On a crisp fall morning in
Georgetown, children run and play among the pumpkins spread across the lawn of
the McKinney Ministry Center at First United Methodist Church, oblivious to the
talk of revolution and disruption taking place inside the building. This revolution is not what you think. It doesn’t involve politics or overturn of a
government although eventually politics and government come into play. This revolution relates more to the radical teachings
of Jesus, who turned the world upside down by instructing us that the last
shall be first and the first shall be last and commanding us, among other
things, to love our neighbor as ourselves.
And on this Sunday in Georgetown, there is talk of disruption in the way
in which in which we deal with the issue of poverty and the poor.
Dr. Ron Swain serves as President
of The Georgetown Ministerial Alliance.
He is also Director of Transformative Missions Ministries at FUMC
Georgetown. Dr. Swain explains that Transformative
Missions is a ministry in which we become more Christ-like by building loving
and trusting relationships with our neighbors as a result of sharing God’s love
and grace through various ministries. A
community development advocate, Dr. Swain hopes to create a high quality of
life for all people, not just members of the church congregation.
In August 2015, Dr. Swain heard a
man named Larry M. James speak at the Texas Christian Community Development
Conference. Mr. James has been the CEO
of CitySquare in Dallas since 1994.
CitySquare is a faith-based human and community development corporation
that serves several inner-city neighborhoods in Dallas as well as San Antonio,
Austin, Fort Worth and Houston.
Intrigued by his presentation, Dr. Swain also listened
to one of Mr. James’s sermons posted on YouTube then subsequently read his book
The Wealth of the Poor. Dr. Swain arranged to tour the CitySquare
facilities in Dallas then invited Mr. James to speak to the congregation at
FUMC Georgetown regarding his work at CitySquare. James’s presentation and book outline the
organizational success story of CitySquare.
He advocates for a “paradigm shift” in how we think about and perform
mission ministry by targeting four areas:
housing, hunger relief, health and the creation of hope through a food
pantry, job training, medical, legal and other services.
The first step in tackling
poverty is to admit there is a problem. In
Georgetown, approximately 10.2% of the population lives below the poverty
line. Of this amount around 18% are ages
12-17 and about 12% are age 65+. The
U.S. Census Bureau Weighted Average Poverty Threshold for 2012 defines poverty
as a four-person family of two adults and two children with an annual cash
income below $23,283 or a single parent family with three children with an
annual income below $23,364.
James’s book points out that there
is a division among those who believe “poverty is a result in the failure to
take personal responsibility and those who believe government is the solution
to the problem.” James suggests that to
bridge this gap we must first “discover the wealth of ‘the poor.’” The initial step in this discovery process is
to not look at the poor as a problem, project or a program, but to see them as
peers, partners and most importantly, as our neighbors. When we work in conjunction with our
neighbors, it affects how we engage the poor, restores dignity and helps us to
see “the wealth of human capital.” A key
component to discovering their wealth is to encourage those being served to
consider what gifts they have to share and to work as volunteers
themselves. James states in his book
that “the people with the problem are also the people closest to the problem
and therefore are the people who should be consulted first about any
solutions.”
This radical community
development model that James espouses focuses on the value of people regardless
of their economic status. CitySquare
wants to bring systemic change that will alleviate the “perpetual need for
charitable assistance.” They hope to
accomplish this in three ways: first address
the immediate charitable needs of its neighbors. Once they are back on their feet, discover
what these individuals have to contribute to the community. The final puzzle piece is tackling and
challenging public policy so that there is more equity and justice for people
with little or no voice.
From reading James’s book Dr.
Swain is reminded that “each of God’s beloved children are persons of worth and
value and deserve love and respect.” What
Dr. Swain likes about the CitySquare model is that it is holistic, addressing
homelessness, health, hunger and giving people hope. Likewise, Dr. Swain wants to see a shift from
charity and handouts to more development and empowerment for people to help
themselves. Dr. Swain agrees that we
should “never do for people what they can do for themselves,” a common aphorism
among James and other authors, such as Robert D. Lupton, who have written on
this subject.
While Mr. James indicates that
the biggest return on investment of his time is not the church but government
agencies, businesses and foundations, Dr. Swain’s vision includes the church
and various non-profits in Georgetown working together. “Based on our history and heritage of
compassion and justice, I expect that FUMC Georgetown will have a lead role in
creating the beloved community, “ asserts Dr. Swain. “As our city grows with more people living
and working here, services and programs will be needed to meet emergencies, but
also to empower our neighbors toward self-sufficiency and sustainability.”
How this is best accomplished has
yet to be determined. The various non-profit
agencies located in Georgetown are independent of each other but sometimes work
together to resolve issues. Organizations
like the Georgetown Community Resource Center were created to coordinate social
services by housing multiple non-profit organizations under one roof. Dr. Swain agrees that the concept of an
umbrella agency is worthy of further exploration because a great deal of cooperation
and collaboration are needed. But as
James jokingly counsels, “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing poorly. Don’t let a quest for excellence kill the
good you can do. Just start. It’s not going to be perfect.”
Sometimes the biggest obstacle is
fear from the community. James concedes
that classism, racism and feelings of superiority will never be
eliminated. But the community can work
on extinguishing the fear by demonstrating the good that will come from the
efforts. “We’ve never had a negative
experience by improving the living conditions of people. Once they’re given the resources and
opportunities to solve their own problems, they will perform far beyond any of
our fears.” There will always be people
who disagree with the work being done but James stresses that doesn’t mean the
people instigating the change have to be uncivil or unkind. “We have to work harder and longer. We have to prove ourselves but let’s don’t
fool ourselves about how much progress we’ve made because people are still
going to protect their asset,” he admonishes.
“We have to figure out just how much courage we have at these times.”
