals,
within a larger congregation and with other congregations in your area.
It aims to:
• Explore the biblical mandate for Christians to be involved in community
and social justice issues;
• Challenge people to think about their lifestyle in the light of scripture and
to take action.
Practicalities
For each session the material is split into two sections: For study and reflection
and Taking action. Each session should last about an hour and a half but of
course that is flexible and depends on the person leading, whether other material
is introduced etc. Remember to build a break time into your session if it is likely
to go on for any longer than that.
A time for prayer is allocated within each study but each group can be flexible
and choose their own length, style and timings of prayer. We cannot
overemphasise the importance of prayer when using these studies. The
Community Mission Prayer, Action, Reflection Cycle is a useful tool which we
would recommend underpins the series of studies:
Community Mission is ordinary people living out the radical message of Jesus. Its about combating poverty and
isolation, bringing hope and transforming your local community. www.communitymission.org.uk
4
Key
Facilitator explanation
Community Mission is ordinary people living out the radical message of Jesus. Its about combating poverty and
isolation, bringing hope and transforming your local community. www.communitymission.org.uk
5
Scripture feast
Give out the list of scriptures below to members in your group. (There is a copy in
Appendix B.) Take it in turns to read the references in the order given. Pause
without discussion for a minute or two between each one. Encourage people to
listen, reflect and let the Holy Spirit speak to them. Invite them to make a note of
the scriptures that strike them and write down their thoughts. Explain that they
can keep these private if they wish.
Good secondary references (if you have more time or a larger group)
Deuteronomy 24: 17-22 Acts 4: 32-35
Psalm 72: 12-14 1 John 2: 5-6
Matthew 16: 24-26 James 2: 14-17
Matthew 23: 11-12 Galatians 1: 8-10
Matthew 25: 31-46 Galatians 6: 9
Luke 8: 21
Community Mission is ordinary people living out the radical message of Jesus. Its about combating poverty and
isolation, bringing hope and transforming your local community. www.communitymission.org.uk
6
Then take time to pray for each other in the light of what has been read and
shared.
2. Taking action
Having read and talked about the Bible, it is now time for people to consider their
response. As James says, ‘faith without action is dead’.
Jesus tells us to love our neighbour. Ask people to spend a short
time reflecting on the question: Who is my neighbour and how
can I love them? Encourage people to think about their local
community, their workplace and the global community to which
we all belong.
Next steps
Split into twos and ask people to reflect together on what action they might take
to ensure that their lifestyle reflects God’s priorities for a gospel that is good news
to the poor and oppressed. Everyone will be in a different place on his or her
journey and that is OK. What is important is that each person has time to think
and work out what their next step is, even if they feel that there are many steps to
take.
Hand out pieces of paper. Ask people to write out what they think their next
steps into social justice issues might be. Encourage people to share this in their
Community Mission is ordinary people living out the radical message of Jesus. Its about combating poverty and
isolation, bringing hope and transforming your local community. www.communitymission.org.uk
7
pair and stick the piece of paper in a prominent place in their home! Commit to
taking these steps and sharing with a friend if you are struggling to do it.
Having made a note of the scriptures which most affected them
encourage people to read them prayerfully every day for the next
week, asking God to show them how he wants them to respond.
Suggest people keep a journal of what they hear and feel. You
can begin the next session by sharing any thoughts and
reflections.
At the start of this study take time to reflect with the group on
what was discussed in the last study. Encourage people to feed
back their thoughts and comments. How have they got on with
their next steps? What have been the challenges to putting them
into action? What have they been really encouraged by? Have
they taken time to read the highlighted scriptures during the
week? Have they had new insights and learning?
Ask two people to read Luke 4: 18-19 and John 20: 21. Ask if anyone has any
immediate thoughts or comments they would like to share with the group maybe
in the light of the discussion at the start?
The Bible reveals God’s special concern for people who are poor, oppressed and
vulnerable. These are some of the words it uses to describe them:
Community Mission is ordinary people living out the radical message of Jesus. Its about combating poverty and
isolation, bringing hope and transforming your local community. www.communitymission.org.uk
8
(This list, and a copy of the questions below, is at Appendix C so you can print it
off or you could write it up on a flipchart.)
For each definition, ask people to think of examples of the ways these states of
poverty reveal themselves in every day situations particularly locally. (e.g. groups
of people who might be open to exploitation, situations where power is being
misused, circumstances in which people are kept dependent on others rather
than encouraged to develop for themselves, areas of the world where people are
dispossessed or oppressed.)
Hand out a selection of daily papers to people and use these to give your group
current, real-life examples. Ask people to find articles and stories that are to do
with the aspects of poverty they have been exploring. Make a list of the different
ways of being poor that they find in the newspaper.
An alternative way to run this exercise is to split into pairs and allocate one or
two definitions to each. Then get them to feed back to the larger group.
Exploring poverty
Discuss the following questions in your group (or split into two groups). Give
space for diverse opinions; do not try to find all the answers!
Community Mission is ordinary people living out the radical message of Jesus. Its about combating poverty and
isolation, bringing hope and transforming your local community. www.communitymission.org.uk
9
• Are there times or places where you have felt oppressed or powerless?
• Do you know any local people who are experiencing any form of poverty?
• How are Christians working alongside people who experience poverty?
How are they challenging the things that cause poverty (like
organisations, people and the ways people think)?
• How effective do you think they are? How much of a difference are they
making?
2. Taking action
Explain that, ‘What you see depends on where you stand’. A lot
of Christian activists feel that it is difficult to understand issues of
injustice and social need without experiencing them themselves
or hearing the stories directly from others.
What do people think about the statement ‘What you see depends on where you
stand.’? You may have time to use the following questions to encourage
discussion in the whole group
Community Mission is ordinary people living out the radical message of Jesus. Its about combating poverty and
isolation, bringing hope and transforming your local community. www.communitymission.org.uk
10
Community Mission is ordinary people living out the radical message of Jesus. Its about combating poverty and
isolation, bringing hope and transforming your local community. www.communitymission.org.uk
11
Equipment.
Big pieces of paper or flipchart with big circles on.
Pens
At least one Bible
At the start of this study, take time to reflect with the group on
what was discussed and learnt last time. Have people had further
thoughts on the material since you last met? Has anyone found
out any more about the biblical view of people who are poor and
oppressed? Who has taken action? Has anyone brought along a
journal, or any specific comments about what they have done as
a result of the last session?
Ask two people to read out the following Bible passages: Isaiah 42: 1-4 and
Micah 6: 8.
The two key words that are translated as ‘Justice’ in the Hebrew Scriptures are
‘mishpat’ and ‘sedeqah’. There is no literal translation into English but the
meaning of biblical justice is making things right.
To do justice is to make things right wherever they are not right.
Community Mission is ordinary people living out the radical message of Jesus. Its about combating poverty and
isolation, bringing hope and transforming your local community. www.communitymission.org.uk
12
On a large piece of paper, put the heading ‘Making things right’. Then draw a
large circle on the paper and split it into four sections, labelled as follows:
(See Appendix D for an example)
Ask the group to name activities where the Church is actively engaged in ‘making
things right’. These might be local, regional, national or international initiatives or
just individuals who are doing things. As you come up with ideas, write them
down in what you think is the most appropriate section, e.g. The Alpha course
could go in the ‘Between people and God’ section.
Gather all your ideas (try and get at least twenty) and put them in the circle. Then
read aloud the following scriptures: Amos 5: 21-24, Isaiah 58: 3-10, Matthew
23: 23 and Matthew 5: 14-16.
Talk about what you have done using the questions below.
• Are some parts of your circle fuller than others? Which section was it
hardest to think of examples for?
• Do you think our culture focuses too much on individuals (‘It is all about
what I want…because I’m worth it!’) and that this affects the way we
understand the gospel?
• How do you think God feels about his people when they focus just on
individualised faith and neglect dealing with other justice issues?
• What is the impact on the Church’s reputation when we (a) ignore issues
of social justice (b) take action on issues of social justice?
Community Mission is ordinary people living out the radical message of Jesus. Its about combating poverty and
isolation, bringing hope and transforming your local community. www.communitymission.org.uk
13
2. Taking action
Righting the wrongs
In your group (or pairs or smaller groups) identify an issue or a concern, where
you think something is ‘not right’, preferably a local one or a national one that
people are deeply concerned about.
Then talk about the following questions and make a note of your responses:
Discuss your obstacles, work out ways of overcoming them and make a plan on
how you will take action! Then pray together about your plans.
Community Mission is ordinary people living out the radical message of Jesus. Its about combating poverty and
isolation, bringing hope and transforming your local community. www.communitymission.org.uk
14
At the start of this study, take time to reflect with the group on
what was discussed and learnt last time. Remind people of the
issue you discussed. How have people got on with their action
plans? Has anyone written an article that has been published?
Listening to others
Ask two people to read Matthew 23: 11-12 and Matthew 20: 20 –28. Does
anyone have any immediate thoughts or comments they would like to share with
the group?
Go round the group and ask people to think of a situation where they were not
listened to or consulted, e.g. someone making a decision which affects you
without asking; going to the doctor’s and being told what you need without
properly being listened to first; someone making assumptions about your life
without actually talking to you.
Community Mission is ordinary people living out the radical message of Jesus. Its about combating poverty and
isolation, bringing hope and transforming your local community. www.communitymission.org.uk
15
People who are poor often feel that ‘do-gooders’ who have not lived in their
situation parachute in and set up projects to help them without even involving
them or talking to them. We must engage with people in poverty before ‘doing’
something to help. If we do not, we are assuming that we know what they need
and that we are the ‘experts’ of their lives. We become like ‘benefactors’ to the
lowly poor rather than partners in their struggle.
Such attitudes in our social action create and sustain imbalances of power. They
keep people dependent on the ‘benefactor’ rather than empowering them to be in
control of their lives. They fail to demonstrate the attitude of servanthood that
Jesus talked about and modelled.
Benefactors or servants?
Explain that both groups feel God is calling them to do something to help local
young people who have hardly any facilities or things to do in their area because
of cuts in the youth service. Each group, in their role, needs to think about how
they would go about responding to this situation.
Community Mission is ordinary people living out the radical message of Jesus. Its about combating poverty and
isolation, bringing hope and transforming your local community. www.communitymission.org.uk
16
The Outcome for the young people, what difference will it make for them
(e.g. provide new skills, keep them occupied, help them to make decisions).
The Outcome for the planning team i.e. your group (e.g. challenged our
attitudes, had our guilt relieved because we’ve done our bit)
Ask each group to present their findings, either in their role or as straightforward
feedback. Then take time to discuss these questions:
2. Taking action
As a group, reflect together on the actions that you have already taken in recent
weeks, in response to the issues highlighted. Encourage discussion together
using the following questions:
• What are the most important points that you have learnt?
• What has God put on your heart in your times of reflection or prayer?
• Where are you passionate to see change?
Ask people to identify their first small steps towards action in this area. It may
help to work in pairs. Then share these plans as a whole group. Encourage each
other in these decisions to continue acting to create change.
Community Mission is ordinary people living out the radical message of Jesus. Its about combating poverty and
isolation, bringing hope and transforming your local community. www.communitymission.org.uk
17
You will not have all the plans ready at this stage but identify where you could
start, how you could find out more, how you could get support from others, who
you could work alongside. It is all about making a start, praying and seeing
where God opens doors for you to walk through.
Then close the series by spending time praying for each other. Focus on the
passions and ideas that God has stirred in each individual and pray for direction
and action.
Community Mission is ordinary people living out the radical message of Jesus. Its about combating poverty and
isolation, bringing hope and transforming your local community. www.communitymission.org.uk
18
Prayer, action and reflection are equally vital in the cycle – ensuring a
sustainable approach to restoring communities. At one extreme, activism by itself
can easily lead to burn out. On the other hand, without any real community
engagement, our prayer or Christian reflection can easily become inward looking,
empty and irrelevant.
Prayer
There is a wide range of different ways of praying. Some congregations are used
to open, spontaneous prayer. Others favour set prayers and liturgies, or more
meditative styles using music or pictures to help focus on God. Whatever your
preference, prayer can be a powerful way of bonding Christians together in a
common purpose.
If you are planning any kind of meeting for congregations in your community,
beforehand spend some time thinking creatively and sensitively about prayer.
Who will be there? How can you make those on the edges feel comfortable and
included? How can you focus the prayers on your local area? Ideas include:
pictures of local scenes on an overhead projector, press cuttings from the local
newspaper, different prayer stations
around a room, prayer walking around
the local streets.
Action
Actions really do speak louder than
words. Conversation and prayer between
local congregations is vital, but
relationships are likely to grow far more
quickly when we act together. What’s
more, it can be a powerful demonstration
of unity to other congregations and people within the community.
Community Mission is ordinary people living out the radical message of Jesus. Its about combating poverty and
isolation, bringing hope and transforming your local community. www.communitymission.org.uk
19
Take time to find out about what you could do together in your community. It can
be helpful to start with a one-off event, which can lead to longer-term
involvement. There are many ideas for joint action, such as decorating a
community centre, a family fun day or community carnival. Often this provides a
‘shared story’, with lots for those involved to discuss and reflect on together.
Reflection
Once begun, community action gives us plenty to reflect on. Spending time in
reflection, on our own and with others, is a great way of gathering
encouragement and seeking guidance for further action. As we return to the
Bible, which is packed full of inspiration and wisdom to help us work together for
God’s kingdom, we have a deeper appreciation of Jesus’ teaching and the
Church that he calls us to be.
Community Mission is ordinary people living out the radical message of Jesus. Its about combating poverty and
isolation, bringing hope and transforming your local community. www.communitymission.org.uk
20
Main references
Community Mission is ordinary people living out the radical message of Jesus. Its about combating poverty and
isolation, bringing hope and transforming your local community. www.communitymission.org.uk
21
The Bible reveals God’s special concern for people who are poor,
oppressed and vulnerable. These are some of the words it uses to
describe them:
Community Mission is ordinary people living out the radical message of Jesus. Its about combating poverty and
isolation, bringing hope and transforming your local community. www.communitymission.org.uk
22
Community Mission is ordinary people living out the radical message of Jesus. Its about combating poverty and
isolation, bringing hope and transforming your local community. www.communitymission.org.uk
23
What will be the Outcome for the planning team i.e. your group
(e.g. challenged our attitudes, had our guilt relieved because
we’ve done our bit)
• What things can you do to engage with people to find out what
they are thinking and feeling rather than just “do things to them”
or “do things for them”?
Community Mission is ordinary people living out the radical message of Jesus. Its about combating poverty and
isolation, bringing hope and transforming your local community. www.communitymission.org.uk
24
Feedback form
We really hope you found this course useful. It has been revised at least twice and we
are eager to hear of any ways we could improve it.
Please use this form, write an email to communityinfo@livability.org.uk or a letter to give
us your ideas and send to: Livability Community Mission, 50 Scrutton Street, London,
EC2A 4XQ. Thank you!
Session Two
Session Three
Session Four
3. What would you change or add to the pack. Do you have any other
comments/suggestions on the course?
4. What other ‘topics’ would you like to see covered by future packs on Christian social
action?
Name:
Address:
Email: Phone:
Community Mission is ordinary people living out the radical message of Jesus. Its about combating poverty and
isolation, bringing hope and transforming your local community. www.communitymission.org.uk