Christian Community Development Minor

Christian community development holistically restores under-resourced communities through local Christian engagement. This integrative and interdisciplinary minor equips Christians to bear witness and do justice by using critical analysis of social, political, economic, and spiritual poverty in order to holistically develop communities towards self-sufficiency and spiritual renewal. Developing communities, beyond mere relief, involves relocation, living in a community in solidarity with those one serves; it involves reconciliation between both God and other human beings, including racial reconciliation, thus it integrates evangelism and justice; and finally it involves redistributing resources, capital, and power in the social, political, and economic dimensions of human life. Students will participate in a service learning component as part of capstone course REL420:  Topics in Christian Community Development.

Student Learning Goals:

1. Students will think biblically, theologically, and inter-disciplinarily about Christian community development, especially in the United States’ rural and urban context.
2. Students will gain competency with key interdisciplinary (theological, sociological, political, economic, etc.) concepts and tools useful in the analysis and practice of Christian community development.
3. Students will understand several current theories about the practice of Christian community development in the United States’ rural and urban communities.
4. Students will grasp the biblical foundation for and practice of the Christian community development principles of relocation, reconciliation, and redistribution.